Ministers of Reconciliation
I’m pretty sure most people would agree with the idea that things are not as they should be, even though we see beauty and joy all around us.
People die.
People don’t treat others the way they should.
People are selfish and proud.
People hate and distrust people who are different from themselves.
Fathers leave.
Mothers hurt.
Despotic rulers steal land and property and claim it as their own.
Armies destroy.
Refugees wander and wonder.
Children are used and abused.
Disease spreads.
We instinctively know that these things are not good. We understand deep in the core of our beings that we have a moral obligation to do the right thing and to care for those around us. We feel the wrongness of tragic events, whether caused by nature or people. Those who feel this most deeply call out injustice and harmful activity where they see it and work to restore those who have been hurt, oppressed, and abused. Unfortunately, selfishness and pride prevent many people from seeing hurt and oppression around them and responding appropriately.
It brings me no small amount of pride that, despite a significant, well-earned negative reputation in American media in certain respects, the Church has consistently been proven to be the world leader in responding to crises and oppression in our belief that God wants us to bring restorative justice in the world wherever we can.
Sin brings death, always, but we don’t have to let it win the day.
The Christian looks to God as the definition of goodness and moral perfection. We know that enslaving another human being is wrong because it goes against who God is and what He has established as right. So, in our mission of reconciliation and restoration, we establish and fund ministries like the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 18th century and International Justice Mission in the 20th to work to set things right.
Ultimately, we know that the ultimate source of justice and restoration is God Himself, who “brings every act to justice, for good or evil”, in this life or the next. For many instances of our experience of sin we are left unsatisfied, wondering where the goodness and justice is, and we, we sit and groan with Creation in hope for the future restoration of the good, when we will finally feel moral perfection as we are wrapped up in the eternal experience of a right relationship with God.
People die.
People don’t treat others the way they should.
People are selfish and proud.
People hate and distrust people who are different from themselves.
Fathers leave.
Mothers hurt.
Despotic rulers steal land and property and claim it as their own.
Armies destroy.
Refugees wander and wonder.
Children are used and abused.
Disease spreads.
We instinctively know that these things are not good. We understand deep in the core of our beings that we have a moral obligation to do the right thing and to care for those around us. We feel the wrongness of tragic events, whether caused by nature or people. Those who feel this most deeply call out injustice and harmful activity where they see it and work to restore those who have been hurt, oppressed, and abused. Unfortunately, selfishness and pride prevent many people from seeing hurt and oppression around them and responding appropriately.
It brings me no small amount of pride that, despite a significant, well-earned negative reputation in American media in certain respects, the Church has consistently been proven to be the world leader in responding to crises and oppression in our belief that God wants us to bring restorative justice in the world wherever we can.
Sin brings death, always, but we don’t have to let it win the day.
The Christian looks to God as the definition of goodness and moral perfection. We know that enslaving another human being is wrong because it goes against who God is and what He has established as right. So, in our mission of reconciliation and restoration, we establish and fund ministries like the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 18th century and International Justice Mission in the 20th to work to set things right.
Ultimately, we know that the ultimate source of justice and restoration is God Himself, who “brings every act to justice, for good or evil”, in this life or the next. For many instances of our experience of sin we are left unsatisfied, wondering where the goodness and justice is, and we, we sit and groan with Creation in hope for the future restoration of the good, when we will finally feel moral perfection as we are wrapped up in the eternal experience of a right relationship with God.
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