Peace Breaker, Peace Faker or Peacemaker?

Peace is from God. It is based on being in a right relationship with Him. Peace is a state of being, a condition. It is healthy and harmonious relationships between God and people and among people; it results in wholeness, completeness and well-being.

Unfortunately this world tends to not be interested in healthy and harmonious relationships as much as it is in having more power, wealth and other natural pleasures. We have rebelled against God; instead of seeking good things from Him, we seek to go our own way and get good things through our own effort. As we do so, we are often willing to lie, cheat or commit violence against others if we think we can get away with it. Our sinful desires drive us into conflict with each other.

The peace breaker

Not long ago I heard a sermon in which the speaker posed this question: “Are you a peace breaker, a peace faker or a peacemaker?” The peace breaker could be considered anyone who has lied, cheated, or done violence to someone else. It is the person who treats someone else with cold indifference for no good reason, or who kills someone else with derogatory words. It is the company which undertakes certain obligations then fails to keep its commitments, or the official in a position of public trust who betrays that trust. It is the ethnic group which embarks on a campaign of murder or ethnic cleansing against another group, or the state which disregards the rights or needs of other states in its foreign policy.

We have all been peace breakers at some point because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) We have all broken the Ten Commandments, which outline God’s expectations for our attitude toward Him and our treatment of each other. We have treated each other in a way we would not want to be treated; this has a way of becoming a vicious cycle as we use mistreatment at the hands of others to justify our own mistreatment of others. Instead of seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness and loving others as we love ourselves, we have sought more things for ourselves and reacted fearfully and angrily to anyone who might upset our apple cart.

The peace faker

We generally recognize that our lives and our world are in a less than ideal condition. Most of us want peace of some kind — peace in our lives, our families, our communities and our world. From time to time we get tired of trying to have our own way all the time, and just want a little relief from the peace breakers around us. At those times we may want peace so much that we are willing to pay any price for it. The peace faker is the one who will take peace at any price. The problem is that the peace is counterfeit and is not worth the price being paid for it.

A relationship is broken, is not what it should be. The peace faker, rather than addressing the problem, decides to act as if there is no problem. Someone avoids seriously engaging an estranged family member. Community leaders claim to not be aware of the legitimate grievances of a bitter and resentful minority. A country, in its dealings with a rival state which is pursuing expansionist and destabilizing policies, avoids all confrontation and tries to placate its adversary with concession after concession. The peace faker thinks that if unpleasantness is avoided, that if the conflict is managed in such a way that negative consequences are avoided, then there is peace.

It takes wisdom and discernment to know what to do in a conflict. We must be honest and clear-headed enough to know when the other side is causing the problem and when we are causing the problem. We must be sensitive to the effect of our words and actions on others. Sometimes managing conflict is the better part of valor when it buys time for a solution to come about or when there is simply no better alternative.

But we must be clear about something: peace is not merely the absence of conflict or its consequences, violent or otherwise. It is healthy and harmonious relationships, a condition of well-being. The peace faker gives up on reaching real peace. And even the false peace — the calm — that is attained may not last.

The peacemaker

Ultimately the only way to have real peace is through communion with — through a relationship with — God. When we are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are no longer enemies of God. That in turn means we no longer have to be enemies of each other. And we receive the Holy Spirit, through which we can partake of the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control of God Himself. To the degree that we as individuals, families, communities and nations are reconciled to God through Christ, we can experience peace with Him and receive grace from Him to be peacemakers.

However, there is natural resistance by this world against the good news of Jesus Christ. Those who attempt to spread awareness of new life through Christ will not only be opposed at some point, but may even be accused of causing conflict! How ironic and perplexing it can be for believers, who simply want to bless others, to find themselves in such a situation. Jesus himself addressed this issue, assuring His followers that the advance of the kingdom of God takes priority over the false peace that comes from avoiding critical debate of spiritual issues:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39)

This does not mean believers should be mean-spirited. While we are called to spread the gospel, we are also called to reflect the love of Christ in our relationships with other people. If we are really in Christ we must show the fruit of the Holy Spirit mentioned above. The apostle Paul said, “For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people….To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some. I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.” (1 Corinthians 9:19, 22-23) A follower of Christ holds the kingdom of God first place in his or her life, and the single most important thing he can do to contribute to peace in this world is to tell others about Jesus. At the same time, there can be and must be considerable flexibility and discretion exercised as to the way in which the believer delivers the gospel message.

There will be plenty of occasions when we don’t immediately have an opportunity to overtly preach the gospel message to people but we do have the opportunity to make a difference by helping to build peace or contribute to a more peaceful environment. The grace of God can help us mend our broken relationships with others, and it can help us play a role in mending broken relationships between other people. Being an effective peacemaker requires us to lose the attitude we may sometimes have of trying to justify ourselves and prove that problems and conflicts are all someone else’s fault. We must be willing to examine ourselves and ask what we may have done to contribute to the situation. Being a peacemaker means being proactive and taking constructive actions to bring people together and increase understanding between them. It is not a passive activity, and is often very hard work.

According to Jesus the most important reason for us to be peacemakers is that it shows the world that we belong to God. God is the ultimate peacemaker; He paid an enormous price so that we could have peace. And if we have really become His spiritual children — if we have partaken of His nature — then we should also be a force for peace and restored relationships within our sphere of influence.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God….You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:9, 14-16)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they? So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

In and of ourselves we cannot be peacemakers. But if we will ask God, He will give us the ability. By His power we can contribute to peace in our corner of the world. And perhaps, if we are successful in this, it will open doors and make people want to know more about Jesus, the Prince of Peace.