On Reconciliation: Conflict Among Christians

A custom among Christians is to "go to the altar". It's there at the front of the church in view of everybody that we kneel and seek solace, assistance, supplications and forgiveness. In essence, it's right there that we humble our "self" and put our flesh in the hands of God where we ask for his mercy.

First off,  Christians no longer offer blood sacrifices, but have but one sacrifice to offer:

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

The altar is where we present our gift to God! The only gift we have to give is our "self". Jesus has already bled for us; now all that needs to be done is to cover our Self with the blood which has already been shed. When Jesus shed his blood, it was an act of grace!

 Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace..."

As we are saved by the grace of Jesus in sacrificing himself, we are take our Self and offer it back to Jesus! As Jesus offered grace we are to offer the same:

 Hebrews 12:15 (ESV) "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled..."

In essence this says "Because Jesus has been so graceful to us, those who claim Jesus as Savior shall offer the same grace to others!" If we fail to be graceful to others "bitterness springs up and causes trouble".

Offering grace to others is not a suggestion. It's a requirement because it is a demonstration of love. As Jesus showed unconditional love to us, that love is to be shown to others! Therefore, before we go to the altar with our own Selfish bequests, we are to present the Self to the Lord. It's a show of obedience! Foremost in demonstrating our love for God is loving others

 John 13:34 "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

The message here is to show grace to others just as Christ has been graceful to us! With that said, if there is something on our heart which is an obstacle to God's accepting our living sacrifice, it is to be made right!

Matthew 5:22 "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: ...23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

The first thought here is to resolve our own anger by making amends with those to whom we are angry. However, it goes well beyond that! We are to make things right even with those who may be angry with us! Before we offer our living sacrifice, the Self, we are to rid that selfish animal of flaws. The main flaw is lack of love. God wants the best of the flock as a sacrifice and before we offer the Self to the Lord,  it must be the best Self which we have. He cares little about appearance nor deeds, but the condition of the heart. The only thing which men have to offer Jesus is the heart. It must be cleaned up, through him, in order to offer the love of a living sacrifice! We need to make restitution and be reconciled!

You now know what to do, then now all you have to "do" is to "do it"!

James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

I have went to the altar to pray with a brother who was already kneeling there.  Of course I wanted to do this out of love. However, before I can show love to my friend and pray for his sins, my own sins need to be forgiven. How effective is prayer if a guilt ridden sinner goes forward to pray for the redemption of another when his own sins have yet to be repented?

Before I could pray for my brother, I had to make things right with another. I had no resentment nor anger for that person, but I knew that the other person had anger with me!  Before I went forward to pray with person B, I dealt with person A (Me) and to do that, I made things right with person C. Person C may not comply with my attempt at reconciliation because of a hard heart, but it is obligatory for me to show that person love by making a contrite attempt to right wrongs.

The onus is always on the Self to make things right with others. However, we never are alone! God is with us when we do his will!