perspective 3

Continuing the theme of perspective (point of view)…. 

This is a continuation of the last lesson on 2 Corinthians 5.  You may want to review that article before beginning here. 

The goal of this study is simple: to change your perspective.  How you see people matters.  If you see a person as young or old, male or female, gay or straight, black or white; all of these images provoke within us a certain feeling that tempts us to treat them a certain way.  As disciples and disciple-makers (Matthew 28.19-20), we are interested in the way Paul and his team saw those with whom he worked, and this chapter gives us a great insight. 

We will begin where we left off.  Here’s the text:

a lost person

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh (even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer).
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:1-21

“Therefore” is the first word of this section.  Usually that word is important in Paul’s letters, because he is drawing a conclusion based on what came before.  For example I might say, “I want to keep my teeth, THEREFORE I brush them regularly.”  What comes before the “therefore” is the explanation for ‘why’ he does what he does, then after it comes the “what” he is going to do.  In this case, Paul is saying that because he has a Christ-love compulsion he no longer sees people the way he used to, before he was a disciple of the Lord Jesus.  This is an automatic result, it's not something you have to "do."  If you have Christ-love in you, the compulsion will automatically result in you seeing people differently.  

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh (even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer).

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  

Do you see that dramatic change in the way he sees people?  When we look at others “according to the flesh,” that’s speaking of them as physical beings we can see.  So, those eyes see people as girls or black or old white men, or silly or Muslims or whatever.  Those are the eyes most of us have (sadly), even within churches.  But when we see people as spiritual beings, we see them as eternal – people who right now are “naked” living in this temporary “tent” until we are resurrected (review earlier in the chapter). 

But then something happens to us.  After we are baptized we are “born again,” and we actually become a “new creature.”  We are still caged in this temporary tent, but now our nature has changed.  Like the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, we are transformed when we are baptized. 

Check these out from another letter Paul wrote:

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  (Romans 6:3-4) I urge you … to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God: your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and teleios.  (Romans 12:1-2)

So Paul believes that when we are born again we are supposed to change our very nature, and to see the world differently.  From now on our body (or tent or building) is just a container that we use in service to God (worship).  We grow in this to spiritual maturity (teleios). 

A Disciple

What do you see when someone is baptized?  Catholics see a baby who they believe is now safe from hell.  Others see it as a mere “outward sign” of something else.  Others think baptism is a necessary thing to get one’s sins forgiven – a kind of spiritual bath. 

But Paul saw it very differently!  For him it’s a major transformation, after which you’re clean, but so much more – you are a completely different critter!  You no longer crawl, now you fly.  You’re no longer an ugly worm gorging yourself on leaves, but now you are a beautiful Monarch butterfly – migrating thousands of miles to selflessly keep the species alive. 

A Reborn Disciple ... with a job to do

Paul did what we should do, too: see a newly baptized disciple as someone who is a baby, now ready to grow in this new body and live in this world.  That’s seeing people according to the Spirit instead of seeing them according to the flesh. 

Now all things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

I put the references to God in all caps above, so you could see the relationship between God, Christ and “us,” Paul and his people. 

As you know, sin separated us from God.  But just as the prodigal son came home and begged his father to be a servant in the house, so we “came home,” and that’s when were reconciled to God.  He welcomed us back into HIS house (temple), where now we live and work. This reconciliation was possible because Jesus died on the cross. 

And what is our work?  “He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  It’s our job to help others to “come home” and also be reconciled to God. 

That is what Paul did when the church in Corinth was established.  He gave the word of reconciliation.  The word of reconciliation is another way to describe evangelism.  It’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey.” (Matthew 28.19-20)  It’s also what Jesus described in Luke 15 when the shepherd leaves the 99 to reconcile the one lost sheep. 

This is important to understand because …  

First 

We have to “go” to find the lost one.  You and I (if we see people the way God does) are like the slaves who invite people into God’s great banquet (Matt 22:2–14). 

