I recently spent some time studying one of the simplest verses in the New Testament: “blessed are the peacemakers.” There are no tricky words in this verse, no difficult Greek to parse. To be blessed means to be happy or to experience God’s favor; to be a peacemaker is to (wait for it!) make peace. But though the words are simple, the application takes some work. Essentially, Jesus is saying that peace with God leads us to make peace like God. But how do we actually do that?

It strikes me that there are at least three ways that each of us can serve as a peacemaker: we can make peace between God and man; we can make peace between man and man; and we can make peace between church and church.
Peace Between Man and God
Once we come to peace with God we naturally want to see others come to peace with him as well. What we call “evangelism” is simply this—telling others about the good news of the gospel and encouraging them to turn to Christ in repentance and faith—encouraging them to accept God’s terms of peace.
Do you do that? Are you sharing the gospel with other people? And are you asking them, or encouraging them, or pleading with them to turn to Christ? This is a serious and sacred calling God has given us. And I fear that of all Christians, Reformed Christians are among those most likely to neglect this task.
There are so many ways to share the gospel. You can speak to people at work and home and in your neighborhood. You can speak to your Uber driver and hairdresser. You can distribute tracts and Bibles. You can reach into the online communities you are part of. You can participate in formal programs of evangelism. Less important than how you do it is the fact that you do do it.
The peacemaker is the evangelist—the one who longs to see peace between God and man, and the one who then shares the gospel and calls people to it.
Peace Between Man and Man
The second kind of peace we can bring is peace between man and man. Everywhere you go you find people who are in conflict with one another and as a peacemaker you can help bring them to a state of harmony.
While we need to be careful not to involve ourselves in conflicts that are none of our business and conflicts we can really do nothing to help, there are times where we can helpfully intervene in a conflict and assist the two sides in coming to terms with one another. That’s especially true when the conflict is between two Christians and perhaps most important of all when it’s between two members of the same church.
To bring peace between two people doesn’t mean to merely act as appeasers, people who try to paper over conflict without actually resolving it. To be a peacemaker is to bring God’s own truth to bear on a situation of conflict and then to appeal to the different parties to do what God says. This is always the question we need to be asking: What does the Bible say about this, and how am I going to apply those Scriptural truths to this particular situation?
You may come into contact with a husband and wife who are just not getting along, who are always irritated with one another. And they ask you for help. Maybe you can begin by simply opening up Ephesians 5:33 and reading what God says: “Let each one of you (husbands) love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” And beginning right there you can help him think about how to love her and help her think about how to respect him. That may not bring full resolution, but it will at least get the process underway.
You may come into contact with two church members who have had a falling out. Perhaps one has sinned against the other and is denying it. You can speak to the one who has been sinned against and open up Proverbs 19:11 to remind that person, “It is the glory of a man to overlook an offense.” Can you overlook this offense—can you set it aside and continue to relate to that person as if it never happened? If not, then you can take that person to Matthew 18:15 and help him understand the process God gives us to resolve conflict: Go to that person alone, describe the offense, and see if they will ask your forgiveness; if not, take one or two other people and do it again; and if even then they won’t repent, take it to the church.
Of course maybe it’s you who needs to obey God when he says, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Would it be said of you that you live at peace with everyone?
In these ways and so many others, you can imitate God by serving as a peacemaker. You can bring peace between man and man.
Peace Between Church and Church
And then I think there is also a way in which we together as the members of a local church can bring peace between church and church. It’s a sad fact that churches often end up isolating themselves or becoming suspicious of other congregations. We can even become competitive with one another when it comes to growing our numbers.
There is a sweet ministry of being a church that loves other churches—that makes peace with them and that fosters peace with them. You can read about one of these churches in 1 Thessalonians 4—a church that was commended for its love of other churches. There was no competition and no hard feelings. There was just love—love for other churches that were imperfect but on the same side, imperfect but carrying out the same labor and working toward the same cause. It is a beautiful thing when churches dwell together in love, trust, and unity.
We are called to be peacemakers, not mere peace-lovers or peace-attempters. And yet ultimately we need to acknowledge that the results are not up to us. We must do our utmost to make peace—but we must also then leave the results in the hands of God, trusting that he is wise and good. Sometimes, for his purposes, he will bring full resolution; sometimes, for his purposes, he will not. We can trust him with the results.
Then it’s important that we consider this: If we are called to make peace, why is there so much conflict? Why is there so much conflict even in the church, even between Christians? The simple reason is that we face strong enemies that hate peace and love war. The world around us, our own flesh, and the devil himself are all arrayed against us. They all tend toward the chaos of fighting, not the order of peace. And so we need to pray for peace—pray for peace in our own hearts, pray for peace in the world, pray for peace within the church. And then, having prayed, we need to labor for it. We need to make peace.
So, are you a peacemaker or a troublemaker? Are you a son of God in making peace, or are you a son of the devil in undermining or destroying peace? The clear calling for those who have come to peace with God is to make peace like God. The beautiful calling of the gospel is to imitate God in being one who loves peace, who values peace, and who makes peace.

