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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Be at Peace

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men (Rom 12:18).
In light of a society seemingly driven by conflict so prevalent that it is a popular process even among Christians, this seems quite shocking. The basic injunction is "be at peace with all men." Not, "Beat them over the head until they submit" or even "Stand up for your rights" or "Defend your self-esteem." Very odd.

Oh, sure, there are caveats. There are what I term "weasel words". "If possible" and "so far as it depends on you" can be nice little tools to admit "It ain't gonna happen." But weaseling out of our responsibility isn't really the goal of the Christian, is it? So these phrases simply recognize that sometimes you do not have the capacity to be at peace with all men. Some men are ... oh, what was it that Paul called it ... "unappeasable" (2 Tim 3:3). There are just some people that will not allow you to be at peace with them. Paul gets that. So do we.

Still, how about that goal? "Be at peace with all men." When so many around me on the side of Christianity seem to be ready, willing, and anxious to "duke it out", to step up to the fight, to take on all comers, this seems to fly in the face of this seeming norm. This seems more along the lines of "love your enemies". Oh my, now I'm meddling again. But maybe, just maybe, we have room for improvement here.

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