Turn the other cheek, or bust out the shotguns?

Q.  We are called to be peace-makers, so at what point, at what limit, at what offense do we carry our peace-making with a peacemaker?

When delving into the topic of when or if we should stand against the worlds violence in a physical way we must first state that evil is real, God is just, and the bible is the source of authority in which we are answering this question.

So lets look at the verse,

“Blessed [are] the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.”

So a Peace maker is called a son of God; these are individuals who trust God as their father and who by redemption have been given the inheritance of God (1 Peter 1:4, Gal 4:4-7). We see that our Father is a God of Justice and that he is the only one who can sentence a full Just Judgment, which is his perfect desire and nature (psalm 11:5-7. psalm 19:7-9, Psa. 89:14, Deut. 32:3, 4).

As sons of God we are the individuals who are “In Christ”. When in Christ, our thinking has changed on sin and evil in the world (Romans 12) and thus now we have a discernment in the world we live in.

Peacemaking Is Ultimately Up To God

We see God as a God which says he will fulfill full justice to everyone everywhere and for us to be patient (Isaiah 66:16, 51:5). We must understand that the reality of evil comes from the individual heart which does the evil.  No amount of physical war will ever end mans selfish ability to do evil. We are called to love our enemies. In true love comes true desire for Justice. When we see a situation of oppression we are called to have action against it (Isaiah 58). We are never to hate the sinner but true hate of sin is the desire to stop it and protect those that are being affected by it.

So we should strive to be peacemakers in all situations, even to the point of national peacemakers with movements like that of non-violent revolutions (Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, Paul, John the baptist). But there is a point when all else fails that action must be taken; not for our personal glory but for protection of the week, and for self defense according to God’s sovereign will.

If no possible way of peace can form, we are called to love; and loving through action is needed. As for self defense, we fight for our bodies because God has given these to us to take care of and rule, but we freely give them up for our faith, so we may witness to others even to the point of death. We must have the world view that God is the only one who can properly punish and judge people/nations, he is in sovereign control of nations and peoples so we must first connect with him and by this have a discerning heart to do his will. Knowing he will never cause us to hate.

Peace on earth will only come through Christ, not some utopic desire through certain human actions. In the end it is good to remind men it is our duty to oversee our family in protection and care (1 Tim 5:8).

(http://www.openbible.info/topics/taking_care_of_our_body)

This entry was posted on February 17, 2010 at February 17, 2010 and is filed under Christian Living, Ethics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.