God is making an appeal through us: Be reconciled

In the summer of 2022, I had the opportunity to help chaperone the Mennonite Children’s Choir of Lancaster international tour. We traveled to Central Europe, spending most of our time in the Czech Republic. Between the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and Russia’s recently intensified invasion of Ukraine, the trip felt even more complex than traveling internationally with teenagers usually does.

Jon Carlson shares a message at a church in Česká Třebová in the Czech Republic.

On the first Sunday in the Czech, the choir sang in a small church in Česká Třebová, and as the pastor on the tour, I was asked to share a short sermon. I drew from a text I frequently turn to: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:17-18).

Chatting with the interpreter beforehand, I learned that “reconciliation” is a somewhat uncommon word in the Czech language. Thanks to the gift of Biblical translation, he was able to work out that theme of my message was “smíření” (one of the only words I remember from my time in the country).

At one point in the sermon, I offered various examples of the types of reconciliation Christ accomplished: between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, poor and rich. As I paused to think of other examples, the translator offered his own: “Smíření between Ukrainians and Russians?”

This Czech pastor, serving a congregation in the shadow of Russian bellicosity, was considering how reconciliation — not military victory or national defense — was the way of Jesus.

I’ve thought about that moment frequently as I’ve served as moderator of Mennonite Church USA. As a convinced Anabaptist, I’m part of the Mennonite Church because I’ve come to see clearly that reconciliation truly is the center of our work.

Paul continues his letter to the decidedly unreconciled church in Corinth: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

My Czech friend had hope for reconciliation in a conflict far more brutal than most of the ones I face. Yet as I have encountered the parts of MC USA that remain unreconciled, I struggle to share his hope.

God has committed to us Mennonites the message of reconciliation, but it seems like it’s in danger of becoming as uncommon to our internal speech and practice as “smíření” is in Czech. While we work for peace in our communities, our internal ecclesiology is marked by separation, withdrawal and schism.

Many of us have good reasons to resist reconciliation. Within our church, real harm has been done. The demands of justice sometimes seem to go unmet. Reconciliation has been used as a pretext to avoid accountability or make excuses for abuse. We wonder whether reconciliation across differences leads to unfaithfulness.

We probably have pettier reasons for why we resist reconciliation, too. Ego. Pride. Self-preservation.

At times, we seem to gloss over our unreconciled state by couching it in the language of structure, bureaucracy, tradition or theology. “It’s not really a schism,” we tell ourselves, “it’s just a change in membership status.” While I have no doubt that we can work to foster healthy relationships outside of and beyond our institutional structures, our institutional structures nevertheless remain the most visible and practical witness to our unity (however tenuous that unity may seem at times).

In my time as moderator, I have grieved for the Mennonite Church much more than I thought I would. This is the tradition that gave me a framework, language and examples for how to faithfully follow Jesus in paths of peace. I’m not sure I could have continued calling myself a “Christian” if I hadn’t discovered Anabaptism through Mennonite witnesses. We really do seek to be people of God’s peace, to experience and share the reconciliation that is the heart of the Gospel. Because we’re so sincere, it saddens me to see how often our attempts to inhabit God’s peaceable kingdom are fractured by a lack of reconciliation.

Yet in the midst of our shortcomings, God’s work remains the same. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

I struggle to understand why the world around us would listen to God’s reconciliatory appeal from a people who seem to increasingly mirror the divisiveness, polarization and animosity of the broader cultural moment. But if even the dysfunctional, factional church of Corinth can be offered God’s gift of reconciliation, then surely, we can, too.

I don’t doubt that pursuing reconciliation together would require difficult, often uncomfortable work. It’s much easier in theory than in practice. We would have to demonstrate love in a culture of skepticism, patience in a moment of acceleration, and peace in the face of frustration. We would have to name and work through all our reasons — whether valid or petty — for resisting reconciliation. It would take far more time than most of us think we have.

Perhaps this is precisely the high call of God on our lives at this moment.

Echoing the Apostle Paul, I make this appeal for “smíření” to MC USA. I implore us on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God! And as we are continually reconciled to God, may we commit ourselves to being reconciled one to another, as well.

Questions for reflection:

• What are some other Biblical examples of reconciliation?
• Does reconciliation mean we fully agree with each other?
• What’s one practical step you could take toward greater reconciliation, whether in your family, your congregation, your area conference, our national body, or the wider world?

The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.