If Anyone
READ
God is in the reconciliation business. It's what He does. It's at the very heart of the gospel. Through Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself—bringing hostile rebels back into right relationship with their Creator. That alone would be enough. But God goes further. He then reconciles us to each other, breaking down the walls that divide us.
Let’s take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:
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. 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: that 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. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
REFLECT
In Paul's day, the deepest, most bitter division was between Jews and Gentiles. These weren't just different ethnic groups; they were enemies. Jews considered Gentiles unclean. Gentiles resented Jewish exclusivism. They wouldn't eat together, worship together, or socialize together. The hostility was profound and generations old.
Yet Paul declares that Christ "has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." Through the cross, Jesus created "one new humanity" out of two. This wasn't just theological theory—it was supposed to be visible reality in the life of the Church.
The Ecclesia was meant to be a place where these ancient enemies became family. Where the impossible happened. Where reconciliation wasn't just preached but embodied.
Today, our walls of hostility look different but they're just as real. Race. Politics. Socioeconomic class. Educational background. Urban versus rural. Immigrant versus native-born. The divisions are deep and painful.
Here's what's radical: God has given the Church "the ministry of reconciliation." We're not just recipients of reconciliation; we're agents of it. We're ambassadors, imploring a divided world on Christ's behalf: "Be reconciled to God—and to each other."
When the Church embodies unity across these deep divides, it's prophetic. It declares to a fractured world that another way is possible. That the dividing walls can actually come down. That people who "should" be enemies can become siblings.
This isn't about pretending differences don't exist or avoiding difficult conversations. True reconciliation is costly. It requires listening to stories that make us uncomfortable. Acknowledging wrongs we may have benefited from. Giving up advantages. Crossing social boundaries. Choosing relationships over comfort.
But when it happens—when a church becomes a genuine multiethnic, multi-class, politically diverse family—it's one of the most powerful witnesses to the reality of the gospel. It shows that Jesus really does have the power to make all things new.
What walls exist in your community? Between whom is there hostility? Where has the Church, perhaps unintentionally, reinforced divisions rather than breaking them down?
These are uncomfortable questions. But we serve the God who "reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." This isn't optional work. It's at the core of who we are as the Ecclesia.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Who do you find it hardest to see as a brother or sister in Christ, and what might God want to heal in your own heart?
What's one concrete step you could take this week toward building a bridge across a relational, cultural, or ideological divide?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
God of reconciliation, You brought me near when I was far off. You made me part of Your family when I was an outsider. Help me to extend that same grace to others. Show me the walls of hostility in my own heart—the prejudices, the judgments, the us-versus-them thinking. Give me courage to cross boundaries, to listen deeply, to build bridges where there's been division. Use Your Church to demonstrate that reconciliation is possible through the power of the cross. Amen.