Spiritual Growth -
God's Peace vs. the World's Peace
Peace is a significant topic for people today. Peace is
desperately desired by virtually everyone, yet obtained by so few. The irony of
this condition, however, is that peace is attainable only if a change of
perspective and a willingness to explore what true peace is takes place for a
person. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this endeavor is that while the
Bible clearly teaches comprehensively about peace, most people look to culture for
their understanding of peace. This lecture will work toward a biblical
understanding of peace.
God's Peace
There is so much in the Bible regarding peace that it is
difficult to know where to start, and certainly not every aspect can be covered
here. Perhaps the best place to start is with the New Testament. Among the many
places in the New Testament, there are four verses that help elevate the
conversation of peace to an otherworldly status−meaning it runs counter to what
the world teaches about peace. The first is Matthew 10:34. Jesus said, "Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword." Right away it is clear how worldly peace
differs from Jesus' peace. For millennia, people have understood peace as the
absence of conflict−at least to some degree. But here Jesus claimed that this
kind of peace is not true peace at all. His point is that His presence will not
be an end to conflict in the world, but a cause of it−a reality that has
continued for centuries. The reason for this is that people fail to understand
that true peace starts with God. Jesus is the source of that peace. His life,
death, and resurrection ended enmity between people and God for those who
accept it. Peace with God is true peace. But Jesus' arrival on the scene is not
met with joy from all. And that is where the "sword" comes into play.
The sword divides, and Jesus clearly divides people into those who put their
faith and trust in Him (receiving peace) and those who do not (those who
ultimately receive wrath). See Romans 1:18, for instance, or Jesus' teaching on
the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-33.
Second is Luke 2:14. Here the host of heaven said something
that is mostly familiar to anyone who has ever received some Christmas cards.
But there is a twist in this verse in the English Standard Version and the New
American Standard Version that is usually excluded from the cards which, again,
causes division and angst. And, most people are unfamiliar with it−the last few
words of the verse. They said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among those with whom he is pleased!" Notice in the verse that the
"peace" is reserved only for those on whom God is pleased. This is a
difficult teaching, mostly left off the Christmas cards, but the Bible clearly
instructs that peace is reserved only for those who embrace God and believe in
Jesus (Hebrews 11:6). The popular bumper sticker may be corny, but it is
theologically correct: "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace."
Putting the last part of the Luke 2:14 verse on a Christmas card would invite
debate and division, but it would certainly be more accurate in regard to true
peace.
Third, consider what Jesus said in John 14:27: "Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world
gives." There is no more clearly articulated teaching that proclaims that
the world's idea of peace, whatever it is−absence of war, financial security,
popularity, good looks, a great family, an envious career, a cool car, an esteemed
Facebook profile−this peace is not true peace. The only true peace comes from
Jesus. His love, mercy, redemption, sacrifice, and teachings are the only peace
that is real and that lasts.
Fourthly, Jesus made this radical claim about peace in John
16:33: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In
this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world." The world tells anyone who will listen how to have peace. Yet
Jesus would laugh at this notion. According to Him, He is the only arbiter of
peace. What He taught His disciples on this last night before His crucifixion
is radical: the world holds no hope or peace or contentment. Yes, there are
some pleasant, fun, and enjoyable things and encounters found on the earth. But
ultimately, the earth and its "treasures" are perishing and do not
bring ultimate peace or satisfaction. Jesus is the only one who overcomes this
emptiness, the only one who provides peace.
This teaching on peace is evident and practically applied in
virtually all of the letters that the Apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament.
Contained in the salutation section of 11 of his 13 letters is the greeting
"grace and peace" to his readers. (Only in 1 and 2 Timothy is the
greeting worded a tad differently: "Grace, mercy, and peace to
you"−yet the theological significance that is about to be explicated
remains for the Timothy letters as well). The order of the words is no
accident. Paul understood and taught through this greeting that if the grace of
Jesus is not first present and received, then there is no peace. What Jesus
taught−that the world alone cannot offer peace−is affirmed by the Apostle.
Peace only comes through a relationship with Jesus. It does not take a
sociology degree to understand how counter-cultural this teaching is. But
neither can its truth ultimately be denied. C. S. Lewis, though not the only
one who understood this tenet, explained it beautifully by writing,
"Recently (although the outward condition of my life has not changed for
the better) it has pleased God to pour into my soul great tranquility−I may
even say gaiety. I give thanks not without apprehension as one who keeps firmly
in mind that salutary observation in The Imitation of Christ 'remember in Grace
what you would be without Grace'" (Lewis & Calabria, 1988 p. 41).
Notice that Lewis did not measure peace by the outward condition of his life,
as the world so eagerly teaches. Lewis had truly found the peace that only
Jesus provides.
