CHAPTER 3
UNFORTUNATELY CHRISTIANS ARE NOT KNOWN AS PEACEFUL PEOPLE
UNFORTUNATELY CHRISTIANS ARE NOT KNOWN AS PEACEFUL PEOPLE
“Peace,
perfect peace, in this dark world of sin:
The
blood of Jesus whispers peace within.”[1]
Whose fault?
We have made the case that Christians
should be a peaceful people, but those around us might not be so quick to label
us as peace loving. That may not be our
fault at all. It may lie at the feet of
a handful of highly visible “Christian Leaders.” But even if that is true, to the extent that
we follow these leaders, echo their war cries, forward their accusatory emails,
and link to their trouble-making web pages, we are contributing to the view
that Christian people are indeed looking to make trouble rather than to bring
peace.
What
do outsiders think of us? Those who know
us well may think we are soft-headed nice people with good hearts. Maybe they have heard of our mission trips
and our generosity. Perhaps they like us
okay, but think we are a little strange and they have determined to just stay
away from religious conversation with us.
Are
we “the religious right”?
Others
though draw their conclusions from what they have seen in the news and read
on-line. They see us first as
wrong-headed about the social issues of the day and then as vicious fighters
for what we see as right. The issues
from their view are largely about individuals’ rights and personal freedoms -
the founding principles of our nation.
And they believe our attacks on those rights are an affront to the fundamental
foundations of our society. They see us
as unfriendly because we want to use the government to limit citizens’ civil
liberties and control things like who you can marry, what you can do with your
body and whether you can even live in our country.
Our
positions on abortion, gay rights, immigration, even war and homeland security
have become confused in their minds with the positions of the Republican Party
or the Tea Party. The vocal ranting of
party leaders, bloggers and pundits, often using Christian arguments, are all
lumped in their minds as the mistaken and evil intentioned tirades of what they
call the “religious right.” Bear with me
now. If you throw the book away at this
point, you may just be proving their point.
To
the extent that we have identified with the ravings of people who are not
willing to have a discussion with the other side, people who talk like they
have all the answers and see their mission as shouting down the “evil
opposition,” we do severe damage to the picture of us as peacemakers that Jesus
was trying to paint. We need to
distinguish ourselves from these folks.
Jesus
did not commission his disciples to “Go into all the world and enforce a moral
code on every creature, regardless of whether they are believers or not.”[2] Remember the Colt Peacemaker revolver.
He
did say that if we love him we will keep his commandments.[3] We get people to do that by telling them the
good news. We are to teach them about
Jesus’ love for them and we are to coach them into a love for Jesus. Then
they will keep his commandments.[4]
Do
you see the difference? On the one hand
we are making laws to get people to act in moral ways, whether they are
inclined that way or not. Keeping a
moral code because the government will punish us if we don’t is not the New
Testament goal.
On
the other hand if we are telling people about Jesus and are holding up his
standards as the proper goal for Godly people, we will be able to bring about
willing adherence to the moral codes of the Bible.
Being
a peaceful people
How
do we make ourselves known as a peaceful people in the midst of all this disagreement
about how much authority the government should have to regulate the lives of
its citizens? I really don’t like this
answer, but it seems to be the truth. We
do it one conversation at a time. Just as
Jesus sent us out to teach the good news to people, we have to show the same
people that we are a loving people and are a people of peace. That is a demonstration that is most
effectively given one on one.
And
to the extent that we have a larger audience, say our church group, our family,
or a blog readership, we can make our peaceful nature known there. This, though, is a tricky endeavor. Not carefully done, it can come across as “I
am a peace loving person and you are not and if you don’t straighten up I will
punch you in the nose.” Entering the
argument to tell both quarrelers that they are wrong and we are right and they
need to listen to us will only make the situation worse.
Peace
wins by being peaceful. The peace that
we have is an attractive trait. Many
people will want to know more about it.
Some will want to know how to acquire it. That is the course we need to take. And as more of us take that path, our
influence will grow.
There
are so many angry people around today, it is hard to imagine that a handful of
peaceful people can make a difference, but what else can work? We need to be assertive peace makers, in your
face peacemakers, interveners who will step in to cut off a loud disagreement
and encourage people to at least listen to each other. Micro-interventions repeated again and again
eventually turn into macro-interventions.
Oh,
and take the time to encourage anyone you see who is being an active peace
maker.
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