Thinking Reconciliation
…God was reconciling the world to himself through Jesus. - 2 Cor 5:18-19
One of the words the Apostle Paul uses when talking about the Gospel is reconciliation. The Gospel is the good news of reconciliation, the good news that we can be reconciled to our loving Father through the crosswork of Jesus.
Reconciliation is an interesting concept because it tells us that there is a connection that needs to be restored, like the story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15 where we see how a prideful son left his father to go his own way and ultimately recognizes his foolishness and comes back in humility to the loving arms of a father who immediately forgives everything.
When it comes to trusting Jesus, when it comes to talking about Jesus, there is already a connection between the one that hears the Gospel and Jesus.
While we have pushed God away and gone our own way, and we still do this regularly, God has not left. After all, God has formed each of us in the womb and knows us even before we are born, and the Bible tells us that God is managing every detail of our lives.
Jesus himself emphasized this connection when he said that he came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). The use of the word lost is telling us that those who don't yet believe are not strangers to God.
Perhaps one way to be a bit better at helping others see Jesus rightly is to speak of the connection they already have with God. Rather than leading with the truth of our sin against God and our hostility and separation, maybe we should find the connection that already exists.
The Apostle Paul approached those in Athens by finding an existing and obvious connection. He started by using their altar to the unknown God as a way to create an initial conversation and provoke thought as he introduced the God they were looking for.
He also did this by using the words of their own poets when he wrote, “In him we live and move and have our being.” While the Athenians were probably thinking of Zeus here, this shows they believed in a life-giving God. Paul then used this God connection to introduce them to the God they were looking for.
This is the story of the woman at the well that we find in John chapter 4. If you remember, Jesus had arranged to meet a woman who had a difficult past and was lost. While she didn't know about this meeting beforehand, Jesus did. And at the right time, he engaged her in a conversation about her need for something that satisfies forever. This woman had been married five times and was on an endless search to have her soul's thirst quenched.
So, Jesus talked about the need for living water that would satisfy. While Jesus didn't ignore her sin, he found the common ground and started there.
Perhaps one way to be a bit better at helping others see Jesus rightly is to speak of the connection they already have with God.
And one way to be better at this is to really understand our own story of reconciliation. After all, this is the story you know best. Dig into questions like, what was I looking for? How did I go my own way? Who did God bring into my life or what situation did God bring into my life that caused me to rethink everything? How did Jesus actually enter the conversation? By really thinking through your story, maybe you can connect to others better.
While they do need to hear the gospel, maybe we should start with common ground. So pray for those God brings into your life and pray that God will show you a way to open the conversation in a way that can lead to reconciliation.
Jesus, you are the one who finds the sheep that have gone astray. I'm sorry for losing sight of the power of your love in reconciling the lost. Thank you for loving your children enough to die for them. Please cause me to see others as I should and fill me with hope as you bring home those who are lost.
Song: Let Me See Jesus