Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
What does it mean to be a part of the peacable Kingdom...to experience peace...to offer peace...to be a peacemaker? My thoughts and meditations have focused on these questions in recent days for reasons that don't necessarily need to be recounted in a public forum. These unnamed reasons have forced me to further examine what it means to follow the Prince of Peace.
God desires peace for His creation, at least my reading of the biblical witness affirms that God's ultimate desire for the created order is shalom. We have varying understandings of what that means, but Scripture gives us some fairly clear glimpses of what peace might look like in the created order and how peace is achieved in our relational existence.
One of the most glaring hypocrisies in current Christian community is that our way of life does not bear witness to the shalom of God. The disorder, conflict, broken relationships, destructive habits and patterns further reveals the fact that we are not genuinely participating in the Kingdom, which renders us inadequate witnesses of the Gospel. Our inability to embody the peace of Christ within our own community makes us mute to speak to the brokenness in our world.
One of our highest priorities must be to create a culture of peace. It is obvious that this culture naturally flows out of a community that is truly connected to the Head and engaged with the Spirit, but that relational connection doesn't just happen. There are habits and practices that we can develop, which enable us to remain open to the Spirit and the Word...to be re-shaped into the imago Dei.
A great practical and biblical resource for developing a culture of peace is Ken Sande's book The Peacemaker. I'm going to be spending a few weeks digesting and outlining some of the principles for conflict transformation that he proposes. Check back over the next few weeks for this series of posts. You can find other resources at the Peacemaker Ministry Website. As always, feel free to share your thoughts or reactions. Until next time - Blessings in Christ ~ RLS
God desires peace for His creation, at least my reading of the biblical witness affirms that God's ultimate desire for the created order is shalom. We have varying understandings of what that means, but Scripture gives us some fairly clear glimpses of what peace might look like in the created order and how peace is achieved in our relational existence.
One of the most glaring hypocrisies in current Christian community is that our way of life does not bear witness to the shalom of God. The disorder, conflict, broken relationships, destructive habits and patterns further reveals the fact that we are not genuinely participating in the Kingdom, which renders us inadequate witnesses of the Gospel. Our inability to embody the peace of Christ within our own community makes us mute to speak to the brokenness in our world.
One of our highest priorities must be to create a culture of peace. It is obvious that this culture naturally flows out of a community that is truly connected to the Head and engaged with the Spirit, but that relational connection doesn't just happen. There are habits and practices that we can develop, which enable us to remain open to the Spirit and the Word...to be re-shaped into the imago Dei.
A great practical and biblical resource for developing a culture of peace is Ken Sande's book The Peacemaker. I'm going to be spending a few weeks digesting and outlining some of the principles for conflict transformation that he proposes. Check back over the next few weeks for this series of posts. You can find other resources at the Peacemaker Ministry Website. As always, feel free to share your thoughts or reactions. Until next time - Blessings in Christ ~ RLS
1 comment:
I need to check this book out!
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