The Party of the Reconciled

“The ministry of reconciliation” means that, all by Himself, God has done everything needed for a perfect family reunion. Through the cross and resurrection, our sin and failure and ugliness and weakness and resistance to God doesn’t matter—the party has started, and our place is secured. The ministry or message of reconciliation is both the proclamation of that fact (“You can come in now!”) and the insistence of our fit (“You belong!”). You’re family!

To some people, the message is an appeal to come for the first time. We, the church, are ambassadors of that incredible message in a land of foreigners, a worldwide arena of those who have not yet received Christ and are not yet family. Come on in!

But to others—to those already reconciled and part of the party already—our message is an ongoing insistence that we’re family and have no reason to hide. Not anything. Not ever. We’re in. We belong. (Excerpted from my book, chapter 14: Stripping Mummies: Finding Freedom and Life Outside the Tomb)