Praying or Pretending

When it comes to reconciliation work, Jesus sets a high bar.  Reconciliation work is not just required when we know we have caused others problems or hurts.  Efforts toward reconciliation are not just required when we know we are in the wrong.  Jesus takes things to an entirely different level as He says, "If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled....and then come and offer your gift."  (Matthew 5:23-24)  There are no free passes.  There are no exceptions.  No one is too special.  If we become aware of brokenness in any relationship, then obedience calls us to do something about it.

 

What we are called to do is to make right what is broken.  Figuring out who is responsible, or at fault is never the issue.  How can we know if a relationship is busted?  Actually, most of us need no help answering the question, but some things are so obvious they stare us in the face.  When someone's name sends us into a quiet fifteen minute mental exercise of imagining all the things we would like to say, there is a problem.  When someone is seen coming and we find a reason to cross the street, or be busy with something we did not know we had to do, there is a problem.  When we take pleasure in hearing about some misfortune falling upon someone and we hear ourselves saying, "They got what they deserved," there is a problem.  When we are quick to criticize and slow to pray, there is a problem.

What may be true is that reconciliation is not going to happen in some of the broken relationships of our lives until we have sincerely held them up before the Father in our prayers.  If hearing Him reminding us that His forgiveness is connected to our willingness to forgive and we are unmoved, then our hearts have grown harder than the one Moses encountered in old Pharaoh.  Praying is a good place to begin, but finally there comes a moment when that praying pushes us toward restoring the brokenness.  If our praying does not move us in the direction of reconciliation, then we have not really been praying.  Just pretending.