Today, we complete our series Learning from the Actors in the Christmas Drama by considering what discipleship should look like for us in 2024 when we consider the fact that our master is the Prince of Peace.
In my view as a men’s ministry leader, one of the great tragedies of the church today is that we have failed to capture the hearts of men with the greatness of our mission. This episode focusses on just one aspect of a decision that every Christian who is listening to this podcast has made—choosing to be a follower of King Jesus. Disciples follow their masters’ example. They apply his teaching. They embrace his cause. This episode looks at just one facet of Jesus’ identity that has enormous implications for following him. He is the Prince of Peace who brings shalom.
SHALOM in the OT and the Greek word for peace, EIRENE, mean more than just a cessation of hostilities; they refer to “total well-being both personally and communally” (ESV Study Notes: Matt 5:9). Shalom refers to harmony in four spheres: 1) harmony in his relationship with God, 2) internal harmony—relationship with himself, 3) harmony in his relationship with other humans, and 4) harmony in his relationship with the material world of creation. Author, Hugh Whelchel writes, “When these relationships are functioning properly, we experience the fulness of life God intended—SHALOM. We were originally created to have peace with God. From this perfectly intimate relationship with God and a heart focused on our Creator would flow the peace in our hearts that we long for and the peace with others we struggle to find.” (All Things New).
Of course, peacemaking is now necessary because our race’s war against God shattered this SHALOM—the relational harmony of the entire universe. The unity and peace God had woven into this world, SHALOM, began to unravel as soon as Adam and Eve sinned. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, in their book, When Helping Hurts, explain the devastating effects of the fall on all of humanity’s relationships. “Their relationship with God was damaged, as their intimacy with Him was replaced with fear; their relationship with self was marred, as Adam and Eve developed a sense of shame; their relationship with others was broken, as Adam quickly blamed Eve for their sin; and their relationship with the rest of creation became distorted as God cursed the ground” (When Helping Hurts).
But the Prince of Peace has come to fix all four broken relationships, i.e. reweave SHALOM. Paul says it this way, All this is from God, who through Christ RECONCILED us to himself and gave us the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION; that is, in Christ God was RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF (2 Cor 5:18-19). This ministry of reconciliation is the work of peacemaking, which Jesus calls us to in Matt 5:9. It is restoring shalom in all four relationships.
PEACE WITH GOD
Our race’s rebellion against God fractured our relationship with him. Instead of our hearts being satisfied by the joy of walking in a love connection with him, our hearts are filled with guilt and shame that drives us away from him. At the same time, God’s judicial wrath against all sin causes him to be hostile towards us. Only the atoning sacrifice of Christ can propitiate, i.e. turn away the wrath of God against us because of our sin. By faith Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. We are declared righteous. In Paul’s words to the Romans, since we have been justified by faith, we have PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Being a peacemaker begins with faithfulness to pray for and seize opportunities to lead others to faith in Christ. In Christ God was…entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:19-21). Few Christian men I know (including myself) are satisfied with the level of their commitment to sharing their faith. For this reason, one of the accountability questions on the Check 6 card that our ministry uses is: Who are the non-believers you are building relationships with and how can I pray for your strategy to share Christ with them. I have discovered firsthand that God loves to answer such prayers. Some years ago, my wife and I had been praying for months for a neighbor to come to faith. We had discovered that the neighbor’s wife, Ashley was a member of a nearby Evangelical church. Her husband, Bill had gone to Young Life but had never made a commitment to Christ. Sandy and I reached out and prayed. Before long I discovered that Bill had a problem with becoming abusive towards Ashley when he had been drinking. Late one Saturday afternoon I returned home from a meeting with a lot of my sermon still to finish that night. But Sandy said, “Bill came over this afternoon. Ashley told him she is leaving him. Bill wants to talk to you.” I crossed the street to their house thinking “Maybe this is the opportunity I’ve been praying for to lead Bill to Christ—but I’ve got so much work still to do on my sermon. I’ll put in an appearance and come back tomorrow afternoon to share the gospel.” As I walked through the door, though, Bill’s first words were, “I need Christ in my life.” This spiritual baby was coming down the birth canal. So, I sat down, went through the gospel and Bill prayed to surrender his life to Jesus.
If you are dissatisfied with the number of lost folks that you have been leading to faith in Christ, one decision on your part can make a massive difference. That decision is this: Grab a prayer partner and pray intentionally for 1) the right strategy by which to build relationships with the non-believers in your life 2) the opportunity to share Christ with them. I know that is a prayer God answers!
