Holistic: Reconciled and Reconciling
Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
My wife and I stood silently together, staring up at a small window in the top corner of a large and ominous residential school building. For 140 years this building housed about 150 Indigenous children from a nearby reserve. We had just heard some of the heart-wrenching stories of the children who were forced to live in that school. When they arrived, their hair was cut, and their clothes were taken away and replaced with uniforms. Names were replaced with numbers. Many children suffered abuse and neglect. One man told us that this small window was where he would regularly escape from when he was a boy living at the school.
Sadly, for most of its history this was a church-run school. As you can imagine, many of the children who lived at the school have a very complicated and hostile view of the Christian faith today. Thankfully, some churches and Christians in Canada are beginning to reckon with this shameful past and have taken steps toward reconciliation.
This work is a part of our holistic mission. As Christians, we have been reconciled to God through Christ. And we are called to the ongoing ministry of reconciliation, bringing the hope and healing of Christ into the deeply broken places of our world. It begins by listening and, where necessary, repenting.
Dear God, we confess that your church has at times been a poor reflection of your heart. Forgive us and help us to live as agents of reconciliation in this broken world. Amen.
About the author — Kevin DeRaaf
Kevin DeRaaf is the director of Resonate Global Mission, the Christian Reformed mission agency working in more than 40 countries around the world. With a focus on encouraging others to join in God’s mission where they are, Kevin believes that God’s purpose for the local church is to shine as a community of love and grace, showing in tangible ways that Jesus is the hope of the world. He and his wife, Jacquie, have three children and four grandchildren and live in Burlington, Ontario.
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