Blessed Are The Peacemakers
(Matthew 5:9 NKJV) Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
The first three beatitudes (poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness) deal with humbling ourselves before God and man and are fundamental to any form of personal piety. The next three (hungering and thirsting after righteousness, being merciful and being pure in heart) concern ones own right actions and attitudes. The last three - (peacemaking, persecution and being vilified) deal with the righteous person in conflict with an unrighteous world. Peacemaking presupposes the other beatitudes. It is futile and self-defeating to try to make peace without virtues such as meekness or righteousness or mercy or purity of heart.
"Blessed are the peacemakers" calls the Christian to take the peacemaker within their hearts and let Him loose on the world. Peacemaking takes good people and asks them to produce a good world. There are too many badly divided churches full of very good people. Good people need to learn to get along, to let Jesus in them make peace among them, if they are to be truly called "sons of God".
Being A Peacemaker
Peacemaking is the
strenuous exercise of wrestling a self-centered and conflict ridden world
into the peaceful and blessed paths and patterns of God. The Bible tells
us to
"(Ephesians
4:3) strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Thus unity comes from the cross and is of the Spirit. We need to maintain
it. But maintaining peace is hard work. Verbs like endeavor, strive and
pursue are used to describe the effort needed.
(Romans
14:19 NKJV) Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and
the things by which one may edify another.
Peacemaking seems to be strenuous stuff indeed!
Peacemaking is based
on applying godly wisdom to human relationships. It is the opposite of
the competitive relationships that divide the world.
(James 3:16-18 NKJV) For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion
and every evil thing are there. {17} But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy
and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. {18} Now the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace
Peacemaking vs Being Holy
It may seem incredibly
obvious but in order to be a peacemaker you first have to stop being divisive.
Believe it or not divisive people are liked in religious circles because
their basic statement is "our group is right and all the other groups
are wrong". This is a great struggle for me because as a bible teacher
I consider correct doctrine to be very important. God requires it of me.
(James 3:1, 2 Timothy 2:15). I have at times been overly harsh on my brothers
and sisters in Christ who do not share my calling or my burden. At times
I have been divisive and controversial. Sometimes this has been proper
and necessary. Often it has not been. Jesus was both a controversialist
and a peacemaker. Lets see what He had to say about this balance.
(Mark
9:50 NKJV) "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how
will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."
We are called to be BOTH salty and peaceful - but saltiness has the priority
because without it we are useless.(Matthew 5:13) The same thought is expressed
in:
(Hebrews 12:14 NKJV) Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without
which no one will see the Lord.
We are to pursue peace with all men and we are also to pursue holiness
. Our attempts to procure peace must not cause us to compromise core values
or become corrupt of heart.
Many Christian groups
that seek broad-based appeal have drifted away from sound teaching and
its "saltiness" in order to avoid internal conflict. Though
this is a common mistake it should not totally dishearten us in out attempts
to make peace. What we need to do is study the boundaries that the New
Testament sets for who is in and who is out.
In Galatians 3:28 and James
2:1-10 we are clearly told to make peace between different ethnic and
cultural backgrounds (eg Jew and Gentile), between different social backgrounds
(rich and poor, slave and free) and across gender (male and female)).
In Romans 14 we are not to judge our brother with regard to food or drink
or Sabbaths. Jesus made it clear that we are not to judge externals such
as giving (Mark 12:42,43) which is internally regulated (2 Corinthians
9:7). These are our issues of tolerance.
However, there are some things
we are not to tolerate but instead to discipline if we are to have peace.
These include immoral lifestyles (1 Corinthians 5:1-13), indolence (Titus
1:12,13, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12) participation in idolatry or the occult
(Revelation 2:20), and blatantly wrong doctrine such as denying the resurrection.
(1 Timothy 4:1-8, 2 Timothy 2:15-18)
God's peace comes
from God's rule and there is no peace without it.
(Isaiah
48:22 NKJV) "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the
wicked."
It is ungodly to have a sharp dispute over whether the rapture will occur
at the beginning, middle or end of the tribulation - such disputes are
fleshly (Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 3:1-5). It is equally ungodly
to gladly tolerate adulterous or homosexual lifestyles (1 Corinthians
5:1-13, 6:9-11). Peacemaking must reflect God's rule and God's values.
Thus peacemaking is not universal niceness but the ordering of creation
into the righteous and peace-filled paths of God. Peace is not just absence
of conflict. It is the creation of a community that knows the presence
of God and which fixes their hearts on Him.
(Isaiah
26:3 NKJV) You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on
You, Because he trusts in You.
Godly peacemaking
is at war with sin. The great peacemakers have a powerful ethical conscience.
(1
Peter 3:11 NKJV) Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek
peace and pursue it.
Jesus, Paul, and John the Baptist were all peacemakers of great power
and strong ethics. This ethical basis gives a strong platform for winning
the war against the angry, disordering and conflict ridden forces of the
world. Without such an ethical basis you end up giving too much ground.
There is a historical tendency to end up being ruled by that which you
tolerate. Israel became tolerant to idolatry under Solomon and was soon
ruled by idolatrous kings. Unless the Church's ethical conscience is aroused
it will be taken over by the sins it tolerates. The current moves in the
Uniting Church in Australia to ordain active homosexuals is a case in
point. The Christian peacemaker need to have worked through his or her
faith and have a firm grasp of those values which are essential and non-negotiable.
