What Is Peacemaking?
Based on what we will see in Scripture this morning and in the sermon to follow, I will offer this three-fold definition of a peacemaker:
“A peacemaker is someone who
1. acknowledges that fellowship has been broken,
2. addresses the issue that has broken fellowship, and
3. takes biblical steps to resolve the issues and to restore fellowship.”
God Calls Us to Peace and Peacemaking
1 Corinthians 7:15 God has called you to peace.
Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called...eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone
1 Peter 3:11 seek peace and pursue it
Peacemaking ought to be normal. It is part and parcel of following Christ.
God Warns Us Against Peacebreaking
Scripture says that we should not associate with divisive people because they are “warped and sinful; self-condemned”:
Titus 3:10-11 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes:
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
The “you” in these verses is plural. Paul is speaking to the members of the church about the church. The church is God’s temple, it is the place where his Spirit dwells. When you encourage division through gossip, slander, murmuring, quarrelling, refusing to talk about issues, or not being active in the church, you are destroying the unity of God’s temple. Scripture promises that anyone who destroys God’s temple will be destroyed by God.
So, you should stop now and ask yourself whether you are a biblical peacemaker or an unbiblical peacebreaker. The answer determines the eternal fate of your soul.
Christ Calls Us To Costly Peace Not Cheap Peace
Dietrich Bonheoffer once wrote about “cheap grace.” “Cheap grace” was a gospel where eternal life was promised without any demand of repentance and without any cost of discipleship. You could refuse to leave all to follow Christ and still have the security of eternal life in heaven. Bonheoffer rightly showed that this “cheap grace” was a false gospel. Following Christ is costly.
Just as “cheap grace” has been preached in many churches, “cheap peace” has been pursued in many churches. “Cheap peace” is peace that is achieved by compromising biblical doctrine and practice to pander to the desires of people. “Cheap peace” refuses to address errors, sweeps problems under the rug, and wants to pretend to have unity where there really is none.
God’s Peace is not cheap peace.
Colossians 1:20 says that Christ made “peace by the blood of his cross.” The peace God made with us was not cheap. It was costly. It was made by the blood of Christ’s cross. Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross as a substitute for sinners. Their sins were laid on him. God’s wrath was poured out on him. It was painful and hideous. It was peacemaking.
In the cross, God 1) acknowledged that fellowship has been broken through our sin, 2) addressed the issue of our sin, and 3) took steps to resolve the issue and to restore fellowship. The removal of the issue–our sin–was accomplished through the blood of God’s Son. It was not cheap and easy. It was painful and costly.
Ephesians 5:1 calls us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children.” If the peacemaking that God undertook was painful and costly and we are called to imitate him, then our peacemaking will be costly as well.
Biblical peacemaking is...
Not mere emotional peace. God did not make peace by having a “peaceful, emotional feeling.” Biblical peacemaking is not an Eagles’ song, “I’ve got a peaceful easy feeling.”
Not pretend peace. God did not make peace by pretending everything was okay. God did not turn a blind eye to our sin and refuse to address it so we could just get past it.
In fact, one of the complaints God had against the leaders in Jeremiah’s day was this:
Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
In other words, they said there was peace when there wasn’t. They “healed the wound lightly.” This means that they did not address the wound in the proper manner. They applied the wrong medicine. They used a bandage when open-heart surgery should have been performed.
Biblical peacemaking is not ignoring problems and pretending that everything is okay. Biblical peacemaking is not pasting on a fake smile and saying “Peace, peace” or “Unity, unity” where there is none. It is not sitting around, pretending that we’re not disagreeing, and singing “I’m So Glad I’m a Part of the Family of God.”
Pretending all is well when it is not is as deadly to a relationship as it is unbiblical. Imagine if we acted that way with our bodies.
Imagine a man that cuts his toe on some metal while walking at the beach. He says to himself, “I am not going to address that cut or do anything to fix it because God wants me to have health.”
Sometime later the toe is black with gangrene. The man says, “I will ignore that toe and I refuse to do address it because God calls me to health.”
The gangrene spreads to his foot, his calf, his thigh, into his torso. Each time it grows worse, the man says, “Health! Health! God calls me to health. I will not do address this!”
What will happen to that man? He will die saying “Health! Health!” where there was no health.
What should he have done? When he saw that the cut was not healing correcting, he should have taken steps to ensure the healing. And, if his steps did not work, he should have sought out help to end the infection before it grew worse.
Being concerned for health in the body does not mean you refuse to address whatever is unhealthy in your body. Concern for health means that you acknowledge when something unhealthy exists and you do all you can to remove the sickness. It is the same with our friendships, marriages, workplaces, and churches.
The friendship, family, or church that shouts “Peace! Peace!” when there is not peace and refuses to acknowledge that anything is wrong will end up like that man–dead!
Not appeasement. God did not make peace with sinful man by giving us whatever we wanted.
I remember seeing a television program which featured a mother with a 3 year old son who weighed over one-hundred pounds. This three year old ate a Big Mac and fries for lunch everyday. Whenever he asked for anything to eat, his mother gave him whatever he wanted. When the interviewer pointed out that she was ruining her son’s health and probably killing him, she began to scream, “I love my son! I love my son! And that means if he wants something, I give it to him. I love my son and so he gets what he wants.”
This mother obviously felt that loving her son meant bowing to his every desire. If she didn’t give him what he wanted, he would cry and pout. So, she thought, being loving meant “pandering to the pouter.” The result of such pandering was detrimental to this boy’s health.
