Who is responsible for peace?

Let’s begin by stating the obvious: Relationships are hard.

Why are they hard?  Because people are flawed, biased toward their own wants and desires.

Even the most introverted of us will admit that eventually they need some person-to-person interaction.  In contrast, our extroverts can’t imagine going more than an hour without interacting with another person.  But engaging in those interactions means that we risk dealing with pain, arguments, uncomfortable silence, offense, hurt feelings, unmet expectations, and plenty of other things we’d like to avoid.

We were made for relationship.  God created humans so that He could have a relationship with us.  We’re also made to connect with each other.  Although sin and selfishness have corrupted these bonds between “us and God” and “us and others”, they have not thwarted our desire for our original design.  But just because we want something, doesn’t mean that we’re necessarily good at it.  We need some guidance if we’re going to make these relationships grow and thrive.

So it comes to no surprise that in his letter to the believers in Rome, the Apostle Paul tells them:

Romans 12:18
If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

When we read that verse, it’s easy to nod in agreement.  Being at peace with others is a two-way street, and I can only be responsible for my side.  I can’t force anyone to be at peace with me.  And, let’s be honest, I have a lot of work to do in order to fully apply this verse, long before I expect it from others.

But I like to be practical.  I want to find ways to put the Word of God into practice.  It’s not enough to nod along.  As much as I agree that it’s better for me to live at peace with everyone and that I recognize how it depends on [me]…exactly how can I make this peace happen?

Fortunately, Jesus talked a lot about our relationships with each other.  There are many verses we could look at, but I want to focus in on two of them.

During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said this:

Matthew 5:23-24
So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Jesus is quite clear here – if you are the offender, if you caused a rift between you and your brother or sister, then He expects you to go make it right.  Before doing anything else, go fix the relationship.  Even before interacting with God through your gifts, go address the offense. 

A little later, Jesus also taught this to His disciples:

Matthew 18:15
If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother.

Now Jesus is saying if I’m the victim of my brother’s actions, I need to go work it out with him.  Maybe he didn’t realize that he sinned against me.  Maybe he knew exactly what he was doing.  Jesus doesn’t give that kind of qualifier here.  The direction is for me to provide correction and be hopeful that he listens.

When I put these two teachings side-by-side, this is what we end up with:

If I wronged my brother, I need to go work it out with him.
If my brother wronged me, I need to go work it out with him.

To be honest, this doesn’t sit well with me.  It feels like it should be an either/or situation.  So, which one is the right way to deal with conflict between me and my brother?

The answer: they’re both right.

As far as it depends on [me], live at peace with everyone.

There’s this two letter word tucked inside Jesus’ directions, regardless if we’re the offender or the offended – we are to go.  Go to them and work it out.  Go and reconcile.  Go and ask forgiveness.  Go extend the love that God has shown you.  Go and make peace.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our greatest need

Life is messy.  Our selfishness and sin tangles up everything, doesn’t it?  I can make such a tangled mess out of my life that I am bound by knots that I cannot undo…however, our sin-soaked human condition is made even more difficult as each of our tangled messes become interwoven in everyone else’s tangled messes.  Every mess we face is caused by either our own selfishness or someone else’s selfishness. When we recognize our sin for what it is, we quickly realize that life is so messy that we could never un-messy it.

Titus 3:3-4 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But…

In our heart-of-hearts, when we are honest…that is who we were.  Disobedient fools that happily chased and submitted to all kinds of destructive behaviors.  We lived in constant suspicion and envy of others, hating anyone who appeared to have something we did not.  Every aspect of our existence was focused completely on ourselves.

The word “but” always signals a change in direction.  It is a key term to look for when we read the Scriptures.  “But” tells us that the subject matter is about to change, that something different is coming.

Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

In direct contrast to the hateful, envious, disobedient mess that all people are in, God steps in to rescue us.  God intervened in the mess of our sinful lives.  When our lives were full of malice, envy, and hate – God stepped in with kindness, love, and mercy.

These qualities of God and his salvation are the polar opposite of the qualities we possessed.

And just in case we ever think that we maybe earned it, or we somehow convinced God to save us, or that we were “good enough” – Paul instructs us that God’s rescue was not because of righteous things we had done. 

but because of his mercy – in direct contrast to any outside influence of our works, (because there wasn’t any), God’s motivation for saving humanity comes from his own mercy.  Mercy is defined as the moral quality of feeling compassion and especially showing kindness toward someone in need.  What better way to describe the entire human race? 

We needed someone to feel compassion toward us, to act in kindness on our behalf, someone to deal with our need to have our sin nature resolved.  We couldn’t do it – individually or corporately – and there was nothing about us that could influence God to act on our behalf.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

We couldn’t fix our mess.  So God did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Keep Pressing,
Ken