Reconciliation

People are annoying. Doesn’t sound like a very Christian thing to say. It’s also true that human beings are wondrous, diverse, unique, gifted children of God, but let’s be honest: people will get on each other’s nerves. Sometimes they do or say things that hit us wrong. People insult us, do things we don’t understand, believe things we don’t like, or may even cause us harm. Other persons may seem too opinionated or too indifferent, too loud or too quiet, too proud or too timid, too bad or even too good for our tastes. Invariably, at some times in our lives, other people (even those we love) will bother us.

It is important to acknowledge the reality of interpersonal friction, because life with others is not always ideal, but still we need to deal with that friction constructively.

I think we often give up too easily on others when they rub us the wrong way. It is hard, sometimes extremely hard, to maintain our forbearance when we are at odds with one another. And usually it is far easier to disengage and avoid: stop talking, stop meeting, stop caring, stop trusting, stop trying to maintain any means of relationship. There is an undeniable force (sin) that seems always to want to push us away from others, even against the loving powers that draw us together. Ever notice how long it takes to build something strong and beautiful, and how quickly it can be destroyed? Love and friendship require a lifetime to develop, yet can be toppled by one careless act.

The message of Jesus was that God refused to allow sin to separate us from God’s love. If Crucifixion is ultimately the embodiment of humans rejecting God, Resurrection is the superior act of reconciliation – God refusing to be rejected.

Reconciliation is now the task of the reconciled. Christians may not give in to those sinful forces that push us away from others. When something happens to separate us from another, to dampen or destroy friendship, we cannot allow that relationship to be closed off without making efforts to reconcile.

This may be the finest, most convincing testimony we can make of the new life we have in Christ Jesus – that no matter what happens, we Christians don’t give up on being reconciled with others.