By Rick Liggin
It is true that members of the kingdom of God are supposed to be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9); they are to be people who can, as much as possible, “be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18). They are to be especially concerned about maintaining peace within the body of Christ itself—they must be diligent to “preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). But does making and maintaining peace (especially with other Christians) mean that we are to have peace at any price? What if a brother violates God’s law or gets involved in immorality? Does maintaining peace mean that we should allow a brother to continue in sin? Does it mean that we never “rock the boat” or never involve ourselves in conflict? The answer to these questions ought to be obvious to all of us. No! Maintaining peace does not mean peace at any price! It does not mean that we can allow a brother to continue in his sin! And being a peacemaker does not mean that we never involve ourselves in conflict! We must not forget that there is Someone else with whom we must make and maintain peace—and that “Someone” is God (Romans 5:1-11). Our peace with God always comes before our peace with men…including our brothers in Christ. Consequently, whenever we allow God’s Word to be compromised or whenever we allow a brother to continue in sin without rebuking him—just so we can “keep the peace”—we forfeit our own peace with God (James 4:4). We must remember that the wisdom from above is “first pure, then peaceable…” (James 3:17). Any peace that is made or maintained by means of some form of impurity is not real peace at all.
“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
(James 4:4)
So, what should we do, then, if a brother breaks God’s law (i.e. sins) and does not repent of it? Well, in the interest of peace with God, for both our brother and ourselves, we must take a stand for truth and right, and confront the brother in error. We must be willing to risk the possibility of making the brother our enemy in hopes that our standing for truth and confronting his error will help him regain his peace with God. You see, being a real peacemaker means that we will sometimes have to take a stand for truth and try to correct, or even rebuke, error. To be sure, we must be kind and gentle when we do it, and we must be careful to consider ourselves first, but we must speak out against sin! Now, this kind of peacemaking will take a lot of courage. It’s not always easy to take a stand for truth, nor is it easy to confront someone about his sin. The cowardly won’t do it, nor will those more interested in being popular. Folks like that won’t make it as peacemakers. But what we have to decide is this: with whom do we want peace the most—God or men? With whom is peace most important to you? If you really want peace with God, keep yourself pure and don’t ever compromise the Truth—not even with your friends. And don’t get mad at those who may talk to you about your sin! They’re not trying to “make waves” or cause trouble. They’re just trying to help you keep peace with God! They’re just trying to be peacemakers! The question is: are you one?
Note from the Editor:
I can remember reading the preceding article as a teenager who was just getting ready to begin his junior year of High School. The original target audience was, coincidentally, “the young people”. In fact, dad had a series of articles that he wrote focused on topics and issues relevant to us in the younger crowd. He entitled the series: “Talking to Teenagers…For Our Young Folks.” Though that may have been his original audience, I find that as I have gotten older the issues that are addressed in this article are not unique to young people. Unfortunately, I still struggle with some of these very things. I hate conflict, and will sometimes go out of my way in an attempt to avoid it. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve also realized that avoiding conflict at all costs rarely (if ever) brings about peace. You may avoid a fight, argument, or heated discussion. But relationships remain awkward and uncomfortable, and you are left with inner worry and frustration. Hardly the peace that could be had on the other side of genuine, loving confrontation of sin.
This bulletin is being published for the purpose of encouraging a further study of the Word of God. Editor – Josh Liggin
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