Peacemakers

I settle into my seat with noise canceling headphones pumping lyrical inspiration into my brain and a quad-shot latte at my side. I’m ready to write….but what do I say? How do I say this? My usual method of writing is pretty free-flowing. I don’t plan it out ahead of time and I don’t typically edit it after it comes out. It flows from my soul and just puts words to what is currently boiling under the surface of my mind and spills out onto the page. But today….today is different. I’m struggling for words. I don’t want to offend or overstep. I’m a Type 9 on the Enneagram, a Peacemaker, but I find myself preserving a false peace by keeping silent. Images haunt me this morning of a 1 month old infant pulled from the rubble in Gaza after her parents and brother were killed by Israeli airstrikes. Hundreds of civilians killed in resumed military conflict, with an estimated 40% of casualties being women and children. In Ukraine and Russia, fighting and drone attacks from both sides continue to plague the land with fear and hatred. Throughout the world and right here at home as well, where millions of humans, created in the image of the Divine, live in fear and oppression labeled as “illegal”, “criminals”, or worse simply for crossing the border without proper documentation which is nearly impossible to obtain. Do people deserve death because they are Palestinian? Do they deserve to be imprisoned and labeled as a terrorist because they are Venezuelan? If our response to any of these issues is, “they deserve it”, we need to take a moment to look in the mirror and have a right perspective of ourselves.

America, created by invading the land of indigenous tribes, built on the backs of enslaved human beings, “civilized” millions through colonization and oppression, and has a strategy of enforcing peace through superior firepower, which is really just a false sense of peace. In fact, these words from Jack Johnson seem like a pretty good motto for American foreign (and domestic) policy, “Who needs peace when we’ve got guns?” I’m asking you, and asking myself, honestly, is this the world we want to live in? Is this the way Jesus lived and taught us to live? In the gospel of Matthew, we have a record of Jesus’ words in his greatest sermon ever given, his Magnum Opus. If it’s been a while since you’ve read it, I’d recommend reading through it and see if His words line up with the image of Christianity being portrayed to the world today. Here is a Cliff’s Notes version:

Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are those who mourn...
Blessed are the meek...
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...
Blessed are the merciful...
Blessed are the pure in heart...
Blessed are the peacemakers...etc etc

Peacemakers. This is the one that jumps off the page for me right now. Are we making peace? Are we fighting for peace to reign in our homes, in our churches, in our communities, our nation, our world? As a follower of Jesus, this isn’t really just a suggestion but a mandate. Love thy neighbor isn’t just a good idea or something to consider only when it’s comfortable or fits in with our personal biases and it’s not really possible to love your neighbor without being a peace with them. Unfortunately there is evil in the world and I’m not ignorant to that fact, but honestly aren’t we all just a little bit monster? Our highest elected officials lie, cheat, steal, wage war, and sow discord, and why wouldn’t they? After all, we elected them and that’s what we do as well. We need to be wise, yes, but our greatest and highest calling and command is not to be wise, but to love. If loving our neighbor gets sacrificed on the altar of being wise, we may as well be driving the stakes into the heart of the gospel itself. Jesus’ stated purpose in life is this: Love God and Love thy neighbor. Anything else that gets in the way of that is contrary to Christ. No government, no war, no philosophy, no policy, or personal preference.

In case you can’t tell, this is weighing heavy on me right now. I apologize for strong words that may be offensive or even feel unfair to certain people, but I ask that you would hear my heart in this. Regardless of your nationality, religious belief, political affiliation, or any other potentially divisive factor, please know that true peace is my goal in writing. I don’t want to sow division, except to “rightly divide the word of truth”, and the truth is this: God said to love him, love our neighbors, and be at peace. Exactly what that looks like in your life may be different than mine, and that’s where we all have freedom to wrestle through these issues with God on our own. But let’s learn to love each other better. Let’s live in a way that brings good news to the poor, freedom to the captive, and liberty to the oppressed. Let’s fight to be peacemakers.

In Peace and Love, Paz y Amor, Paix et Amour, in every language to all people