This is especially true for those working in cross-cultural situations.
Pursuing Peace
To swing the pendulum back a bit, now that we have established our ethical boundaries, we will look at our duty as Christians to refrain from division and to pursue and promote peace. Lets start with a few very well known bible verses...
(Galatians 5:19-23 NKJV) Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, {20} idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, {21} envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. {22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The "works of
the flesh" are incredibly divisive:
"hatred,
contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,
heresies, envy, murders,"
And the fruit of the Spirit are incredibly peaceful:
"love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
{23} gentleness, self-control".
So the starting point for peacemaking is living a life under the control
of the Holy Spirit. Paul restates this in his epistle to the Romans:
(Romans
8:4-6 NKJV) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled
in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
{5} For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of
the Spirit. {6} For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace.
The starting point
for peacemaking is a renewed mind that is set on the things of God and
which is soaked in faith-filled prayer and free from undue anxiety.
(Isaiah
26:3 NKJV) You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on
You, Because he trusts in You. (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV) Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God; {7} and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.
Peacemaking
is thus, first of all, a spiritual activity that flows from faith.
There are two sides
to this. At the same time that we pursue the things of the Spirit we must
also actively put to death the things of the flesh if we to make peace.
(Ephesians
4:31-32 NKJV) Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking
be put away from you, with all malice. {32} And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
It takes self-control
not to gossip, not to vent our frustrations and not to take revenge when
we are provoked. Its a good idea not to let the war start in the first
place but to absorb the insult with grace.
(Luke
6:27-31 NKJV) "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you, {28} "bless those who curse you, and pray
for those who spitefully use you. {29} "To him who strikes you on
the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your
cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. {30} "Give to everyone
who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them
back. {31} "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to
them likewise.
Peacemaking
depends on not retaliating and having the spiritual greatness of heart
to be able to temporarily set aside one's legitimate rights in the cause
of the cross.
Tying this discussion
together we can see that peacemaking requires a powerful infilling of
the Holy Ghost if we are a) To manifest the fruits of the Spirit b) have
our minds full of life and peace 3) be self-controlled with our gossip
etc 4) be able to graciously absorb insult and injury. Fortunately God
is not stingy in the way He dispenses the Holy Spirit to those who admit
they are in desperate need of His power.
(Luke
11:13 NKJV) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to those who ask Him!"
You and I need to come before God daily and ask God to be filled with
the Holy Spirit so we can be peacemakers in His world.
(Ephesians
5:18 NKJV) And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but
be filled with the Spirit,
Today, while I was
writing this article a friend rang me to say that he did not need a poster
I had spent many hours doing for him. He had done it himself. Last week
it was a huge rush to be done ASAP. This week it didn't matter. I fumed.
I wanted to tell him how insulting and thoughtless he was. God always
convicts me at such times and I could hardly write an article on peacemaking
and bite someone's head off!
"Bless
those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you"
came to mind so I prayed that the event the poster was for would be successful
and that Mike would have a good day. I also prayed that God would teach
him to be a bit more considerate! That's allowed I think. For once I reacted
rightly. Something that could have become a contention was made peaceful
and I even feel peaceful about it now. As Proverbs says it is best to
stop these contentions before they creep into the relationship and spoil
it forever.
(Proverbs 18:19 NKJV) A brother offended is harder to win than a strong
city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Sons of God
Peacemakers will
be called "sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). In other words their
godliness will be so evident that people will characterize them as being
"just like God" in character, sons of God. There is an interesting
association between peacemaking and being called sons of God which happened
just after Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water. Matthew records:
(Matthew
14:32-33 NKJV) And when they (Jesus and Peter) got into the boat, the
wind ceased. {33} Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped
Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."
Jesus ability to master the unruly elements and bring peace marked Him
as a "son of God". Something similar may have happened in the
multi-cultural church in Antioch which was a united and vibrant congregation.
(Acts
11:24-26 NKJV) For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
And a great many people were added to the Lord. {25} Then Barnabas departed
for Tarsus to seek Saul. {26} And when he had found him, he brought him
to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church
and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians
in Antioch.
It seems that the harmony in the church resulted in them being called
Christians that is "little Christs".
(Galatians
3:26 NKJV) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Christians
are sons of God but not all Christians are "called" sons of
God by those who know them. Our nature as sons of God is hidden and awaits
to be revealed.
(Romans
8:14-19 NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons
of God. {15} For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba,
Father." {16} The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are children of God, {17} and if children, then heirs; heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may
also be glorified together. {18} For I consider that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall
be revealed in us. {19} For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly
waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
As we engage in peacemaking we bring creation out of its bondage into
decay and into the peace of God.(This will happen in all its fullness at
the resurrection but we can have a foretaste now) As we do so our nature
as sons of God is fully revealed. For instance when Jesus healed the sick
and restored peace to broken bodies and reversed the bondage to decay
it was evident that He was a son of God. Jesus yearned to reveal who He
truly was. When the Devil tempted him it was with in appropriate answers
to the challenge "if you are the Son of God....". As sons of
God, led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14 above), we declare who we really are
when we avoid quarrels, mend our relationships, care for the sick, free
the captives and reconcile people to each other. It is our ability to
bless others and to love our enemies that sets us apart from the world
and all who live according to the flesh.
Practical Pointers For Peacemaking
(See my article on Christian Conflict Resolution for 20 tips on this.)
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