“World Peace.” It appears to be the greatest desire of every beauty queen. Of course we all long for world peace, but often we cannot even make peace on a smaller scale. We need not look to Washington to find quarreling and arguing; division and infighting are present on a smaller scale everywhere we turn. There is division on your job, in your church, and even in your home. Why can’t we all just get along?
Peace is elusive because it is expensive to pursue and difficult to keep. Click To Tweet
One of the biggest reasons we can not get along is that peace is expensive. To get along with others often involves forgiving an offense and being OK with being the offended one. Being unified rather than divided means surrendering some of my control and many of my desires for the greater good. Making peace is not always fun.
Nevertheless, God’s word is plain in many places regarding the responsibility of Christians to pursue peace:
Romans 12:18
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Hebrews 12:14
Strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Psalm 34:14
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
1 Peter 3:10-12
For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
In Matthew 5:9, Jesus said,
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Peace seems to be elusive. In American culture we have lost the ability to debate and disagree agreeably. Rather than love one another in disagreements, we jump to name calling and broad generalizations. A person cannot have a different opinion about caring for the poor without being immediately labeled as a result of their opinion.
Unfortunately, within the church we are not often much better. Churches find reasons to argue and fight for any and every reason. Why? Because living in peace and understanding is much more difficult than living in division. Loving one another in a biblical way is much harder than throwing mud at those with whom we disagree. Arguing with our spouse is easier than seeking a solution. Gossip is easier than loving rebuke.
Peace is elusive because peace is hard. But, for the Christian, peace is not an option, it is a command of our King. Pursue peace at all costs. There may be a time when peace is no longer the option, but when that time comes, division should always bring us pain and tears, not a sense of pride and accomplishment.
