A Lesson in Reconciliation
I have heard many different philosophies about winning souls. Some post their church rules on the door to make sure that everyone who enters knows they need to straighten up. Others say, ‘You can’t skin the fish til you get it in the boat!’
I’d like to point out that the main focus of our ministry is that of reconciliation between fallen man and our holy God. We are to bridge the gap and bring them closer together through our efforts. Looking at our modern ideas of what ministry is as well as our impatience with people, I fear God will again say, “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).
Will God find men and women who are able to sacrifice themselves—their pride, their righteous indignation, their programs, their ideologies—to bridge the gap between God and man?
Reconciliation is a Two-Part Process
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 is crucial in understanding our role: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
Please note the progression: Jesus Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation before committing to us the word of reconciliation.
We are first to love people and fellowship them. We reconcile them to God by being wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). In essence, we shouldn’t beat someone over the head with either the doctrine or standards of holiness the moment they walk through the door. Their heart is not ready to receive yet and, I fear, such actions will only leave their blood on our hands as they walk away!
We love people first and then we are able to impart the word to them, preaching the truth in love as instructed in Ephesians 4:15. Once people have come to know your hospitality through a few trips to the coffee shop, a dinner or two, and time to really know that you care for them, their hearts will be better prepared to receive the gospel.
Reconciling the Backslidden
Often, we are more tender and careful with new converts than with people who have backslidden, but such should not be the case.
Both types of soul are delicate. Proverbs 18:19 says that “a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city.” Why? Because the hurts that likely caused them to pull away from God and the church cause them to build walls.
It is not our job to take a battering ram to those walls and break them down further. We are to win them through the unfailing love that God has shown us! Only through love and consistency in our walk with God can we hope to restore the backslidden.
Furthermore, we must be of a faithful spirit, not making the backslidden soul into the topic of gossip. James 5:20 says that “he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
We see an example of this unfailing, faithful love through the story of Hosea. Hosea married a woman, Gomer, who left him for another man. Gomer became an unfaithful adulteress much the same as some Christians do. Often, saints lose sight of their first love, Jesus Christ, and commit idolatry with the world—a form of adultery spiritually.
God told Hosea to restore his wife, however, to reveal how God would never leave nor forsake Israel. God won’t give up on people so why do we feel that we can?
In Hosea 3:1, God commanded: “The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’”
How do we treat backsliders? We should love them and seek to restore them to the body of Christ! Remind them of their first love by being the essence of Him through your loving, faithful, and godly actions. They need to know that His arms are still open and waiting!
