“Be Reconciled To God!”

“Be Reconciled To God!”(II Cor. 5:11-21).
Once upon a time, there were three popes; the result of a schism that began in 1378 AD. There was Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XIII in Avignon. The Council of Pisa tried to resolve the matter by deposing both Pope’s and electing Pope John XIII, but the other two refused to resign. Hence, there were three popes simultaneously. This matter was resolved in the Council of Constance where all three Popes were deposed and Pope Martin V was elected.
There was a time when there was a great rift in the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon(PCC) on regional lines. It happened when the Very Rev H. A. Awasum was elected Moderator and Rev Dr. Jonas N. Dah was elected Synod Clerk. The question was whether there was no South Westerner who could occupy one of the offices so as to create a regional balance. Rev Dr. Dah resolved the matter by resigning for the Very Rev Nyansako-ni-Nku to take over as Synod Clerk.
The church is one foundation that is Jesus Christ our Lord. However, the history of the church is replete with schism and sometimes irreconcilable antagonisms sparked by the princes of the church.
When there was tension in the Corinthian church concerning who was who among the messengers, Paul took a subtle approach to broker peace. No one is above the other as one man plants and another man waters; but it is God who gives the growth.
The false teachers who opposed Paul said he was out of his mind. Such were people “who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.”
For Paul, like it should be with us, Christ’s love is what should compel us “because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
In Christ, our worldview shifts perspective. “From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” We may have regarded Christ in this way as some are still doing. But now, once you are in Christ, you become a new creation, shedding away the old and embracing the new.
My friend, “all this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
God reconciled us “to himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us…He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” We are now, “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. And here is the appeal: “Be reconciled to God!”
An ambassador ought to be the image of his country and her leader. We cannot be reconciled to God if we are so stonehearted to reconcile with colleagues and brethren. God made sinless Christ to be sin for us, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We are bended tentacles that can be straightened; we are not broken branches that cannot be mended.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, remind me daily that I am Christ’s ambassador of reconciliation. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
02/05/2026.