And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.(Colossians 3:15 – ESV)
The peace of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit should characterize the community of God’s people, the new man in manifestation. Paul is talking about the group but this also has application to the individual. Of course if each member is following this “rule” then the group will be in peace as well. The church should be like a filling station where we can have the peace of God poured into our tanks, readying us for another week in the world.
Of course, a weekly fill up is wonderful, and a mid week top off of the tank is a good idea. However, even the pastor can’t spend every waking hour at the church in the presence of God with other believers. We’ll have to wait for heaven for that to happen. So we are stuck with ourselves sometimes, and we had better be sowing peace daily, otherwise it could hinder and hamper our church time.
Be thankful that you have been called into the body of Christ, wherever you may be in a local body; let the peace of Christ rule in you personally and it will help corporately. The Greek says to keep on being thankful; it is a continuous obligation. You were indeed called into a body, and a hand doesn’t hit its own stomach, the knee doesn’t smash the other on purpose, etc., etc. When you hit others in the body you hit yourself, you wouldn’t take one of your hands and slap the other and say, “ now get with it” would you? No you would realize that it is a team problem, so get together around Christ and work it out. The progressive nurture and thus preventative maintenance of this relationship is vital to our individual, spiritual lives.
We must strive for peace (Hebrews 12:14) and not try and strike back (Romans 12:17-21). Though with some there can be no peace, we can still have peace overall. For example, in spite of our being in a spiritual war, we have peace with God, and though we may have outer conflict, we have inner peace, both in a personal and a corporate sense.
We need true peace; some have peace on the outside but war on the inside (Psalm 28:3, 55:21). How do you know if you are or if someone else is acting in peace? James 3:13-18 gives us many clues to look for in situations and be aware of in our own lives.
13 – live peacefully and it will show its rightness to others.
14-15 – make sure of your motives, the truth is to be held up as first priority.
16 – selfish motives will engender strife and still worse it will lead to all sorts of evil. Look at this verse carefully; covetousness is the mother of all sin, as we see evidenced here once again.
17-18 – the right kind of peace and wisdom is unspotted with the world (James 1:27, 4:4), and is willing to listen as we draw close to God together (James 4:8). If we are true peacemaker’s not just conflict avoiders then there will be a harvest of peace, if not the trouble will surface again. It is not about avoiding conflict it is about truth and trust, in God, in the Holy Spirit within each other and the process of peace. Not “leave me alone”, but “help me to grow”.
Don’t come looking for a fight, come bearing peace. Remember, peace follows love (Ephesians 4:2-3). If you cannot have peaceful fellowship with God’s people, whom exactly do you expect to have peace with?
10 comments:
I was just noticing how these verses have us checking our own motives. It can be problematic when we go beyond another's words or actions and attempt to judge another person's motives intuitively. That's probably not the most useful tool to reach for if one is trying to build peace, eh?
Fantastically excellent point, my brother...
On second thought, man I am convicted, thanks a lot, Craver...
:-)
"Of course, a weekly fill up is wonderful, and a mid week top off of the tank is a good idea."
I haven't been in a church with a mid-week service in years, and I surely miss it.
Another fine teaching. Thanks JD.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his
head.” Romans 12:19-20
I thought of these verses when reading "The Seeds of Peace". I know at times I have been guilty of wrong motives by wanting to "heap burning coals". That would be avenging myself. Lord forgive me and continue to change my heart.
Hebrews 12:14 "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."
Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus...
wonderful post - being a peacemaker is rather like bbeing a physical therapist I think - seeing what part is "out of whack" an how it can be strengthened and re-integrated into the whole so that the whole can be stronger and work together better - and not get hurt again.
Over about 12 years of physical therapy now, it never ceases to amaze me how just one little body part that isn't working the way it should can mess up - to a huge degree - other seemingly non-related body parts.
And frequently, the "presenting symptom" is the part that is getting hurt by the disfunction - not the one causing the trouble at all - so perhaps peacemakers have to be detectives too - what do you think?
Well, perhpas, in that we sow all over the place, including those places we think are not going to be fruitful (as per "the seeds of peace" post of a couple of days ago), and so we are sowing into areas that are the real hurting problem, and it helps foster peace..but I don't think we investigate too far into whose hurt and how, and look into motive and things like that...
In our own lives it does make sense (and really it must be done) to keep asking God to reveal our hearts to us (Psalm 19:12-14, 139:23-24) so that we can find the roots of things, and in that way, we are definitely like detectives...
yes, that is exactly what I mean. So often in the church (counseling ministries I mean), we treat the symptoms - someones anger problem with "put off/put on" - which is not a bad thing at all. But then we see a problem, not previously visible, take the place of the overt anger (rather like an alchoholic going to AA - they lay off the alcohol but them become addicted to attending meetings). So, what we have done, is to treat the "symptom", not help the counselee (or ourselves for that matter) look to the heart to see the root problem. It seems to me that it is always a matter of the heart and that is where our examinination - of ourselves first and for helping others also - how do the beliefs of the heart line up with scripture - "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he"
Post a Comment