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PROGRAM D-8011
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Peace Corps. It’s 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. But I would propose to you that everyone who is a Christ-follower should be enrolled in the Peace Corps—The Jesus Peace Corps. Let me 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.
To be in The Jesus Peace Corps, you need to develop the skills of a peacemaker. You may think of a peacemaker as someone with authority 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.