Ministry of Reconciliation

One of the things that my friend Tom has taught us is to “Think God’s thoughts after Him.”  When I think about what he said, the Scripture that immediately comes to mind is Isaiah 55:8-9, where Isaiah writes:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

What I hear Tom, Isaiah, and God saying is that we need to have a new world view.  The viewpoint we have, even as the people of God, is often too narrow and too small.  For example, Paul says to, “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:5).   Paul says it another way in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

One of the things that we need to review and rethink is in the area of prayer.  I suspect that when we pray, many of us have the world’s attitude of, “Look at what’s happening!  See the appalling and horrifying things that are going on!”  Let me put a disclaimer here.  I am not saying that we should not cry out to the LORD if we are going through something that is heartbreaking, terrifying, or dreadful.  What I am saying is that when we pray, it is not to inform God of what’s going on in our world because God already knows.

Remember when God told Moses (Exodus 3), that He had heard the cries of the Israelites?  God did not suddenly become aware of Israelites situation.  God had heard their cries centuries before (Genesis 15:13-14).  In other words, we are seeing today what God saw in the past.

This is why Mordecai’s words to Esther are sobering: “Do no think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14)

As serious as these words were to Esther, Paul’s words should be as solemn: “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” (II Corinthians 5:19-20).

The call to be God’s representative on earth is both grim and terrifying because we know the potential consequences.  However, that is an earthly perspective. When we read the previous 4 chapters of 2 Corinthians, Paul gives us the heavenly view.  Paul tells us that we are God’s treasure and glory and sums it up in II Corinthians 4:16-18.  Read it for yourselves.  It begins with “Therefore we do not lose heart…”