Blessed are the WHO?

We know those "Beatitudes," right? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. All that good stuff. Well, not so good really, but we're blessed if we're in those what most people consider not-so-good conditions, so that is good. How about this one? Blessed are the peacemakers.

Now, that one actually seems like a nice one and we're good with that. Or ... are we? We currently live in a world growing more openly hostile to God and to Christianity. Be that as it may, what is really obvious is that we're living in a world with a hair-trigger on our hate guns. "Cotton-pickin'" used to just be a phrase, but now it's a racist insult, as if only black people have ever picked cotton and the only reason to use the phrase is to insult them. We have "cultural appropriation" which sneaks up on many who are simply trying to imitate what they like in other cultures. And "microagression" which by its very name tells you its really small ("micro") but really bad ("aggression"). You can do it without even knowing it ... or having it. "So, what country are your ancestors from?" will get you in big trouble. Are you white? You're in trouble. Are you male? You're really in trouble. Are you Republican? Same. If you're all three, you are the biggest terrorist threat on the planet. I know people who make your choice in food a matter of moral outrage. "Oh, you like coffee? What kind of monster are you?" And don't get me started on religious wars. "What's that? You believe that rock music is acceptable in church??!! Infidel!!!"

Blessed are the peacemakers.

See? All of the sudden that is a lot harder than it sounded. How do we maintain our solid lines, our biblical lines, our defense of the faith, our obedience to God rather than men and still work at producing peace with others? How do we strive to prevent dissension and strife in a world that seems to breathe dissension and strife? "Peacemakers," Jesus said, "are blessed." Well, I want to be blessed. How do we, faced with constant opposition, animosity, and conflict, be peacemakers?

I would suggest we do it by ... well, you know ... being biblical. We are commanded to love God, so we can't shade the truth or pull back on His commands or compromise what He says. We are commanded to love our neighbors, so we shouldn't be obeying God by being aggressive, argumentative, or hostile to our neighbors. If God's truth and God's commands are for our good, then it makes no sense to defend them by going to war. "You will take this good thing if I have to tie you down and shove it down your throat and you will like it!" Makes no sense at all. So if we love God, we stand on His Word, but we do it with love. And when fellow believers take up arms, we love them enough to encourage them to love their enemies. We are commanded to "stand firm" (1 Cor 16:13; Eph 6:14; Php 4:1; 2 Thess 2:15), not "go to war", and we are told to contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), to make a defense, but with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

Yes, this world seems to delight in taking offense and going to war over almost anything. They complain about "Trump rhetoric" and then feed the same rhetoric back for everything they don't like. They are offended at the least hint of a possible slight, real or imagined. Brothers and sisters, that shouldn't be us. We should be peacemakers, not backing down on the truth, but not taking up arms to attack, either. We're supposed to love our enemies. That is, if you want to be blessed.