The ministry of reconciliation is not one for which our hands go up easily or quickly. There seems always to be a shortage of willing participants.  We are not standing in line to talk about the hurts and wounds, to have hard conversations, to pick away at our stony hearts.  And finding leaders is just as difficult (I wonder what a job description of ministers of reconciliation might entail).

We don’t have an end in mind and even if we do, we don’t believe that it exists.  Despite the fact that we don’t know the direction, the distance or the landmarks, we figure that it is impossible for us to make it there.  We figure, “It will never happen” so we sit down and fold our hands.  Things will never change.

We surmise that people will remain the same so we decide that it is not worth the effort.  We confuse their willingness with our own.  But, people change one person at a time and there is no shortage of work for those who desire for us dwell together in unity (Ps. 133.1).

Still, I am afraid that we are not informed as to the vision for reconciliation.  We simply do not know what those relationships looks like.  Because we have not seen what authentic unity is– at least not long enough to take a picture or to take notes on it.

Too often, we give persons laws that they must follow: “Do this and I will forgive you” and not the love that we should all strive for.  We have a to- do list and frankly, it is one that we have not completed ourselves.

So, today, I challenge us to prepare for relationship, to not just talk about what needs to happen but to make it happen.  This starts not with our mouths as anyone can repeat what has been said.  We do not begin after they have satisfied our need for revenge.  To be sure, it is never an even exchange.

Instead, we must think about it.  Our minds must change.  It is where transformation begins (Romans 12.2).

We must begin to give our thoughts to new ideas, new words and circumstances.  We must start thinking about how our relationships look not if but when we come together.  We must push our minds to think beyond what has been and to imagine what could be or we are not thinking at all.

Think about it.  What what would happen if we were reconciled to each other?  What would it look like?  What could we accomplish?  What if you became a minister of reconciliation?