Peace: Keeping or Making?

Jesus talks a lot about peace. He talks about it like something physical, something to be bestowed, something that you can will to rest upon a place. He talks about it like a gift straight from heaven.

The biblical word used for peace encompasses more than just “without strife.” It has a sense of wholeness, of “all is right.”

So in Matthew 5:9 when He tells us “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God”…what does He really mean? Or rather, what does it mean to be a peacemaker?

I think more often, we’re familiar with peacekeepers. They’re the people who will offer compromises to keep from rocking the boat. And oh, friends, am I guilty of this. I don’t like conflict. I don’t generally think of myself as a “people pleaser,” but I am definitely a peacekeeper. I noticed this about myself as a preteen, when I would say anything to be agreeable. I’d claim to like things I didn’t, just because the person asking the question liked it.

I still remember walking back to the school from the track one day, hearing myself do something like that. I don’t remember the question–but I remember this hot ball of frustration in my chest. Why did I say that? I thought. I do NOT like that. Why can’t I just say so?

It was because I didn’t want to disagree. I didn’t want to rock the boat. I didn’t want to be the odd girl out. And so…I lied.

That’s a stark way to look at it–but accurate, at least for me. I’d say that most every lie I have ever told was for that same purpose: to keep the peace. To keep from rocking the boat. To keep from upsetting someone.

But I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees the problem there. Not just with lying, but with the fact that lying for the sake of peace means that peace is then counterfeit.

Now, let’s take a pause for a moment. Being truthful does not mean being rude, nasty, insulting, or otherwise negative. When someone asks if you like their new haircut and you don’t, you don’t have to be insulting. You can find something good about it, or even say that another style is still you’re favorite, but [insert something positive]. Because, let’s face it, your opinion is not FACT. Remember those exercises in grade school? The fact that I don’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t good or likable. It’s just preference. And if my preference doesn’t align with yours, that’s no reason to hurt anyone’s feelings. I have a real problem with people who are so proud of “always saying what they’re thinking.” Having no filter is no more honest than phrasing your words kindly. Trust me. I had a big argument with someone once, and something they said stuck with me for years. When we finally talked about it, I was told, “But I didn’t mean that! If you’ve let that come between us, that’s Satan at work.”

Maybe…but maybe it was Satan who planted the words to begin with. Believing them was not my fault. They were said by someone who takes pride in being “blunt and honest,” so why wouldn’t I believe them?

We shouldn’t lie to keep the peace–but we should still treasure that peace enough to take it into account before we speak hurtful words.

And if we treasure peace, we don’t just keep it. We don’t just admire it. We don’t just try to preserve it. We don’t just compromise in order to maintain it.

The peace of Christ is something different, and we’re called to do something more. We’re called to make it.

We’re called to CREATE that soul-deep, “all is well” peace. We’re called to create it with love, with faith, with sacrifice, and with hope. Not with lies, compromises, insults, and division.

The peace of Christ is when you would rather die than deny Him–and rather be killed than kill.
The peace of Christ is when you help those who hurt you.
The peace of Christ is when you love the unlovable.
The peace of Christ is when you welcome the outcast, not cast out the one who has offended you.
The peace of Christ is when you greet an insult with a compliment.
The peace of Christ is when you seek to understand rather than to be understood.
The peace of Christ is when you answer a demand with a gift.

And do you know what happens when we do that? Jesus tells us, right there in the Sermon on the Mount.

We are called sons of God.
Heirs of the Kingdom of God.
Brothers and sisters of Christ.
We are given authority in Heaven and on Earth.
We are made like Him.

Peace, my friends, is something not just to seek, not just to preserve, but to make. It’s an active practice. And it doesn’t rely on pleasing people–it relies 100% on pleasing God by our interactions with them. On remembering that He loves them every bit as much as He loves us. And on treating them like they, too, are a son or daughter of God.

That ought to change everything.

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