The Work of Reconciliation
January 10, 2008
At one time, I was the director of a ministry called Reconciliation Ministries International. Our objective was to see reconciliation occur between people of all races, ages, and genders. One thing I learned during my tenure there is that reconciliation must be intentional. It cannot just happen and un-reconciliation isn't automatically dealt with at the point of salvation or by attending church.
One of the lessons for Kenya and the Kenyan church at this time is that they must be more intentional and proactive in bringing people together as an agent of reconciliation. Reconciliation must be preached, and it must be a specific, conscious topic of prayer and discussion for some time to come. Kikuyu Christians must reconcile with Luo Christians and vice versa; there is no option on this. Kikuyu Christians and Luo Christians are first and foremost Christians and then members of their tribes. I am not against tribal identification. We must, however, remember what Paul wrote:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
I am not preaching down to Kenyans as a superior outsider who has all the answers. I don't have many. I am also not ignoring the reconciliation issues that are ripe in my own country. I attend a church where people of many colors and backgrounds attend, because that is what I believe I need to do. I have given my adult life to reconciliation issues. So I stand with all my brothers and sisters in Kenya as we from this point forward address the wounds that are there, not just from this election, but from times long gone.
I urge you to join with me to do what you can do in your world to bring about reconciliation, not as a political agenda, but from a spiritual one. I remind you once again that we are all involved in the work of reconciling men and women to God and then to one another, as Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
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 has 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 men'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 (2 Corinthians 5:16:20).
If you can contribute to relieve the suffering of our Kenyan brothers and sisters, you may do so through my website or by sending my ministry a check to PO Box 91099, Pittsburgh, PA 15221. Every penny will be used to help alleviate the suffering there at this time and will be sent directly, in cash, to the men and women I know and trust there.
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