Ministers of Reconciliation
In America rivalry is everything. Competition drives the market - not just economically but in the realm of athletics, academia, music, and social media. As a result, a misconception is perpetuated that equality exists for all citizens of our society. Americans, in general, only care to promote equality when it best serves their own interests. I am not referring to the great civil rights movements throughout the course of American history but to the everyday occurrences of equity neglect. A positive outcome of this inherent American condition is the way in which our country was able to establish itself as a dominant global force in its very short history. A significant drawback is that reconciliation is hindered by selfishness and arrogance.
Reconciliation cannot occur in environments dominated by rivalry and competition. However, since this is the human condition caused by sin we must recognize that behavioral paradoxes must drive the pursuit of reconciliation. I would argue that we must embrace behavioral paradoxes and be willing to wrestle with their tension. The first is humble confidence. The Bible highlights this paradox in the person of Jesus Christ and the character followers of Jesus exhibit. In direct opposition to American rivalry, we see a Biblical mandate to count others more significant than ourselves, and in contrast to the competition that overwhelms the American landscape, it is imperative that we look to the interest of others with equal importance as our own (Philippians 2:1-4).
Humble confidence is the common pursuit of every Christian and is vital to the pursuit of reconciliation (Philippians 2:5). When speaking of humble confidence and the aforementioned Biblical behaviors we must recognize that there is a fine line between humility and timidity and that there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Humility is keeping your mouth shut when you have something to say but confidence is speaking out when something needs to be said. Why? The very concept of reconciliation is birthed from God’s desire to reconcile a broken and sinful creation to Himself. We know this through understanding that “Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us.”[1]
“The very concept of reconciliation is birthed from God’s desire to reconcile a broken and sinful creation to Himself. ”
In this, we see that there is no rivalry in the Godhead (Philippians 2:6-11). Father, Son, Holy Spirit humbly fulfill their unique roles to demonstrate that emptiness and servanthood is confidence. We observe this most clearly in the humble incarnation of Christ and the confident declaration of victory over sin & death in his decision and subsequent resurrection (Colossians 1:15-23). However, before Jesus ever took human form we see that reconciliation mattered to God from the time rivalry, competition, and prejudice first entered the world. It matters that our sin separates us from him and causes superfluous division between us and our neighbors (Isaiah 59:1-2). Not only was Jesus’ death and resurrection necessary but it was foreshadowed throughout the Bible leading up to his birth by the practice of atoning sacrifices. (Leviticus 4:20, 31; 8:15; 1 Chronicles 6:49).
All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament led to the point when God offered his own Son as the final sacrifice for sin and the ultimate act of reconciliation. Biblically speaking reconciliation refers to "the exchange of hostility or enmity to a friendly relationship. It means to change a person for the purpose of being able to have fellowship together.”[2] The origins of the word actually make their way back to the Greek idea of monetary exchange. Essentially, reconciliation was the exchange of coins of equal value or worth. (Ibid.) Applying this understanding, then, we must challenge the idea that certain cultural assumptions are of higher worth or value over another. Instead, we must ditch the rivalry and competition in exchange for the admission that language, culture, music, cuisine, etc. are all of equal worth and value.
“Reconciliation is mysterious because it flies in the face of our sinful tendencies toward rivalry, competition, segregation, and prejudice.”
In order to truly embrace reconciliation, however, the first person who must be changed is you. The Greeks spoke of people in opposition to each other being reconciled or being made friends again. When people change from being at enmity with each other to being at peace, they are said to be reconciled. "Reconciliation produces restoration of a relationship of peace which has been disturbed between God and man in the Garden of Eden. Sinful man is reconciled in that his attitude of enmity toward God is changed to one of friendship[3] – not only the relationship between God and man but also broken relationships between people. Passively, we are objects of reconciliation and God is the subject who reconciles, which flips the original implication of equal value exchange. However, it offers a more significant glimpse into the analogy of legal reconciliation between two disputing parties in court (Romans 5:6-11; Ephesians 2:14-16). Therefore, we are called to become the subjects of reconciliation and our neighbors become the objects of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Mathew 18:15; Ephesians 1:7). Otherwise “the segregation of the church unintentionally undermines the very Gospel [it] proclaims in an increasingly diverse and cynical society.”[4]
Reconciliation matters because it is a joint effort culminating in an improved condition and context, which includes reconciling disparities in education, socio-economics, and race. But, change only comes through a common struggle. All humans struggle so why do we so often fail to struggle together? The answer lies in that we live in a culture of conscientiousness and self-juxtaposition where “selfies” mirror our desire for comparison and competition. Too often we mimic the savior complex of the true Savior and either implicitly or explicitly elevate ourselves above another. An Australian aboriginal elder, Lilla Watson, highlights the error in this perspective when she says, “If you’ve come here to help me you’re wasting your time. But, if your liberation is caught up with mine then let us work together.” Change only comes through a common struggle and that includes being vulnerable, i.e. ok with sharing secrets, pain, suffering, and fears with one another in addition to taking on the burdens of one another, not dismissing or neglecting them. It also requires a long-term commitment to working with others to effect systemic change. Before this can occur, though, inequity must be acknowledged.
Jesus speaks to reconciliation specifically in Matthew 18 when he gives instructions on how to forgive and the eternal authority and impact that forgiveness offers. Forgiveness is at the heart of reconciliation because it is the first step toward healing that broken relationship and restoring trust in the other individual or group. Jesus offers three steps in approaching forgiveness of someone who has wronged you. The first step is one-on-one reconciliation of the issue. If that doesn’t work, then step two is to bring a couple of other people along for purposes of accountability. Step three is to call it out publicly in the church. While these guidelines are intended for believers within the church it is fair to assert that the church is the primary conduit of forgiveness and should be the primary communicator of reconciliation in public. Reconciliation must be reciprocated by anyone who is a recipient of it (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) – it is given over as a ministry of the church and its members.
The Apostle Paul argues for this in a letter he writes to an early church in Ephesus. In it, he describes a familiar scene of segregation in which some Jewish members of the church want to exclude non-Jewish members from their community worship and activities. Paul speaks against this prejudice in favor of reconciliation between the two groups under Christ in light of the desegregation accomplished through the forgiveness of sins from God through Jesus Christ. He continues to assert that the wisdom of God is reconciliation and that it should be made known to everyone (Ephesians 3:10). The wisdom of God, in Paul’s view in this letter, is that reconciliation matters. God doesn’t make value or judgment statements so people shouldn’t either. Most importantly Paul makes a bold statement that all nations and races are to be included in the church without persecution or prejudice (Ephesians 3:6). Paul goes so far as to describe it as a mystery. Reconciliation is mysterious because it flies in the face of our sinful tendencies toward rivalry, competition, segregation, and prejudice. The mystery of Christ Jesus is a multi-ethnic mandate in which race is meaningless and reconciliation is required resulting in a global church and a reconciled world (Revelation 7:9-10).
It is the good news of the Gospel that declares reconciliation of God and man through the person and work of Jesus Christ. As a result, God desires for all who have experienced that reconciliation to be ministers of reconciliation.
[1] Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender, 11.
[2] Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Mark DeYmaz, Real Community Transformation. “According to the latest research, 92.5% of churches today are racially segregated having less than 20% diversity within their attending bodies. This in spite of changing demographics and US Census Figures that confirm America’s continuing evolution into a multi-cultural nation in which no single race or ethnicity represents a numeric majority.”