31 Days of UnitySample

(Re)deem: Can you remember a time when you have been absolutely wrong about someone?

Maybe you thought they were wonderful and immediately liked them, only to later discover something about them that changed your feelings dramatically. Or perhaps it went the other way, you took a long time to discover the goodness of someone you were inclined to distrust or dislike. We all have a set of values and experiences that we bring with us into our encounters with others. They shape our view of other people and can quite often lead us to early conclusions that are quite wrong.

2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “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.” Our entrance into life in God’s kingdom changes our perspective on other people completely. When we are made new in Christ we discover a whole new set of possibilities about who people are and who they can be. First, we recognize that all people are created in the image of God. All people! We have never met anyone who was not created lovingly in the image of God with inherent worth and dignity. Second, we have never met anyone who Jesus isn’t seeking to be reconciled to. These truths shift our perspective of one another in profound ways.

As we seek unity in the church, we recognize that we are seeking to be unified with people created in the image of God whom Jesus is actively working to heal. The possibilities of reconciliation are radically transformed by the power of God at work. Our purpose as Christians is to join in with God in this ministry of reconciliation. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus 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.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) Whatever assumptions we bring into our encounters with people they will be transformed by this truth of God’s love for them and desire to be reconciled to them. We have never met anyone that Christ hasn’t already died for and sought to heal.

A worldly point of view sees all that is wrong in one another. We count up others' sins according to our own views and choose who is worthy of love. But a Christian point of view sees that although we are all sinful, we are all loved, God is at work in all of our lives, and the goal is reconciliation. Christ is doing this work, so now it is our turn. We must take on this ministry of reconciliation rooted in the presence and work of Jesus. This is our purpose.

After you read the passage, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the hardest part of changing our view of one another? How can we better view one another as Jesus does?
• Do you view your life as participating in the ministry of reconciliation? What does it look like to help people be reconciled to God?
• If the church isn’t reconciled to one another, we have no witness to the world of God’s reconciling work. Spend time in prayer and reflection asking God to reveal to you who in the church you need to be reconciled with. Commit to it. Pray for it.

Our Prayer for (Re)demption

Jesus, you did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to bring salvation. May your light shine brightly through your children, that in our love of one another, the unity of the Church, and our service to the world, all may see your glory and be drawn into life with you. Amen