But how often do we find “pandering to the pouters” in our families, friendships, and churches. How often is it that if someone pouts and withdraws for long enough, yells loud enough, gives their sob-story often enough, or threatens to leave that we change our behavior and give-in?
Could you imagine what it would look like if we did that? There are people in
Not avoiding confrontation. In the book of Genesis, after the fall, we see two sinful ways of dealing with conflict. One manner is that chosen by Cain. He was jealous of his brother, so he killed him. He chose the option of attack.
The manner is that chosen by Adam and Eve when they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. They did not choose to “attack,” they chose to “avoid.” They hid from the Lord, hoping that if he did not see them, then everything would be okay.
These two responses could be characterized as “fight or flight.” Neither one is biblical. We cannot avoid the issues that break fellowship by running away. And, our confrontation cannot be an attack, through which we are merely trying to “win” and get our way.
God did not make peace by avoiding confrontation with our sin. Biblical peace never evades the true issue. Just like the man with the cut toe, sometimes you must confront the problem if you are to have health.
Not peace at any cost. God did not make peace by compromising the truth or his righteousness.
Matthew 10:34-36 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
In this passage, Jesus is letting us know that when we stand for biblical truth and righteous behavior even the people closest to us may reject us. That is the cost of honoring God. We do not have permission from Jesus to seek peace at the cost of purity in doctrine or conduct.
In John 17 (11, 15-16), Jesus prays,
“…keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ...I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
Jesus prayed that his followers would “be one.” He prayed that we would have peace. But, notice what kind of peace it is.
Notice that Jesus prayed that we would be kept from evil and sanctified in God’s Word. That means our peace can never include us sinning, compromising our biblical convictions or acting against our conscience. That means our “peace” can never require that we go against what God has revealed in his Word–whether that be our belief or behavior.
Notice that Jesus also prayed, “that they may be one, even as we are one.” We are to be one as Jesus and the Father are one. What are they divided over? What do they have differing beliefs on? Nothing. We are to strive for complete unity in the truth, not compromised unity.
Jude 1:3 tells us, “to contend for the faith.” There are times when we must contend for the truth. We cannot abandon biblical doctrine or conviction for the sake of ‘cheap peace.’
Christ Calls Us to Costly Peace
Peacemaking is often painful.
Colossians 1:19-22 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death…
Pain of confronting and rebuking. Sometimes peacemaking involves pointing out sin to someone. It may include helping an unbeliever come to understand that he is a sinner who deserves to go to hell. It may include helping a believer understand that his conduct is not in line with the Word of God.
Proverbs 19:11 says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” There are times when the proper thing to do is to overlook an offense. We need to possess the wisdom and the maturity to know when to do so.
Yet, Scripture often calls for us to confront and rebuke sin:
Luke 17:3 If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him
1 Timothy 5:20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Titus 1:9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith
Titus 2:15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Scripture tells us to avoid quarrelling. This means we should be free from the love of conflict and argument. But avoiding quarrelling does not mean avoiding confrontation.
2 Timothy 2:24-25 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
Notice that Timothy is called to both avoid being quarrelsome and to correct his opponents. This means that pointing out error is not necessarily being quarrelsome.
Done correctly, confronting and rebuking sin is what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ, to be godly. God confronts and rebukes our sin against him–and it is loving and it is peacemaking. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, confronted for the sake of peace. The people complained in Luke 23:5 “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from
Jesus, the Prince of Peace, also spoke words like these:
Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
John 4:16-18 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true."
We cannot be peacemakers without being willing to openly confront and address the issues that threaten peace with both grace and truth. There can be no “congregational cold-wars.” At a conference in
Pain of confessing and repenting. We have no peace with God unless our sin is addressed, confessed, and repented of. In order to be saved and have “peace with God,” we must suffer the pain of humbling ourselves, admitting that we have done wrong, and believing that we can do no good thing to save ourselves. We must feel the pain of being poor in spirit, we must mourn over our sin. We must have the meekness to being willing to put all our faith in Christ alone to save us from our sins.
It is the same with having peace with one another. When an issue divides us, sometimes it requires the pain of confessing that we have done wrong and being willing to repent, to leave our sin and change our heart, mind, and behavior. When we have done wrong, we cannot have peace with God or one another until we are willing to humble ourselves and admit it.
Peacemaking Requires Action. Making something requires action. Jesus does not call us to be peacewaiters or peacehopers. He calls us to be peacemakers. This means that we must take action. We must take steps. We must take the initiative to make peace. That is what the Scripture teaches:
2 Timothy 2:22 pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace
1 Peter 3:11 seek peace and pursue it.
Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace
Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone
Peace is something for which we must strive. We must seek peace and pursue peace. Will you be someone who sits around and complains that there is no peace? Will you be someone who sits back, ignores problems, and pretends there is peace when there is none? Will you settle for cheap peace?
Or, will you be willing to humble yourself and lovingly, gently, humbly do the hard work of peacemaking in your friendships, your families, and your church? Will you pursue, seek, and strive for the costly peace that honors Christ?
Application
In the next sermon we will examine the steps of biblical peacemaking. For now, I would encourage you to examine yourself with these questions:
- Am I committed to costly peace? Or do I settle for cheap peace?
· Is there someone I am having a conflict with right now?
o How will I address it?
· Is there someone I have sinned against?
o Will I go repent?
· Is there someone I know who is living in sin?
o How will I address it?
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