Minister of Reconciliation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

We were all estranged from God at some point in our lives. We did things that hurt him and offended him. But while we were in that estranged and sinful state, Jesus came to earth and died for us so we could be reconciled to him. To reconcile means, “to restore friendly relations between.” God, out of love, did what had to be done—what we could not do for ourselves—to restore friendly relations between us and him.

The magnitude of the love that saved us is beyond our imaginations. We couldn’t earn it. We didn’t deserve it. But God is relational. He actually IS love. So he sacrificed for us. He paid the price for us. He forgave us.

Now that we’ve been extravagantly loved and generously reconciled, he has placed us in the Ministry of Reconciliation. England has a Ministry of Defense, a Ministry of Housing, and a Ministry of Justice. God has a Ministry of Reconciliation. And we all have been appointed to a position there.

We are to reconcile ourselves to others, point people to reconciliation with God, and help other people be reconciled with each other. “Minister of Reconciliation”—that’s our calling. That’s our job. Every one of us.

A Minister of Reconciliation has this job description: Love God. Love people. Every person. All the time. That’s it. That’s why we’re here. You want to know what your purpose is? It’s simple: Love God. Love people. Every person. All the time. Making a living, the work you do at church, raising your family? That’s all just settings and vehicles to love God and love people—every person, all the time.

Our job on this earth is to share love with others, to be more and more loving every day, because God is love and we’re in the process of becoming more and more like God.

Here’s a word from Ephesians 5:1, “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

If we want to sum up what it means to be a Minister of Reconciliation, it’s right there in Ephesians 5:1. Not cautious love, but extravagant. Not to get something from someone, but to give everything to others. It says that, mostly, what God does is love us. Mostly, what we should be doing is loving God and loving others, with a generous, brave, God-given love. Every person. Every day. With everything we have.

Father God, your love is absolutely incredible. I can hardly fathom it. When I couldn’t help myself, your love pursued me and rescued me. I love you, Lord. Continuously fill my heart with your love so I can give it away to others. Let me be your ambassador and an enthusiastic minister of reconciliation. In Jesus’s name, amen.