“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

These words, spoken by Jesus Christ during the Sermon on the Mount, suggest that our proper worship of God is tied in with, even dependent upon our getting along with people.

reconcile, vb. trans…. 1. To restore (persons) to friendly relations after a quarrel or estrangement; to reconcile to God: restore to favour and grace by repentance, after sin and estrangement.

−Webster’s Dictionary

So we are to “restore friendly relations” with our brothers before, or as part of the process of giving offerings to God.

This sequence is interesting in light of God’s “greatest commandments”, (Matthew 22:34 -40) to (1) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and to (2) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God comes first. Yet, an essential aspect of our relationship with Him is our relationship with others.

Matthew 5:21 -26 – the text that surrounds the quote that began this column – graphically and symbolically emphasizes and elaborates on the importance of this tie-in. Study it when you can.

The God-centric imperative of reconciling with our brothers and sisters should guide black folks’ actions not only as individuals and also as a people at home and abroad. Violent group conflicts rage in Africa involving Sudan and Darfur ; Ethiopia and Somalia . Factions war within Chad and the Central African Republic . Civil wars are winding down between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, and between the Ivorian government and northern forces. Thank God we now have peace in Sierra Leone and Liberia . May peace last. Lasting peace requires at least some degree of reconciliation.

In America we have the stubborn, decades long gang warfare between Bloods, Crips, and others. Less violent but similarly intense conflicts blaze between individuals and groups within the broader black community. Even in congregations quarrels can get ridiculously drawn out.

Let’s believe in and act out God’s requirement for human reconciliation. Let’s be doers of that word. Let it govern our perspectives on family relations, road rage, and foreign policy. Let no one convince us that it is too simplistic, naïve, or unsophisticated for the “real world”. It is simply God’s will.