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What does it practically look like to live peaceably? A few have asked for more of a working-out of the call to be peacemakers instead of peacekeeping or even succumbing to violence to try and fix the world around us. We often want peacemaking to be practical in the sense of “tell me what to do in so-and-so hypothetical situations”, but that is simply not how life works. There is no how-to manual. If we aren’t trained in our thinking prior to these disastrous scenarios, it won’t matter what someone told us to do in the moment of decision; we will react out of instinct.

Being formed as peacemakers is to take on the necessary work to make something “first nature” (meaning we intentional focus on developing skills) to “second nature (meaning we enact those skills subconsciously when called upon).

Let’s frame the conversation around peacemaking, and then discuss ways we can begin to work this calling out in our individual lives.

First, we must define what peacemaking IS and what it ISN’T. Many of the terms that are used to describe a peaceable lifestyle are misunderstood. “Pacifism” unfortunately sounds like it means “being passive”, which means that we think peace is about doing nothing instead of something, equating violence to being assertive. “Nonviolence” similarly suffers by being defined by what it isn’t, moreso than what it is. So in a way, being told to be nonviolent doesn’t appear helpful. However, I think the term “nonviolence” can be interesting in that it opens us up to explore possibilities of what it could mean rather than mere prescriptions for how to behave. Regardless of terms, it is a fallacy to believe our options are just to use violence to solve problems or do nothing.

This hits home especially when we consider our relationships with abusive people. Nonviolence never means we keep ourselves in harmful situations and don’t respond. Indeed, it means we proactively assert boundaries that prevent us from harm when possible - we can’t lose ourselves in the attempt to be peaceable. This is not Biblical peace.

The radical challenge to be peacemakers recognizes that our words and actions are a story we tell about what we believe is truest about God. This is what it means to be cross-shaped people - it’s Jesus on the cross we point to as the greatest vision we have ever received of what God is like. Our task is to work that out in our day-to-day lives, especially in the face of violence.

Secondly, recognize that peace is a virtue that must be learned. Peacemaking doesn’t come to us naturally. As I stated above, our temptation is to want to be handed a how-to manual for every contingency, but virtue doesn’t work that way - we must learn how to be shaped as peaceable people, so that no matter the unforeseen circumstance we somehow know how to act. Virtue requires us to have a vision of who we are becoming, and as Christians we recognize that is to think, feel, and act more like Jesus day-by-day. In theology we call this telos, which means “goal” - we have a trajectory for our growth that informs how we make ethical choices. Those of us who were teenagers in the 90’s will remember the popular W.W.J.D. (“what would Jesus do?“) bracelets that, as gimmicky as they seemed, did provide us with that higher calling to our decision-making. But deeper than what we’re supposed to do is the profound challenge to consider who we are becoming.

I have freely admitted before that I do not live with the oft-used hypothetical of someone breaking into my house and threatening my wife and children. While I understand it is easier for me to make a claim to radical nonviolence in my current life situation, I also know that it is the commitment I make now to train myself and be formed by the Spirit that will prepare me for future possibilities. In order to be life-long peacemakers, we have to make decisions that may seem only theory today before we’re put in difficult situations.

Seeing the call to peacemaking as character formation instead of behavior management means that we take on God’s story as our story, and God’s values as our values. It becomes about delivering us from the underlying assumptions we make about the world that lead us to violence.

Thirdly, an ethics of peace is formed out of our commitment to be faithful to God in the moment instead of making decisions based on outcomes. This is perhaps most challenging about nonviolence because we are so conditioned by what is called utilitarianism - doing what we think is right based on “the greatest good for the greatest amount of people”. This problematically is a sliding scale of what we define as good, who we prefer to benefit with our actions (who we consider “good”), and our predictions of the future outcomes of our decisions. Faith is a challenging and terrifying call because it asks us to relinquish control of the outcomes and trust God. In other words, we live as Jesus taught us to pray: “on Earth as it is in heaven” - sewing the seeds of a radical alternative way to be in the world that may just see the world saved from itself. What if choosing to respond with violence denies the possibility of the miraculous occurring?

So what does it look like to become peacemakers?

Commit to studying the life and teachings of Jesus. We need fresh eyes to put aside our cultural lenses and really watch and listen to our King. This means that we have to understand both Jesus’ life’s work in how he interacted with people and what he taught, and the scandal of the cross as the way to overcome the corruption of the world. This means we need to read the life, death, and resurrection in its own cultural context, and then use that revelation to examine our current cultural narratives that cloud our judgement.

Get inspired by bold peacemakers in the world today. Countless organizations and churches are already doing the work, living out of a prophetic imagination that points to a better way. Nonprofits like Preemptive Love (https://preemptivelove.org) are pursuing reconciliation and an end to war in some of the most war-torn places in the world today. The Ekklesia Project (http://ekklesiaproject.org) equips churches with resources to develop a theology of radical faithfulness as people of peace. International Justice Mission (https://ijm.org) works with local authorities to implement laws and enforce them in order to eradicate modern slavery and protect the most vulnerable. There are other organizations reimagining prison systems, empowering people in impoverished areas to become economically self-sufficient, helping gang members and members of hate groups to escape and heal, or seeking ecological peace by protecting the environment from humanity’s economic violence.

Start small. It’s good to consider what peace looks like globally and in our nation, but your immediate relationships are an opportunity to work out what peacemaking looks like in intimate relationship, and shouldn’t be overlooked. Practicing forgiveness, love of enemies, reconciliation when it is safe (as I said, peacemaking does not mean keeping ourselves in abusive relationships) give us opportunity to exercise the muscles of nonviolence. This is where it’s imperative that we have a group of fellow sojourners with whom we can share and process what we’re discovering about living peaceably. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationships courses (https://emotionallyhealthy.org) offer practical ways to enact real peacemaking in your life.

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Some good books:

The Politics of Jesus and What Would You Do? by John Howard Yoder

The Peaceable Kingdom and Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas

Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence by Preston Sprinkle

Cross Vision by Gregory Boyd (contending with the violence of the Old Testament)

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Scripture passages worth studying:

Matthew 5:38-48 “”You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also…”

Matthew 10:11-14 “Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”

Mathew 26:47-54 “‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’”

Luke 22:35-38, 49-51 “But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him…”

Romans 12:9-21 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone…”

Romans 14:19 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ” For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world…”

Eph. 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

1 Peter 2:21-25 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps…”

1 Peter 3:8-18 “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing…”

- Ryan Adams