2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is a passage telling us how much God wants to reconcile us through Christ. Verse 21 sums it up with that God made Jesus to be sin, who didn't sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
We are also told that if we are in Christ we are new and the old has passed away. We are also given the ministry of reconciliation - not just ministers, pastors, and teachers, but everyone.
This is what gets me, if God went to such lengths to reconcile us to Him what right do we have to hold a grudge against someone, especially someone of the household of faith (another Christian). Have I brought this issue up before? Yes. Why? Because Christians everywhere are still under fire; because I don't want to be that person who causes another Christian to stumble (Luke 17:1-4; Mark 9:42; Matthew 18:6-7) because of my an offense towards my pride or my comfort.
We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, to cry out to others to be reconciled to God. How can we, in good conscience, do this when we have trouble reconciling with brothers and sisters with something that in the light of eternity means very little? (Philippians 3:1-8).
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6 comments:
Ok, I understand all that, but I have a question.
If we view everything in the light of eternity, nothing here really matters, right? So, why even bother addressing issues that come up? Why work on a relationship if we are just simply supposed to be more concerned about the other person instead of ourselves? How far does one go in turning the other cheek?
yes, i agree with what this person posted, how far does one go in turning the other cheek? Why should we even bother addressing issues when we should be concerned about the other person involved.
This is a hard issue for many - and I'm not saying I've "attained" this ability not to hold grudges or let my pride be affected (which was original issue being dealt with). But knowing what is expected gives us a goal to attain instead just sitting in the muck.
With that being said, striving to be more concerned about the other person than yourself is the "working on the relationship."
Does God give up on us because He knows what end we will come to? (2 Peter 3:9)
How many times did Jesus say to forgive another brother (i.e. turn the other cheek)?
Here's how this affects me: from scripture I see where I need to be. It may not agree with my sense of justice or fairness - but that is not my concern (let God take care of it). We have this internal self-preservation that has to be given over to God - if you don't give it over, it becomes your IDOL. I rather be on the road to trusting God in all situations instead of building an idol.
Since I don't know the two of you who posted, I don't know the issues in your life - and there will always be different issues in each persons life that will prevent them to surrendering to Jesus as the LORD in your life.
To answer your questions without spoon-feeding: How far did Jesus go? Are we to be like Christ? How many times did Jesus turn the other cheek?
(if you are truly confused on this and not trying to justify having some control in your life, email me and I will send you the scripture references to these questions).
After talking with my wife she helped me see another angle on the question.
I saw people repeating Peter's question to the Lord, "How many times must I forgive a brother, seven?" Which in this case was Peter looking for cut-off point with forgiveness.
The new angle I see is that there may be other Christians you just don't mesh with. You may have heard that they gossip about you, but you have not heard it first hand. They may put obstacles in your way, but once again, this is second-hand observations. So how long do you turn the other cheek?
First of all, let me address the "turn the other cheek." In scripture, what cheek gets targeted? The right cheek -Mt 5:39. If most people are right-handed, and you were facing another person - which cheek is easier to punch? The left cheek. If a right-handed person was to strike someone on the right cheek, it is most likely a backhand. (this is my opinion). A backhand is either a challenge or an act of condescending. Either way, it is a DIRECT encounter.
Hearing something second-hand is not a direct encounter. So what do you do? You treat that person with love. Why? Because you are commanded to and it's our witness (John 13:34-35.
What if it is a direct encounter? Love them. Realize that if someone is attacking you that they be struggling with someone totally unrelated to you - you've been given the ministry of reconciliation, do your best to help them on the path of reconciliation and growth (Romans 15:1).
If they have done something that has hurt you, address them with gentleness and love. Do not start with "You hurt me when..." but rather address your feelings and the situation: "I felt left out..."; "I think we misunderstood each other when..."
Sometimes you need to have scripture and sometimes you don't - ask God for wisdom (James 1:5).
It is not an easy process; I'm working on this myself - I tend to avoid those that have injured me, but now when confronted with that I ask myself, "What is the best way to show love to this person?"
I hope that helps - sorry for my misunderstanding the question posed, if that was the case.
amazing answers Pastor Greg, your wife has great nuggets of truth and wisdom, nice to hear a woman's view..nothing personal against you..:o)
Not to take away from the wisdom of my wife, but she explained the questions posed to me in a different light so that I could explain appropriately. She was actually curious to an answer and realized I was seeing it differently than her.
All this to say, I've been blessed with a wonderful wife who extends my perspective when mine is too narrow.
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