There are some more Kindle deals to browse through today, for those who are interested in such things.

(Yesterday on the blog: Approaching the Tomb with Joy)
Go to Funerals
It’s good advice, this. “Let me encourage you to something: consider attending every funeral that occurs in your church’s life. And if you are a pastor, disciple your members to attend funerals.”
The Art of Heavenly-Mindedness
“‏Earthly-mindedness is to the mind what gravity is to the body—it is an invisible, powerful, and constant force that weighs so heavily upon the individual that without a greater force acting against it, he is powerless to break free from its controlling influence. Even the stoutest Christians know this to be the case.”
Sexual Behavior Isn’t the Most Important Issue
“The most common question I’m asked during a Q&A session on sexuality goes something like this: My friend is transgender (or bisexual, gay, etc.), and I want to know what I can tell her to make her reconsider. I’m sympathetic to this question, and I understand why they are asking.” Yet…
Should Pro-Lifers Embrace Embryo Adoption?
Should those who are pro-life consider adopting embryos? John Piper takes on a tricky question here.
Woe to the Pretenders of Godliness
“Some teachers of the truth should be listened to but not imitated.” That’s an interesting thought and Doug Eaton teases it out in this article.
‘See! The Lord has given you the…’
“The title of this post is the beginning of a verse from the Bible. How do you think it continues? What word would you guess comes next? We’ll see in a minute if you’re right or not!” You don’t need to be a strict sabbatarian to benefit from reading this one (though I suppose it may help).
Flashback: It’s Time To Break Free From the Algorithm-Driven Life
To allow them to judge what we’ll find interesting and informative is to cede to them the authority to withhold from us what they determine is inappropriate or offensive. It’s time to face how much we stand to lose by living the algorithm-driven life.

There is no place where you may flee from God angry but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you may flee. Will you flee from Him? Flee unto Him. —Herman Bavinck

Grace and peace to you, my friends.

I have added a couple of Kindle deals with more possibly to come tomorrow.
(Yesterday on the blog: Family Update: An Engagement, a Scholarship, and a Beautiful Bench)
The Failure of Evangelical Elites
Carl Trueman has some extended thoughts on the failure of Evangelical elites. “Let me put it bluntly: Talking in an outraged voice about racism within the boundaries set by the woke culture is an excellent way of not talking about the pressing moral issues on which ­Christianity and the culture are opposed to each other: LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Even Schleiermacher would cringe. Christian elites try to persuade the secular world that they aren’t so bad—no longer in terms of Enlightenment conceptions of reason, but in terms of the disordered moral preoccupations of the day.”
We All Have the Power of Caligula Now
Meanwhile, Alan Noble has some interesting (and disturbing) thoughts on pornography. “Pornography assumes that we are each our own and belong to ourselves. It’s a tool that promises to give us a kind of personal validation, a sense of identity, a taste of meaningfulness, and a glimpse of intimate belonging. But by its own logic, pornography, like modernity, is an empty promise.”
When Pastors Declare Victory Too Soon
“I used to think that turning a church around was like turning a business around: set a new vision, clean up the mess the old guy left, and get the charts pointing in the right direction.” But now Darryl has realized it’s far different.
Expressive Individualism: Our Twenty-First Century American Ba’al
Bruce Ashford: “Westerners in general, and Americans in particular, have learned to live life without any real reference to God. Because of our relative wealth, we tend not to lean on God for material provisions. Because of modern medicine, we rely on doctors and surgeons when our health is fragile, and don’t see God as the ultimate healer. Because of modern therapy, we tend to ignore the role he should play in the right ordering of our hearts and minds…”
What Is “the Name?”
Terry Johnson: “Were the Jehovah’s Witnesses right? Among their central boasts is that they have revived the covenantal name of God, the Hebrew YHWH, sometimes pronounced Yahweh and sometimes Jehovah, that Jesus came to restore. Ancient Hebrew has no vowels so the precise pronunciation may never be known. Given the growing practice among Evangelicals of referring in sermons and lectures to Yahweh, one would think that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were right.”
Dog Bites Man: Adventures in the Life of a Translation Consultant
How can someone help ensure the quality of a new translation when that person doesn’t speak the language? This article answers.
Pray for Those in Authority
“Authority and institutionalism have become less popular in recent years, but Scripture places emphasis on authority and organized religion is an irrevocable part of God’s plan for the world. We are commanded in Scripture to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2) and this command should be taken seriously.”
Flashback: Do We Care for the Sheep or Do We Use the Sheep?
There is a place for ambitious goals, I’m sure, but they must come after the sheep have been properly cared for, not before.

One of the chief purposes of trial and affliction is to make us send for our Savior. —Theodore Cuyler