Reconciliation

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24 NIV)

I have had to do this several times in my life.  I remember early in my walk with Jesus being prompted by the Holy Spirit to go and reconcile with my high school girlfriend’s parents.  I didn’t like them very much and my attitude toward them was very negative.  And they didn’t like me very much, either.  It was one of the hardest things I had ever done and very humbling.  But they were open to talking and we did work things out.

I’ve also become aware of individuals who were angry with me and gone to them, but unlike the parents of my old girlfriend, they were unwilling to reconcile with me.  Although I attempted to do what Jesus commanded, I was rebuffed.  The interesting thing to me was the rejections were couched in love.  “I still love you,”  “I pray for you.”  Perhaps they weren’t interested in letting go of their anger, or maybe their relationship with me just wasn’t important enough to them to go through the awkwardness and humility of reconciling with me.  Whatever the reason, they didn’t consider reconciliation important enough to seek it.  

Sadly, this is a trend among Christians.  Rather than seeking reconciliation with brothers or sisters with whom we are angry or with those angry at us, we just leave the broken relationships behind and move on.  We get mad at the pastor of our church and head to another church.  Some people in the church or ministry offend us and we leave. And rarely is there a thought of reconciliation, even when those who offended us seek us out to do so.  

What is truly sad about this is at the heart of the Good News is reconciliation—between us and our Heavenly Father through Jesus.  And Paul says as Jesus-followers, we have a ministry of reconciliation—helping others become reconciled with the Father (II Corinthians 5:18-20). How then can this ministry have any real power if we refuse to be reconciled with one another?

There are many reasons people reject Jesus, but I think one of the main ones is the way they see believers treating one another.  The anger and animosity they see between believers leads them to believe Christianity is just another empty promise.  One way we can change that is to take seriously the Scriptures’ teaching on reconciliation.  

Today, are you estranged from a brother or a sister?  Regardless of who is at fault, God desires you to be reconciled because that is the message He conveys through the Gospel.  Are you willing for your life to convey that message as well?

© Jim Musser 2014