With the passing of another Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I find myself still thinking about this man and the burden for “setting things right” that he carried with him.
Do you carry that same burden?
If you’re engaged in ministry with college students than I would dare say that you do!
Reconciliation… the ministry of “setting things right.”
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b).
But in order for us to experience this life to the full, we had to be set right with God. And that’s exactly what Jesus did on the cross… he “set us right” with God in ways that only he could.
And my guess would be that our ministries reflect this in a variety of ways.
Likely, we are all about helping students see the separation that exists between God and his created… and the one-of-a-kind salvific gift that Jesus extends to each of us through his reconciling work on the cross… and hopefully we go so far as to get them engaged in the process of discipleship — really learning to follow in the ways of Jesus.
But is that it? Is that the extent to which our ministry can embrace the ministry of reconciliation? Well, not if we’re doing discipleship right!
In terms of setting things right within God’s creation, we see that Paul believes that we have been called to work alongside God (in the example of Jesus), in bringing this about:
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [I Corinthians 5]
So how does our ministry with college students reflect this?
Beyond helping students to be reconciled to God… how do we help them to become reconciled to others?
How do we help them to truly love their neighbor?
How do we help them to understand their role in setting things right in God’s creation?
Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example of someone who saw a need, an injustice — something that was not right in the world — and therefore he chose to work towards setting it right.
He did not know all that it would require of him.
He did not know what the end result of his blood, sweat and tears would be.
But his faith was deeply rooted in God, and he willingly took on the ministry of reconciliation, hoping — trusting — believing — that God would work as only God could/can/will.
SO in terms of our ministry with students…
How can we better embrace our collective calling to this ministry of reconciliation?
How can we help students to better understand reconciliation — beyond the personal reconciliation that takes place between them and God?
How can we better help students to see (and understand) all of the service and good works that they (and so many others) are involved in through this lens of reconciliation? And how might that chance things?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
