The Ministry of...

Reconciliation. But what does that mean for me?

From 2 Corinthians 5:14-21...

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God is in the business of redemption. Each and every day he longs to restore all he has created back to whole relationship with him. On one hand we are invited to share in writing redemptive stories for our lives and the lives of others around us. On the other hand, we are not simply invited...we are EXPECTED to. For us as God's people to take on the heart and character of God, we must be a people who are excited about living redemptively. I know it can be hard. We live in a world that doesn't often cast a second glance toward the idea of redemption. But this should not be our BURDEN, instead it should be our BLESSING. I should care deeply about restoring people to relationship with God. I should care deeply about making sure relationships in and around my life are reconciled. It is God's gift to me each and every day that I might have the opportunity to call people out of the old and toward new life! If I want to chase after the heart of God, I have to remember that redemption is the rhythm to which God's heart beats!

My words, my actions, my presence, my prayers...all have the power to speak new life into the "dry bones" of people's lives. I can't be content to remain on the sidelines. I can't be satisfied to sit back in the audience and watch the story unfold. I've got to be a player. I've got to be an active participant in the story. There is a world out there ready to taste redemption in a way they may have never seen. God is always waiting for me (and you) to join him. I can't just watch...I have to write. God's love compels me!

Mike