Things Which Make for Peace
by Tim Nichols
There is a progression that
leads us from darkness to light. Having escaped the darkness, there is a
forward advance into the light. Growth and spiritual development do not end
at the dawn between the two. David exhorts us to “depart from evil, and do
good; seek peace, and pursue it” (Psa. 34:14). Having departed from
evil, individually and collectively, let us proceed to grow together and to
walk arm-in-arm in pursuing peace and doing good. The fact that so many of
our number have retreated into darkness only highlights the importance of
nurturing and building up that wonderful unity that remains among the people
of God (Psa. 133:1). Peace, harmony, and good will do not just
happen. They require effort (Rom. 12:18; 1 Pet. 3:11). Please
consider a few suggestions for how we might “follow after the things which
make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19;
Eph. 4:3; Heb. 12:14).
Tolerate all
that you have the right to tolerate.
Romans 14 obligates us to
receive those whose faith is yet weak as long as they do not press their
notions to agitation. Forbearance and patient teaching over a long period of
time will often correct what might have been disruptive if confronted
harshly and quickly. Even regarding matters of obligation there are
distinctions that can be made between what some untaught members merely
believe and what they press upon others. We must understand that the babe in
Christ has much to learn and much to unlearn.
One is not a “false teacher”
merely because he or she holds quietly to an unbiblical idea while humbly
and sincerely studying the Truth. Some years ago, a new sister in Christ was
openly angry with me when I could not yield to some of the ideas that had
remained with her after she left denominationalism. She recently told me
that she counts me as her best friend. Time, teaching, acceptance, humility
on her part, and patience have erased the ideas from her mind that might
have become divisive wedges. The church is to be a place where babes can
grow. We must tolerate opinions, things merely believed incorrectly,
personality quirks, and such like to the very limit of our right to tolerate
them if babes are ever to reach maturity in Christ.
Challenge all
that you have a duty to challenge.
Hesitation regarding this duty
has contributed to disunity in the past. Well-meaning men have wrongly
believed that inaction is a virtue regarding matter in which God has given
us obligation to act. Every full-blown false doctrine and practice that has
divided the church began as a tiny seed in some local congregation. I
suspect that many would have gone no further if they had been lovingly and
decisively challenged according to God’s plan (Tit. 3:10).
Similarly, winking at sin
(slander, fornication, etc.) when we know it exists only emboldens other
weak Christians to feel free to imitate it. The Corinthians were seemingly
proud of their tolerance when it should have been their shame (1 Cor. 5).
Contain it and dispense with it early, before it grows into a monster. This
action is an expression of love for the brethren.
Agree quickly
with your adversary.
Disputes will arise that are
difficult to understand or explain. Tempers may flare at times. Insults may
come our way. We may become guilty of some offense that we can dimly
recognize even without giving it a name. Others may be clearer to us. Let us
be swift to make things right. Be ready to accept the smallest overtures for
reconciliation with your brethren without compromising your Biblical duty
(Matt. 5:23-25; Prov. 6:3-5; 25:8). Major wars begin with minor
skirmishes. Minor skirmishes are best ended in handshakes.
Forgive all that
you have the right to forgive.
A greater wisdom than our own
has fashioned the rules, and they are better than those we might have
written (Jam. 3:17). If our brother sins against us seventy times
seven and repents as many times, we are to forgive him (Matt. 18:21-22;
Luke 17:4). Our sense that maybe his repentance is insincere, our
concern that he might repeat the act, or other such things do not release us
from the obligation to forgive. If we are unforgiving, then we will be
unforgiven (Matt. 6:12; Mark 11:25-26). We are to forgive as we have
been forgiven (Eph. 4:31-32; Col. 3:13). Kindness cultivates
repentance (Rom. 2:4). Although we cannot actually forgive one who is
unrepentant, we can and should continue to show charitableness toward that
one without compromising Biblical principles.
There is room for genuine
compassion for the one who is caught in the Devil’s snare (2 Tim.
2:24-26), even when his sins have caused us personal harm and distress.
The milk of human kindness may help to soften a heart that might otherwise
refuse to repent. Just as God’s offer to forgive us was made while we were
yet impenitent sinners (Rom. 5:8), our offer, yearning, and
disposition to forgive should be made as obvious as we can make it. It is
always easier for a prodigal to return home when he has a sense that open
arms await him.
We have the right (and duty) to
forgive the brother who tells us that he has repented. After that brother
has repented, our reaffirmation of love for him will serve to insulate him
from the devices Satan uses to recapture his freed captives (2 Cor.
2:3-11). In so many ways, love hides a multitude of sins (Jam. 5:20;
Prov. 10:12; 1 Pet. 4:8). When it is directed by God’s perfect guidance,
love makes for peace.
Be actively
interested in the lives of your brethren.
While some “pop psychologists”
may overstate the case for the social needs of men (and some brethren
seemingly believe that the work of the church is to provide all sorts of
equipment and buildings that might facilitate them), it remains true that we
need one another. We really do meet one another’s social needs when we live
together as God directs. The equipment does not involve big round balls
people bounce upon hard floors or little white balls they hit with a stick.
Rather, it involves at lest two
real people who are struggling in the real world to live lives that will
glorify God. It concerns caring hearts, listening ears, and unpretentious
appreciation for the joys, sorrows, and strivings of brethren. It has to do
with recognizing the church of Christ as a “body” — not just in the
blackboard illustrations, but in real life. The rich provide something
needed by the poor that has nothing to do with money, and the poor provide
the gift of acceptance for the rich that could not have been purchased with
a fortune. The uneducated add something to the lives of the lettered that
has to do with what is beyond mere knowledge of facts, and the scholar
offers to his brethren what is better than a lecture on some science.
The ground is level at the foot
of the cross. We, brethren, are members of a body that is greater than any
one of us — or any subset of us. “And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice
with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). This empathy is not automatic, but we really
can choose to have “compassion one of another,” to “love as brethren, be
pitiful” and “be courteous” (1 Pet. 3:8).
Paul calls upon us to be
involved actively in one another’s lives:
Rejoice with them that do
rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward
another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not
wise in your own deceits (Rom. 12:15-16).
When a brother or sister
accomplishes some honorable thing, we can choose to join in and rejoice.
When a brother or sister meets with misfortune, we can choose to allow that
circumstance to touch our hearts and draw forth sincere sympathy. Obedience
to these commands also— and exercise of these principles in the church of
our Lord — will certainly be “things which make for peace.”
Encourage every
good work and individual.
Hesitation here has possibly
contributed to discouragement and disunity in the past. To withhold a hearty
pat on the back for the unknown preacher who has just delivered a fine
Gospel sermon, out of fear that he might possibly be unworthy of endorsement
for some other reason, is to increase the possibility that he will later
become unworthy of endorsement. Although events in the past several years
have led us to be reasonably suspicious and cautious, they have not given us
cause to assume that all unknown brethren are guilty until proven innocent.
Qualify your approval if you must, but “withhold not good from them to whom
it is due, when it in the power of thine hand to do it” (Prov. 3:27; see
also Rom. 13:7; Gal. 6:10; Jan. 5:4).
Brethren, we are in this
together. Let us be the children of God (Matt. 5:9). Let us,
together, “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call
on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). May these few
suggestions help us to do just that!
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