Dear friend Martin Selbrede wrote a worship song we sang in our church for many years. It cites Second Corinthians 5:18-20.
We’re ambassadors for Christ…
Ministers of reconciliation…
God was in Christ reconciling the world,
To Himself through His Son
Bringing all things together,
Together in one.
I have long had the privilege of knowing and working with some of the best Christian leaders. I sometimes make new acquaintance of such and think to connect like-minded folks trying to do similar things upon similar vision. This is harder than you might think.
The problem we have is that God makes leaders of hyper-individualists. God uses such because otherwise we tend to blend with the herd. Leaders must be tough and determined.
As an aside, I find it interesting that most pastors I know condemn hyper-individualism, though almost without exception, they themselves are hyper-individualists. How else can you explain leaving the herd for such a difficult service?
On the other hand and due to endemic sinhyper-individualists seem to have trouble playing nicely with others. We all fall short. We all suffer from some tunnel-vision. We walk in unity only with difficulty because we hyper-focus on our own work and calling, because we do God’s work. This in itself is reasonable and good, but only part of the equation.
Christian leaders commonly seek to restore something lost or gain new ground for the kingdom. However, unless we realize that it is about God and not about us or our work, God’s people will continue to fragment. And our message will be lost on those we seek to reach because we do not practice Christ’s admonition that the world will know we are His disciples by our love for one another.
Clearly, we can give one another the benefit of the doubt. We can be friends, encourage, and support one another. We needn’t defend our territory by maligning or misrepresenting our brother. God forbids a partisan spirit (First Corinthians 1:10; Chapter 3).
We are ministers of reconciliation. Restored relationship is the one thing we surely take into eternity (First Corinthians 13:12). Not merely our work or theology. We will then see by pure agapé face to face, knowing as other know us (First Corinthians 13:12). Let us then think kindly upon those seeking to glorify God and extend His kingdom, though of differing views or character. Deal kindly with the weaker brethren. Remember, the not-strong, not-accomplished, and not-pretty are the more important in the body (First Corinthians 12:22-27). The gifts of the Spirit are for edifying, building (1 Corinthians 14:26). Encourage the brethren.
It is not, “My ministry is important,” OR “I must love my neighbor.” It is both/and. Such reflects the Holy Trinity’s own perfect individuality of the Persons and absolute Unity. Only the Holy Spirit can make us capable of both, and He does. And by the way, we must restore this understanding and ability if we will ever see America restored, built on the notion of the equal ultimacy of the individual and the covenant community.
When we have both charity AND a better mousetrap—better expressions in every area of human endeavor—when we can work together, then perhaps the world will listen to the church of Jesus Christ once more.