MINISTERS OF RECONCILIATION

​Recent and ongoing events leave me with deepening concerns about humanity. People can no longer, it seems, get along with one another. This is partly due to the collapse of institutions and organizations that bear any kind of moral authority in our lives. The church is a primary example.

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As religion is reduced to a caricature of itself, fewer people believe there is anything that is right or wrong. It is all subjective. The immoral imperative is to do whatever feels good. As gods are reduced to commodities to be bought and sold, we search for comfortable convenience instead of truth and justice. The church is quickly being rejected as a place where marriages and funerals occur, thus disconnecting our lives from the divine spark that animates us and the creator who made us.

One of the results of our cultural collapse and rejection of everything and everybody that does not serve our own interests is that we embrace polarization. We no longer love our neighbor, we demonize them. Communities rooted in the common good become manifestations of our tribe, which makes us even more polarized.

If we are to address the fragmentation, polarization, hatred, and violence we see all around us, we need another way forward. We need a means of reconciling with one another that transcends our divisions and rage. That means is grounded in Jesus Christ.

Paul, the Apostle, told the Corinthians that Christ died for them to reconcile the world and all humanity to God, but also to one another. He went on to call them to emulate that action in their transformed lives.

15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (II Corinthians 5:15-17)

If Christ died for your neighbor – even your enemy – Paul is saying, then we no longer can see them as enemies, no longer judge them like we humans do. We must see them as Christ does. Reconciliation, instead of revenge or retribution, become our ministry. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation… (II Corinthians 5:18)

What does this look like? First, it does not call us to be “doormats” (which is what many worry about). Reconciliation is not weakness. It requires great strength. I have had to, on more than one occasion, stand up to those who offend, attack, and bully. I have had to tell people I will not enter further dialogue until mutual respect is given. I also, however, must be aware of my own role in a conflict.

My mother, as she raised three boys, was often confronted with a conflict between at least two of us. She would tell us, “It takes at least two to tango.” She refused to take sides (even though her oldest, me, was usually right). She pushed us together and called for us to own our part in the scuffle. She was a wise woman. She knew what Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; leader of the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation knew.

True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know. - Desmond Tutu

Reconciliation in our nation begins when both sides of every argument can honestly claim and confess a role in the breakdown of our society. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not just churchy words and ideas. Tutu teaches:

Forgiveness and reconciliation are not just ethereal, spiritual, other-worldly activities. They have to do with the real world. They are realpolitik, because in a very real sense, without forgiveness, there is no future. Desmond Tutu

There is no future without forgiveness. That should be a bracing word of warning to all. It is also a word of hope. In your own home, workplace, school, and congregation, you can answer the call to be a minister of reconciliation and make the world more loving, more just, more peaceful. Remember one final thing:

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Desmond Tutu

Pax Christi,
​Tim Olson – Lead Pastor
 
 
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