PEACE WITH SELF
A compassionate desire for others to experience restoration to inner wholeness has always marked the ministry of Christ-followers, especially for those whose self-esteem has been shattered. Megan Kane ran away from home at fourteen. By fifteen she was a mother. By nineteen she was a stripper, prostitute, and addict. Within a few years she faced felony drug possession charges. The prospect of serious jail time and losing custody of her daughter, Taylor, was the wake-up call Megan needed. That’s when she heard about The Way Out recovery program. This outpatient program consists of sixteen classes that help the women deal with sexual and drug addiction, depression, and living within boundaries “These women’s spirits are broken, their souls are damaged, and they need time to heal,” said director Carol Wiley. So, A Way Out offers that time by providing clothing, counseling, financial assistance, job training, and biblical teaching. Megan came to faith in Christ. Her heart filled with turmoil became a heart filled with Christ. With new life in her blue eyes, and a newfound ambition in her heart, Megan began to study nursing at the University of Memphis. “The important thing,” she said, “was where she was going not where she’s been.” (Restoring All Things, Stonestreet & Smith.) Could Jesus be leading you into 2024 more determined to notice those around you whose hearts are filled with turmoil, who, for that very reason may be open to Jesus’ love?
PEACE WITH OTHER HUMANS
The horizontal component to peacemaking begins by taking the initiative to reconcile any OF OUR OWN broken relationship. Biblically, I am responsible for restoring broken relationships, both when I’ve offended another (Matt 5:23-24) and when another has offended me (Matt 18:15-17). But the call to be an agent of reconciliation in a world of broken relationships goes way beyond our own relationships. We are called to provide restoration help for the culture, from marriage counseling to divorce-recovery help, to building orphanages, to foster care, to teen pregnancy help, to fatherhood initiatives in our cities where 70% of black kids grow up without dads. Let's pause to think about this gigantic need. Barack Obama’s words in Chicago could not be more clear:
Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of school, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren? How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? Yes, we need more jobs and more job training. But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that their responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — IT’S THE COURAGE TO RAISE ONE.
Caveats to Being a Biblical Peacemaker
- Paul recognizes that we can’t always fix broken relationships. Romans 12:18, If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
- As we seek to bring about reconciliation in fractured relationships, we must realize that forgiveness is not the same as restoration to the same level of relational trust. Such restoration requires repentance, then time to rebuild trust. All Christians whose spouses are unfaithful must forgive them; but they should not take them back sexually until they have demonstrated repentance.
- Christ-following peacemakers don’t try to build harmony at the expense of truth. Christians today are being told by leaders inside the church not to speak out on any moral issue that is political and by progressives outside the church that THEY are the cause of polarization in the culture. Both are sending us the same unbiblical message: YOU SHOULD HIDE YOIUR LIGHT UNDER A BASKET.
- Peacemaking is not appeasement. Appeasing children by giving in to their wishes to stop their behavior from disturbing our peace is folly. Prov 29:15 says, The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Appeasing political enemies who commit unjust attacks upon us is not a biblical prescription for achieving peace, either. God’s ordained method for stopping evil is the power of the sword, given by God to punish lawlessness.
Peacemaking Requires Wisely Combatting Racism
In my view, it is necessary to address racism today because many young Christians, who rightly want to see the church admit its racist past, are being drawn into a false, destructive analysis of it. Meanwhile, many older Christians close their hearts to admitting their biases because they see younger Christians’ focus on institutional racism as originating from the ungodly cultural Marxist view called Critical Theory. Here are two thoughts about overcoming this polarization.
1. Christians who are concerned about the misuse of white power should clearly and publicly deny the fundamental tenet of Critical theory that culture is to be viewed through the lens of oppressor/oppressed. The correct lens from Scripture is not the oppressed class—blacks vs the oppressor class—whites. The Bible condemns the SIN of partiality, not majority culture MEMBERSHIP.
2. “Privilege” biblically is NOT a sin but requires gratefulness to God and compassion for those outside of majority culture privilege. I believe “racism” is an unwise, emotionally loaded term. Most older Christians believe that calling “racist” a nation that has overcome its racist past far more than other racist cultures, the evidence of which is electing Barack Obama president twice, is an unfounded insult to America, rooted in cultural Marxism. A better term is majority culture bias, which carries far less baggage and has biblical merit. Former Black NFL star Miles McPherson in his book, The Third Option: Hope for a Divided Nation recommends that rather than adopting the oppressor white/oppressed black, lens, Christians choose a third option: “unity through honor.” Rather than following CRT, Christians should treat those of every race with dignity, who possess unseen potential as God’s image-bearers, while majority culture Christians develop compassion for those less privileged than themselves. He illustrates with the story of ten entrepreneurs who were attempting to teach business skills to ten prison inmates. They stood shoulder to shoulder on one side of a line mirrored by ten inmates standing across from them. Everyone in the room answered a series of questions at the same time:
- If you had two parents who tucked you in at night and told you they loved you, step forward. None of the inmates stepped forward, all but one of the executives did.
