Join the Peace Corps!

PROGRAM W-1725

The national Peace Corps is a service begun by our government over five decades ago to serve people in other countries with humanitarian help—with the goal of promoting peace in the world. A worthy and worthwhile goal and program, no doubt. I would propose to you that everyone who is a Christ-follower should be enrolled in the Peace Corps—The Jesus Peace Corps. I’m going to explain what that is and how you can be enrolled.

Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). The first thing you need to know, if you are in The Jesus Peace Corps, is what it means to be a peacemaker. It’s very important to understand the difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper.

Peacemakers strive to create peace and attempt to reconcile things and people that are at odds with one another. Peacekeepers, on the other hand, strive to keep peace at all costs. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers—people who address the real issues, bring people together, confront when necessary, and do more than just keeping things quiet. The goal of the peacekeeper is to keep the conflicted parties at arms-length from one another to prevent them from striking each other. The goal of the peacemaker is to bring the parties together so they can strike a deal instead of striking each other.

So, to be in The Jesus Peace Corps, you need to develop the skills of a peacemaker. Now, you may think of a peacemaker as someone with authority, someone who is dealing with large issues. But Jesus was addressing his words to people who were powerless to play the role of peacemaker on a national or international scale. Rather, as is true for his entire Sermon on the Mount, he is speaking of something that should be true of the most common, ordinary person listening to him—and certainly it should be true of all Christ-followers today. We are called to be peacemakers as members of The Jesus Peace Corps, and in your life and mine there are many opportunities for us to make peace.

Peacekeepers do not want to get into anything that is unpleasant. They have a passive approach to conflict. Peacemakers, on the other hand, are willing to disrupt the peace, if necessary, in order to allow for greater peace to happen. They are not afraid of brave conversations.

Let’s take a hypothetical situation: You manage a group of people in your organization and two of these people don’t like each other. As a result, they don’t work well together and are making the work environment unpleasant. Your job, not only as a manager but more importantly as a member of The Jesus Peace Corps, is to help them resolve their issues and bring peace to your workplace. So what do you do?

You could choose to reassign them or try in some way to separate them, but is that what a peacemaker does? I don’t think so—that’s what a peacekeeper would do. Instead, as a peacemaker, you want these two employees to find peace with each other—to truly help them personally as well as solve the problem they are causing. This calls for a brave conversation.

“Brave conversation” is another name for a confrontation—but “brave conversation” sounds better, doesn’t it? It truly takes courage to be a peacemaker and, as believers, that courage must come from God as we take steps according to his guidance and speak the truth in love. It’s important to remember that these brave conversations should be well thought out prayed about, and approached with humility and wisdom.

What might be your course of action if you were this manager in this hypothetical situation—with two employees at each other’s throats all the time? One option might be to bring them in together, confront the problem, refuse to let them get into finger-pointing or placing blame, and explain that in order to keep their jobs, they must learn to work together in a pleasant way. You could admonish them to figure it out between them, but the end result must be that they work together in harmony. That would certainly be a brave conversation, and hopefully it would lead to making peace between these two people.

Another option might be to have that same brave conversation, and then give them a joint project assignment, insisting they work together on it for the best result.

My husband once had a situation similar to this—two employees disliked each other because of cultural background differences. They held prejudicial attitudes toward each other just because of their different nationalities. He finally called them into his office, advised them that they had to work together in a pleasant way or they would both lose their jobs.

That sounds a bit harsh, but this was after many weeks of discord, refusing to work together or even speak to each other, and causing an unpleasant working environment for all the other people. By his direct approach and helping them see how wrong and foolish their behavior was, it motivated them to work together better. As they got to know each other, they became friends—and still are to this day. It simply took a brave conversation to make it happen. My husband was a peacemaker in that situation.

Let’s consider a somewhat more difficult situation. Let’s say there is no peace between you and a sibling—maybe your sister. For months, you have not spoken to each other because she doesn’t approve of the fact that your mother has named you as power of attorney to manage her finances. She fears you will exclude her from decisions about your mother’s care and how the money is used, with the real issue being that she fears she will not get any of her money when your mother dies. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence these days. Even close siblings can become alienated over family money issues.

Since Christ has called you to be a peacemaker, what could you do in such a situation to try to make peace? First, you have to start talking again, right? Keep in mind what Jesus taught us in his Sermon on the Mount when he said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Sometimes it is hard to make the first move, isn’t it? Maybe you’re thinking that you didn’t cause the rift between you and your sibling, and therefore you shouldn’t have to make the first move to make peace. However, this is where you have to be willing to humble yourself and make the first move.

I know it’s hard; but remember the promise that is yours when you’re willing to do that. Jesus told us that when we’re willing to humble ourselves, then we will be exalted. It’s one of God’s upside-down Kingdom Principles and, while it seems backwards to our human minds, he promises you will be exalted—held in high esteem and extremely happy. Would you be willing to make the first move?

How do you start that first conversation? One suggestion might be to offer a gift—maybe for a birthday or some other occasion—and use that as an opening. Proverbs tells us that everyone is a friend to a person who gives gifts (Proverbs 19:6), so that might be a good way to begin.

Then what you want to do is avoid any verbal finger-pointing or trying to convince them that they’re wrong. You have to be willing to simply get beyond the blame game and find the path that both of you can agree to. Truth is, she probably feels the loss of your relationship and wants to make things right between you, but she just can’t make the first move.

In order to make peace with her, you have to acknowledge her feelings even if you don’t agree with them. Arguing about facts is useless. Somehow she was hurt, whether she had a right to be or not, and that’s the reality you have to deal with. Listen, acknowledge her feelings, empathize, and apologize where you can. Trying to excuse or explain what you’ve done and why you’ve done it will usually make things worse.

Think of some way you can demonstrate your good intentions—maybe a compromise you can make or some request she has which you can agree to. Now, I warn you that about this time, you’re likely to feel that all of this is way too one-sided. How is it right that you have to bend over backwards to fix things while she hasn’t made the first move? Well, here’s the thing—it’s not fair! But remember, “fair” is a four-letter word that we have to often let go of. You are trying to make peace, not make everything fair. It’s not all about you at this point; it’s about bridging the gap for the purpose of reinstating a relationship.

In this hypothetical example, you have to let go of your desire to tell your story and talk about all you’re doing for your mom. Imagine if you went to a dentist with a real toothache, and the dentist came into the waiting room, sat down beside you and said, “I know you’ve got a sore tooth, but I am so upset today I can hardly work.” From that point, the dentist launches into all his troubles. Do you really care at that moment about the dentist’s problems, as you sit there with your aching tooth? Your sister who cut off communication with you is hurting, even if she doesn’t act like it. So resist the urge to tell her how hurt you have been.

Is this guaranteed to work? No, a peacemaker has no guarantees. But remember Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” If your sister refuses your overtures to peace, you have to accept her decision, let her know the door is always open if she changes her mind, acknowledge the loss, and go forward with the confident assurance that you did all you could do to live peaceably with her. Now you leave it in God’s hands.

Let me close where we began—with the challenge to join The Jesus Peace Corps, to determine by God’s grace that you will endeavor to be a peacemaker whenever and wherever possible. I think of so many wars that are going on all the time—in families, in churches, on our jobs—wars that never seem to come to an end. They can be small wars that are based on hurt feelings or something truly traumatic that you have endured, and your challenge is to find a way to be a peacemaker in that war in your life, if you possibly can.

Please don’t underestimate how God can use you to bring peace on your job, in your home, at your church, or wherever a war is waging. As a member of The Jesus Peace Corps, you have his power to bring his peace to your world.