Bringing Down The Berlin Walls
Late last century, the western world celebrated the destruction of the infamous Berlin Wall. For 25 years this concrete barrier stood not only as a physical divider between people of one race, but as a potent symbol of the way many people the world over feel inside: alienated and lonely.
There are so many things pulling people apart in our culture. There are invisible walls that separate rich and poor, the techno-haves and have-nots, male and female, young and old, black and white.
Ten years after the Berlin Wall came down, these invisible walls of alienation are proving to be much more difficult to remove.
To have real influence in this new century, the church must work hard to promote reconciliation. I know, it's a trendy concept, but what does it mean in practical terms? How do we model reconciliation in a society whose fabric is stretched to the limit?
1. Build 'access ramps' between church and community.
Living in a foreign land, I have observed that in any nation there are two groups of people. There are those who know they have a culture, an established way of looking at things, and those who don't. The former tend to be tolerant and patient toward outsiders, the latter do not.
We need to constantly review the way we 'do church', the way we style our public services - not to water down our message or remove the supernatural, but to explain the unusual to people for whom it is a foreign 'culture.'
2. Build covenants with other church leaders.
God is a covenant-maker and he honours covenants. A covenant is much more than a friendship. It is a friendship or partnership that has grown to such a level that two parties have made - implicitly or explicitly - a binding agreement to do what is in the other person's best interests even if it costs them dearly. It is the very opposite of the consumer spirit of our age which uses relationships like commodities and then discards them when they no longer seem convenient or profitable.
Not all covenants are equal. Jonathan had a lot more to lose than David did; Jesus had a lot more to lose than I did! We keep covenants not because it is easy, but because it is in the nature of our God - and it promotes reconciliation in others. Our people need to see us modeling covenant relationships with others in ministry.
3. Build alliances for a common goal.
You cannot establish covenant with someone outside the faith, as this would mean being 'unequally yoked' - we cannot allow people outside the faith to establish the direction of our lives.
But you can build alliances with other leaders in the community. Abraham and Isaac formed alliances with tribal kings of their day. These were pacts set up for mutual protection, and without them these men of God would not have been able to pursue God's goals for their lives.
We need to form special relationships with groups outside of the church in order to achieve certain important goals that we could not hope to reach alone.
4. Teach people relational skills.
There will be tension in even the best of homes, friendships and business or ministry partnerships. In our teaching - and in our lifestyle - we need to teach and model conflict resolution skills, empathy and forgiveness.
Many people in our 'just do it', self-first culture have never been taught how to get into the habit of forgiveness; how to line up their thinking and emotions with the word of God. These are skills they can learn, through sound, practical instruction and the inner work of the Spirit.
5. Pursue true excellence.
Nothing 'breeds' a spirit of reconciliation like an excellent heart. Excellence is a generosity of spirit that pushes us beyond what is normal, beyond what is expected. When we give beyond expectations, we take people by surprise and break down the Berlin Walls between people.
6. Preach the gospel.
Paul tells us that reconciliation is at the very heart of the gospel we proclaim (see 2 Cor. 5:19, Amplified version).
The Good News is that God is not angry with me any more (se Ephesians 2). We must watch over our own attitudes and preaching to be sure that what started in grace does not end in legalism. By being judgemental, we are stepping out of the favour of God on our own lives and releasing alienation among those around us. Let's stop laying flowers on the graves of those who've failed ('I knew something would go wrong with him', 'I could see this coming years ago!') and start raising them 'from the dead'.
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