- If you went to school where you didn’t fear gang violence, and had up-to-date books & technology, step forward. No inmate moved; all the executives did.
- If you had breakfast every day before school and took a packed meal to lunch with you to school, never going through your day on an empty stomach, step forward. Not one inmate moved; all the executives did.
- If you were addicted to drugs before the age of twenty, step forward. All of the inmates stepped forward; only two of the executives did.
- If you grew up with an immediate family member in prison step forward. All the inmates stepped forward; none of the executives did.
- If you lost a family member due to gun violence while you were a child, step forward. All of the inmates stepped forward; none of the executives did.
Tears welled up in the eyes of everyone present, the inmates over memories of their broken childhoods, the executives because their hearts broke for the inmates. Compassion for those who did not have the privileges we had growing up is a Christian virtue, which Christians must cultivate. McPherson’s “third way” is biblical peacemaking. But stirring up resentment towards the privileged is evil.
PEACE WITH THE CREATED ORDER
As we’ve seen, human flourishing takes place when the four relationships of life function harmoniously. But sin fractured all four relationships, including man’s relationship with the physical world, which is placed under God’s curse. Now, natural calamities destroy entire towns, requiring immediate relief. Broken bodies need healing. Broken economic systems exploit the weak. A broken world brings death to husbands, leaving widows destitute and to parents leaving orphans exploited. The curse on the ground makes work harder, causing millions in poverty to barely eke out a subsistence existence. The process of developing the earth’s resources is now corrupted by business owners exploiting workers through unjust wages. The rich exploit the poor in the courts, perverting justice, etc
This is the physical world that Jesus came to fix, inaugurating his ministry in with the words in Nazareth’s synagogue, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor… Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Lk 4:18-21). Authors Corbett and Fickert imagine the response of those hearing Jesus:
"Could it be that Isaiah’s prophecies were really about to come true? Was it really true that justice, peace and righteousness were about to be established forever? Would this king really bring healing to the parched soil, the feeble hands, the shaky knees, the fearful hearts, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute, the brokenhearted, the captives and the sinful souls, and would proclaim the year of jubilee for the poor? Jesus’ answer to all these questions was a resounding “yes” declaring “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Ibid).
The shalom Jesus brings is the renewal of the whole world. Christians understood this call to bring shalom to the cities of the empire, which were characterized by poor sanitation, contaminated water, high population density, open sewers, filthy streets, unbelievable stench, rampant crime, collapsing buildings and frequent illnesses or plagues. Historian Rodney Stark describes the impact of the Christians:
“The Christian concept of self-sacrificial love of others, emanating from God’s love for them was a revolutionary concept to the pagan mind, which viewed the extension of mercy as an emotional act to be avoided by rational people. Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent urban problems.
- To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope.
- To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachment.
- To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family.
- To cities torn by violence and ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity.
- And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes Christianity offered effective nursing services."
Biblical discipleship never devalues this material world, physical suffering, bodily needs or the economic impact of injustice upon the material wellbeing of others.
In closing, I’m reminded of a story about a Christian pastor on a plane flight who was asked what he did for a living. He answered. “I work for the largest enterprise in the world.” His seat mate was intrigued. “Microsoft?” “No,” “Apple?” “No,” “Amazon?” “Nope, bigger than Amazon.” “Bigger than Amazon! I give up.” The pastor answered, “I work for a worldwide enterprise called the Kingdom of God. Our people are busy in every neighborhood, business, school, and nation seeking to fix everything broken in this world by sin.” That is what it means to be a disciple of the Prince of Shalom.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- What steps can you take to increase the likelihood that that next year at this time you will look back and say, “I was a faithful agent of reconciliation of the kingdom. I prayed for, the building of relationships with the lost around me and for opportunities to share my faith, and seized those opportunities”?
- How can you better notice the inner turmoil of those around you and take a small step in pointing them to Jesus? How can you support ministries of those reaching those who have been broken by life?
- What caveats do you want to remember about being a peacemaker among humans?
- What do you think of Miles McPheron’s third option?
- Why might it be important in your world to remember that Christians aren’t call just to fix spiritual things—but respond with compassion to those impacted by the brokenness of the physical world?
