Reconciliation @ Work

I have just been given an “interesting opportunity” (euphemism for nasty challenge!) My boss and a relative have a substantial disagreement over a complex area of business involving several financial transactions totaling tens of millions of dollars. I’ve been asked to mediate it in view of the damage it is causing to their family relationship. I’m totally out of my depth in terms of the world of finance, but right in God’s plan in terms of His call for me to bring reconciliation.

In 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, Paul talks about a ministry of reconciliation – initiated by Jesus and passed on to us, His followers. Although this primarily speaks of the reconciliation of people to God, it also speaks of reconciliation of the whole of Creation, which would include people to one another.

Opportunities abound in the workplace for reconciliation on all levels. Every negotiation can be a reconciling act, or it can be a dividing act, depending on the approach of the parties. For example, if I have the “upper hand” in a negotiation, I can approach it with justice and mercy, seeking a solution that truly benefits both sides, or I can take advantage of my superior position to grab everything I can for “my side”. Even more common are the relationships that constantly create conflict and tension. Whatever our daily role, whenever we come across other people we find ourselves in the middle of relational issues. We are called and equipped to bring healing, to value everyone involved, to seek solutions to conflict, to bring wholeness and peace – in short to bring the ministry of reconciliation.

My challenge is to be conscious and intentional about this. I am too flawed a person to do it naturally and so it is essential for me to bring conflicts, and relationship challenges (whether or not involving me directly) to God in prayer. Where I am the cause of hurt and dislocation, it is vital that I be prepared to confess. Where I have been hurt by another, it is vital that I be prepared to forgive. As people who have been given the most extraordinary grace, and shown the most amazing example of love, and equipped by the Holy Spirit with the capacity to be image-bearers of our gracious and loving God, how can we do anything but seek to emulate Jesus? It isn’t easy for any of us, and we mess it up frequently. And yet there are times when, by God’s grace, we get it right – at those times God works through us in ways we’ll perhaps never know.