October 2026
Peacekeeper versus Peacemaker
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.
-Jeremiah 8:11
Brad Brown of Family Worship taught me an important distinction between being a peace KEEPER and being a “peace MAKER” (Jesus says peace MAKERS are blessed). A peace keeper wants to avoid rocking the boat at any cost. They value conflict avoidance and quiet, even in the face of clear injustice. To peacekeepers, folks like Rosa Parks and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior are considered troublemakers. “Stop talking about racism! You’re making it worse!”
But Rosa and Martin and others were peace makers, pointing out a truth about inequality to a people grown complacent and calloused. As in the day of Jeremiah, the larger culture in America at that time was saying “peace, peace” when there was no peace; when people of color were being mistreated and excluded.
In the gospels, Jesus also warned that he came to bring a sword, not necessarily the kind of easy peace that people were expecting. For God is a God of both justice AND mercy, not merely one or the other. And until justice is established, there can be no true peace (Shalom is the Hebrew word translated as “peace” in English, but the Hebrew word carries with it the flavor of wholeness, wellness, and fulfillment; not just the absence of readily obvious conflict).
I have recently heard it said: “Hurting people hurt people.” And so again, there is no true peace if hurts are not addressed and the wars are not stopped at the source (at the heart level). Peacemaking can be a very slow, painful, and difficult process. Some people will see it as troublemaking. But true peace (the kind that Jesus gives) requires repentance, humility and a total surrender to God’s Spirit.
Jesus was NOT a peacekeeper. Jesus was a peacemaker, and such is the calling of all children of God. Blessed be those willing to rock the boat in order to make room for those who are drowning.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Matthew