Reconciliation: Not a Sidebar
By Keith Brittain
When I first heard that the WCG had established the Office of Reconciliation Ministries, I knew it was a good thing, but I thought of it as supplementary to our work of preaching the gospel. By being more involved with reconciliation efforts, I have come to realize this is not the case. ORM’s work is not an adjunct to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reconciliation efforts are not a sidebar issue—they are the work of the gospel.
Jesus came to bring salvation, but to what end? The end was reconciliation. We were saved from our sins that we might be reconciled to God. And having been reconciled to God, to be reconciled to each other. The two great commandments—love of God and love of neighbor—reflect this.
In its simplest expression then, the gospel message has two parts: salvation and reconciliation.
But what more precisely is reconciliation to God? What is its ultimate intent? It is to have an ongoing relationship, a friendship with him, and after him, with our fellow humans—regardless of the color of their skin. "All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other…. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them" (2 Cor. 5:18, 20, Message translation).
Before we can be reconciled to one another, we have to be reconciled to God. If it is to be of the heart and not just the intellect, it has to start with reconciliation to God. But for the gospel message to accomplish its goal, it cannot stop there. The church’s efforts at promoting reconciliation through ORM are a vital part of gospel work. Let’s get at it!
