The ministry of reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV)

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

“We are always of good courage.” Bad things happen. How can we maintain good courage in the face of a dying world? Because “we walk by faith, not by sight.” We walk in the faith that this is not all there is. We walk in the faith that even as this body deteriorates and this world disintegrates, there is hope beyond. We walk in the faith that even in a broken world God opens eyes and ears, changes hearts, and transforms lives.

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. . . . For the love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor 5:11-14). If we didn’t know God we would lose hope; we would give up. If we didn’t know God as he is, and if we were not compelled by the love of Christ we could easily devolve into a group of frustrated, angry people just shouting at the world that they are going to Hell. But because we know the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ, “we persuade others.”

Knowing the fear of God does not mean, being afraid of him. It means truly knowing him. There is an aspect of fear in awe, not because the object of our fear intends to harm us, but simply because there is a grandeur that overwhelms us. Knowing God and being known by him moves us to persuade others that they too can know him.

That persuasion is not done by manipulation or force. It is not done in anger or violence. “We regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Cor 5:16). If we looked at people through the flesh we would see brokenness. But God has called us to the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:17). As a result, we see fellow believers through the lens of his grace. We see them through the cross. We see Jesus in them because they are in Christ. We see the world, not through the lens of God’s anger and justice, but through the lens of his love for a fallen, broken world. We see them through the lens of reconciliation.

Spring is a time when people begin thinking about gardening. They start dreaming about freshly tilled soil, seeds sprouting and popping up through the dirt, and ultimately the taste of fresh tomatoes, carrots, peas, and beans. Those who love gardening look out the window at the remains of last year’s garden and see hope. I look out the window and all I see is work. In John 4:35 the disciples saw crowds of broken people, but Jesus looked at them and he saw fields that were “white unto harvest.” Are you looking through eyes of faith, or eyes of flesh? What do you see? “We walk by faith, not by sight.”