Or to put it in our modern context, leaving the 99 to go after the one means we are like Jesus leaving heaven to come to earth searching for us.  Or like Jesus who left his own family to do his ministry, we must also be prepared to leave our churches, our friends our families … whatever it takes.  The lost people aren't (presumably) in church every Sunday.  They’re on the street, or dealing with a hangover or waking up in a strange bed. “Go” means “leave here and GO.” 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."  (Matthew 13:44-46)

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for my name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."  (Matthew 19:29)

(Note – this isn't leaving because you’re unhappy – it’s leaving specifically because you are concerned with doing God’s work.  And I’m not at all suggesting that you immediately abandon everything right now.  Rather, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to get God’s job done.  Sometimes that will include giving your life, other times it’s giving up relationships.  But it’s always a sacrifice!)

Second

This is important because having a ministry of “reconciliation” is a lot different than most people see evangelism.  It’s not preaching.  It’s not condemning.  Yelling at the lost, calling them names, scaring them, mistreating them … even a moron knows that won’t work.  That lost lamb out on the ledge is in danger.  He is frightened.  He is alone and scared, and doesn't know who to trust.  He doesn't need to be charged by a “Christian” and yelled at. 

Reconciliation

To coax a frightened, scared, humiliated creature into salvation and reconciliation is done with great care!  Remember that Paul didn't see people “according to the flesh!”  According to the flesh, that woman may seem to be a sleazy party girl.  That guy may look like a fierce gang member.  To Saul’s army, Goliath looked like a gigantic, terrifying warrior.  But David saw him as a scummy little flea compared to God.  And Paul went to dirty, unwashed Gentiles and ate with them.  He fellowshipped the scummiest of people.  Not because he trusted them, or was himself super-brave; but because he walked by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5.6-9).

When you come to understand that your evangelism isn't about preaching or yelling, but it’s about rescuing the lost, then you’ll want to start seeing your coworkers differently.  He’s not merely your boss, she’s not “merely” your colleague, but rather they are people who are lost or rescued.  They are dedicated disciples who have been born again, or they are “Christian” in name, but their devotion is very little.  And when you see people as in need of reconciliation instead of having to be “fixed” or learn how to behave themselves, then your approach will automatically change for the better. 

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

This last section begins with another “therefore.”  Our work or ministry of reconciliation makes us essentially “ambassadors.” 

Before telephones and rapid transit, ambassadors were important, because they spoke for their king.  When a queen of England sent an ambassador to Spain, that man spoke for his queen.  He could not say what he wanted to say, or act how he wanted to act.  If he were a good ambassador, he spoke exactly as the queen would have him speak and behaved as he should.  When the Spanish king summoned him, he came.  And when the Spanish king asked him questions, he answered.  He was a kind of slave on loan to another monarch. 

That’s what our life on earth is like.  God is our king.  He has put us here to do HIS work, not ours.  He has put us here to say HIS words, not ours.  And we are here to do His bidding.  So when we have opportunity, we speak on his behalf.  That means when the lost of the world hear us speak, they are actually hearing the voice of God.  Are you up for such a task? 

Operating as God’s ambassador is not the way typical Christians see themselves these days.  We love to say we’re not perfect, as if to remove from ourselves the responsibility – and then we can lie and cheat and be mean like everyone else.  “After all,” we tell ourselves, “We’re not Jesus or the Apostles or prophets!” 

Paul would disagree with this attitude.  Paul says that it was GOD who gave us this ministry.  That means we don’t get to choose it.  Here’s the way Paul described it in his letter to the church in Ephesus:

We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Paul said that our ministry is one of “reconciliation.”   

But Jesus would call our work “disciple-making” in the great commission.  In the Sermon On the Mount (SOM) Jesus called us “peacemakers.”  Building a bridge between God and man – this is the work of a minister of reconciliation, of an Ambassador for God. 

If you remember the SOM, you’ll perhaps recognize that the beatitudes are actually a job description of this work.  I’ll sign off with this (your) job description, and pray that you’ll accept it.  I’ll pray that you also experience and share Christ-love, and that you’ll devote yourself to no longer see people “according to the flesh,” but rather see them as eternal beings, temporarily living in tents as we wander through the desert of this life. 

And I’ll pray that this Christ-love will also compel you to do the work of a minister of reconciliation and a faithful ambassador of God. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers [you reconcilers], for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

(Matthew 5:3-16)