Through a Glass Darkly

If being a peacemaker makes a citizen of God’s kingdom happy (Matthew 5:9), why is it that so many Christians are not happy unless they are stirring up contention and strife among brothers and sisters? The answer is clear to those who will accept it: it’s because either these folks are not really in the kingdom of God to begin with, or it’s because they are pitifully immature in Christ.

It’s imperitive that peacebreakers either enter the kingdom of God and receive a new nature, or grow up and start living according to the new nature they already have in Christ.

But that’s not likely to happen if mature christians tolerate (or worse, encourage) peacebreakers in their midst. We do a disservice to the body by ignoring the problem of peacebreakers. We must first gently and patiently teach God’s truth and standards of peacemaking to these offenders. But if that very basic teaching of the Bible and of Christ is rejected, then we must expose the practices of these hypocrites or imposters as being unhealthy to the church body.

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but around these parts, “peacebreaking” is a much practiced and respected undertaking amoung church folk. Sadly, this is a very unnatural and perverted environment for a body of believers to tolerate, let alone bring new believers into. The biblical fact is that God hates what these people are doing! And we should too.

Consider these scriptures:

Peacebreaking is a part of the definition of a wicked person:

A naughty person, a wicked man…deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. (Proverbs 6:12-14 KJV)

God hates peacebreakers (so much so that He can’t stand the sight of them):

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:…he that soweth discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19 KJV)

We are to live peaceably with all men:

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18 KJV)

“Agressively” pursuing peace among the body is the worthy way for a Christian to take:

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 KJV)

We are to take note of those who cause division and offenses (scandals, in the Greek) among the body and deal with them:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. (Romans 16:17 KJV)

If we deal with the troublemaker, the trouble goes away:

Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. (Proverbs 26:20 KJV)

And if the trouble goes away we have made peace in the body. That makes us peacemakers at another level: not just keeping from troubling the body, but also being a part of the solution for the body. Are you ready to move to the next level?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 at 1:35 am and is filed under Beatitudes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.