What Makes Peace? 1 – Priority

Hello, my name is Christopher Dryden, I am a peacemaker.

Typing those words is not easy for me or even that natural. I am an easy going guy who likes to avoid confrontation wherever possible. That does not make me a peacemaker. The Prince of Peace was hardly a guy who ran from confrontation. Preferring to avoid upsetting people is not a sign of being a peacemaker.

So when I call myself a peacemaker, it’s really as much a statement of faith as anything else. Yet I am a peacemaker. It is someone I am and it is something I do.

What allows me to say it is purely based on my relationship with the aforementioned Prince of Peace. Like Him I see a world in disarray and rather than getting bogged down in it and complaining against it, by His grace and power, I am part of the process of seeing His rule come on earth as it is in heaven.

I have not always been a peacemaker. It took Jesus Himself saving me and then leading me along the paths He wanted me to go down to appreciate that it makes more sense being a peacemaker than anything else.

There are plenty of things little and no so little that I do contributing to the peacemaking effort, but recently I thought it was about time I actually appreciated more what it was that made peace.

There is quite a lot of things that make peace when you look at it in life and when you consider it in the scripture. I am not going into all of them in this entry and it would probably be an entire blog in itself to share what it is in practice. There are however five ingredients worth mentioning over the next few blog entries.

What I recognise about peace is that it requires having a clear priority. Peace as a state of being on a personal, relational, social and global scale is not unrelated to a clear focus. That focus, unsurprisingly is that same Prince of Peace. Making the priority looking for Him and His Kingdom of peace informs all our actions, thoughts and words. He is a focal point for all that we desire in peace. Without Him being that priority then all of our efforts will ultimately be fruitless.

It’s easy to be distracted from that priority. Lots of efforts done supposedly for peace sake is actually in a bid to maintain a status quo. It can be to quell unrest that would force people to realise a malaise they have accepted for so long. No true peace can exist unless our focus on the priority allows us to celebrate what is in line with the King and His Kingdom or to make adjustments to be in line with that priority.

For me that has meant that I recognise my selfish tendencies and commit to die daily so that I can relate with my wife effectively I die daily so I can relate effectively with my children. I can relate effectively at my workplace. I relate effectively with members of the church family and beyond. That happens as I die to myself and allow the Christ life to direct me in that which makes for peace.

That’s meant to be challenging because to a degree it can be counter-intuitive and at times counter-cultural, but it is truly never counter-productive.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden