How a Book Club Taught Me About Reconciliation

I recently shared on the ABIDE Instagram page how a group of friends and I went through a book together called Own Your Everyday by Jordan Lee Dooley. One of my friends from college asked a variety of other girls from our college to be part of this book club, soon turned Bible study, and now great friends. You see, we each on an individual level had relationships that looked different from one another. Some were roommates, some had classes together, some barely had talked before. Yet this never stopped any of us from showing up each week and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable with one another. We had hearts that were not only open to learning from what God was doing but to also learn from each other. We came wanting to learn new things about each other, whether it was goofy fun facts or some of our biggest struggles. We switched off prayer partners each week, allowing us to get to know that person on an individual level and to be able to partner in prayer. It wasn’t until after 6 weeks of weekly zoom calls and exchanged messages, that we all got together in person to hang out. It was that day we got to share about just how miraculous God was in bringing each of us together. The term “kindred spirits” was used, and it accurately describes our experience. A group of women who came from different backgrounds, friendships, experiences, and familiarity with one another, yet all united by a passion for Jesus and a love for others.

Now you may be wondering why I’m sharing this with you. It’s because I think it is a great example of how we can go about the ministry of reconciliation. We have been diving into the different steps on how to bring reconciliation to our world, and we ended with “take action”. Our faith is one that should be full of steps forward in action (as Jordan says in her book even if you “fail or fall down” you can still fall forward). We have to constantly have the courage to challenge ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone out to where God calls us. In my story, my friend Ellie was the first one to take an action step forward. She felt God calling her to bring together these girls, and what did she do? She said yes. She went out and invited each of us, even though her relationship with each of us and our relationships with each other all looked different. She set out to creatively pick out a book for us all to read, she took the vision and put it into action with expectations for the group. She made it happen! We have to be like Ellie where when God tells us, hey I am inviting you to be my ambassador- to continue the ministry of reconciliation- we say “Yes!”. We have to remove ourselves from the anxiety and fear of being uncomfortable or the uncertainty of how things would play out and instead be concerned about carrying out the vision God has set for us. I don’t know what concerns Ellie had about the group before she set out to do it, but I am so grateful she didn’t let it stop her.

In the Bible, there’s a story about how a man named Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, died. When Jesus arrived it is a beautiful point in the story how Jesus interacts with Lazarus’ two sisters. Jesus already knew them very well, and the two sisters had different ways they approached Jesus. Yet Jesus met each sister where they were at and with what they needed. One needed someone to cry with and Jesus did that. Another needed someone to remind her of her faith in God and Jesus did that. Jesus met them where they were at. Every week in our Bible study group we would need to be intentional to reach out to our prayer partner and make an effort to get to know them, even if it was uncomfortable (it can be intimidating to facetime someone you’ve never talked with). It was really through learning to see each girl for who she was, to take time to learn about her story and what she needed in that exact moment. Every girl was different and so it was coming in with ears that were ready to listen and a heart that was ready to seek to understand who was on the other side of that call- another daughter of the high king- a fellow sister in Christ. When we are seeking new relationships and meeting people who are different than us it is exactly like this. We have to approach that person with a posture of “I am going to meet them where they are at”, “I am going to listen all day long until I get to know who is sitting in front of me, what makes them tick, who has God created them to be”. We have to come in without assumptions, stereotypes, presuppositions- all of it. Because if we don’t, then how will we ever see the person for who they truly are. How will we ever be able to start the journey of reconciliation if we don’t even start from a place that is ready to do so? I know it is uncomfortable to step into a place, a friendship, a conversation that is unfamiliar, but friend I am telling you right now, that is the job God has for you.

Now I want to focus on the group of girls as a whole to look at how we can do relationships with people, regardless of how well we know one another. I have talked before about how we all have the same #1 vocation and purpose in life, which is to bring glory to God’s kingdom. If we take the fact that we all have the same vocation in life and combine it with the fact that each of us is a child of God, then we are united by a pretty strong force, if you ask me. Those two things in themselves give us a lot of similarities and things to relate over. In the case of the group of girls, I already mentioned how we were all at different places in our relationships with each other and in life. We had different interests, personalities, skills, opinions. I’m sure we don’t all agree on everything, yet we all became so close on a spiritual level. That was because of our shared love for the Lord, our shared purpose of bringing glory to God’s Kingdom, and the fact that we are all sisters in Christ. We still came together as a whole celebrating one another, asking questions, sharing, listening, and laughing. We didn’t pretend as if there were no differences among the group, but instead, we embraced them. We took each of those things that made us all unique and said here they are, but I am going to allow the arms of the Father to wrap around all of us. When we are setting out to bring reconciliation to areas of our lives, let’s remind ourselves of the fact that we all share the similarity of being children of God and bringing glory to His name. Take a step further and remind yourself of this each time you meet someone new, each time you disagree and let it unite you with one another. Have open eyes for who you can bring into the group of God’s children, not isolate. Hold each other accountable for not allowing the enemy and the worldly way of letting differences divide us and cast that away. After 7 weeks of meeting with these girls, I have different relationships with each of them, have different levels of knowledge of who they are, have my own unique personality, but I love each of them equally as a sister in Christ. Say yes to where God calls, put action to the vision He has set before you, meet people where they are at, unite yourselves as God’s children, and go out together continuing to seek out others… path to reconciliation here we come.

♡ Lindsay

Reflection: Below is a checklist of different ideas on you can be apart of awakening how we do community. We want to be strengthening and encouraging others, reaching out to people who feel unseen, celebrating life with one another. Let’s partner together in challenging ourselves to begin taking steps forward towards reconciliation in our lives and in the world. You can download it if you want to check different items off as you begin or pin it to keep as a reminder for the new way you’re going to go about building relationships!