The Ministry of Reconciliation
Many years ago, when our kids were little, our younger daughter, Becca, came downstairs disheveled and in tears. What in the world had happened?
What started as a simple misunderstanding had exploded into an angry battle between sisters!
I was reading through The Chronicles of Narnia with the girls and had asked Becca (our younger daughter) to go upstairs to see if Abby (our older daughter) wanted to read. When Becca asked, Abby was engrossed in her own book and said she would come down after she finished her chapter. But Becca wanted a concrete "yes" or "no" so she could give Dad a definite answer.
Apparently, the conversation went back and forth for a couple of minutes, escalating until it became an all-out, scratching, hair-pulling fight! These two loving little girls, who genuinely enjoyed being sisters and friends, were suddenly acting like enemies.
Clearly, there was some work to do to reconcile them and restore their loving relationship.
What a picture of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus!
In Romans 5, the Apostle Paul wrote: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:8,10 ESV).
Unlike with my daughters, our problem with God is not just a simple misunderstanding. Every single person on the planet starts out as an enemy of God due to our inherited sin nature. But because of His love for us, Jesus graciously paid our sin debt and restored our relationship to our heavenly Father.
When we receive Jesus’ accomplished work by faith, we are also reconciled to each other. We are no longer enemies; we become blood-related children who are now defined by our relationship with our loving Heavenly Father.
As His children, we are entrusted with the significant ministry of reconciliation.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (ESV)
The word translated "ministry" here is the same Greek word from which we get the term "deacon." It carries the idea of service, ministry, or a God-given mission.
We are given the job of speaking the good news of the gospel so that others can be restored to God’s favor and a right relationship with Him. Compelled by the love of Christ, our heart’s desire is to encourage people to trust Christ and receive a new identity as beloved children.
Speaking of beloved children… I wasn’t sure how to handle two weeping, yelling girls. My left-brained, male perspective had a really hard time grasping what the big deal was in their minds. But I listened to them and prayed to God.
To help our girls reconcile, each of them had to first recognize how they contributed to the conflict. Then, they had to confess their wrongdoing. Now confession does not simply mean “saying sorry.” We’ve all experienced an inauthentic ‘sorry’ at some point in our life; they really don’t mean anything. Real confession is agreeing with God that what I did is wrong.
After an appropriate confession, they eventually forgave each other, and the relationship could be restored. Honestly, it took some work, more tears, and a bit of time for us to get the girls to the point of reconciliation that day. But it was worth it. True peace was restored and over 20 years later, they remain good friends.
Dear Saints, being a minister of reconciliation is a significant role we've been entrusted with. When we get to be part of changing the eternal destination of our friends and loved ones, we experience the purpose God has given us.
Thankfully, we don’t have to do this on our own. God is making His appeal though us. In that assurance, let’s go out and proclaim the good news of reconciliation!