Continuing a little more with Paul, there are two other
verses of his to be considered (among the many). For instance, in Romans 5:1 he
wrote, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul affirmed what Jesus
had already taught during His life on earth: that first and foremost, peace
with God is where true peace reigns. Without a reconciled relationship with God
(i.e., an end of enmity with God), there is no peace. Only after the chasm each
person has with God is bridged, will peace in the rest of life be possible.
Paul further wrote in Romans 8:6, "The mind governed by the flesh is
death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." The flesh
in this case is a way of saying that the worldly desires of humans cannot bring
peace. Only a life guided by Jesus is one that is eligible for true peace.
One of the most profound chapters for Paul's teaching on
peace comes in Philippians 4. It seems that the entire chapter has peace as the
thread that runs through every bit of the teaching, from his admonishment to
Euodia and Syntyche to get along, to his teaching on contentment (peace and
contentment are companion conditions−it is difficult to have one without the
other), to the fact that God meets all of his needs, whatever they might be.
And contained in the midst of all this teaching is the renowned verse,
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philip. 4:7). This magnificent
peace, Paul claimed, comes as a result of a person who rejoices in his or her
relationship with Jesus and prays to Him fervently.
Peace is found in the
Process
Certainly one of the most challenging aspects of finding
peace is how people react to and handle life's trials, tribulation, and
suffering. But Scripture does not shrink away from teaching that even when life
is at its most difficult, peace can still be had as a result of the
faith-relationship one has with Jesus. Consider James 1:2-4, which states:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials
of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces
perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything." This is not just teaching about faith and
perseverance, but it is also teaching about finding peace and purpose in spite
of difficulties. What James taught is antithetical to the way the world views
peace. The peace promoted by the world only comes as a result of prosperity and
ease. But James (and other New Testament writers) insisted that peace is not
found in results, achievements, successes, comfort and ease, but rather−with
Christ−peace can be found and experienced in the process, in the journey of life, even when the journey is
tragically difficult. Peace, hope, patience, and perseverance
"developed" in the midst of comfort, ease, and pleasant circumstances
is unreliable−nonexistent, really−because it is untested. God cannot help a
person develop patience, for example, if that person is never in circumstances
that demand he or she be patient. Again, it must be noted that true peace is
not the absence of turmoil, but the presence of God. Swindoll (1998) said it
this way: "Peace is that calm of mind that is not ruffled by adversity,
overclouded by a remorseful conscious, or disturbed by fear" (p. 431).
Jesus is the only one qualified and powerful enough to provide such peace. To
be fearless, guiltless, and unruffled is only possible through something
greater than the world: Jesus.
This introduces one of the most important aspects of
biblical peace as opposed to worldly peace: understanding that God desperately
desires for His people to find peace in the process and journey of life, not in
results and achievements. Again, this is quite antithetical to worldly thinking
about peace (and contentment and joy as well). Boa explained it this way:
In a culture that promotes instant gratification, it can be
wearisome for us to wait patiently for God's timing. Many of us are tempted to
bypass grace and take matters into our own hands as we seek some [worldly]
method, technique, seminar, or experience that will give us the results we want
when we want them. But we are as incapable of changing ourselves through our
own efforts as we are of manipulating God to transform us more quickly (pp.
258-259).
That peace is found in the process and journey instead of
results makes sense once it is realized that the only way this happens is to
depend on God. Again, God is the key to peace. Boa (2001) called the Christian
life a "step-by-step process" in which the results are not the
responsibility or concern of the disciple, but the results belong solely to God
(p. 257). This is consistent with Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 3:6: "I
planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." People are
called to be obedient to the process; God will take care of the results. Yet
again, a notion that is totally at odds with worldly thinking. In his own
unique way, Lewis says the same thing with great simplicity and pizzazz:
"I care far more how humanity lives than how long." (Lewis, 1970, p.
311).
Living in the Limen
For the Christian, the idea of being obedient to the process
instead of living for results is their version of living in a liminal space.
The limen, or liminality, means that one lives on the threshold−never quite in
the next place but never quite out of the other place. Liminal space can be
described as "in-between-ness." For the Christian this is best
understood as what Gordon Fee called the "already but not yet" of the
person who is a part of the Kingdom of God here on earth (2009). The
"already" is the fact that through Christ, the Christian has victory
over sin, hell, and death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15). The "not yet," however,
is the fact that Christians still live in a fallen world in which sin is
rampant. The Christian lives with the guarantee of victory, but does not yet
enjoy the full force and "heaven" of that victory. The Christian is
living "in between," in the "already but not yet." Paul described
this phenomenon his way by writing in Philippians 3: 18-21:
For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again
even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is
destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.
Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we
eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
It is easy to detect the "already but not yet"
tension in this passage. The Christian's citizenship is in heaven, but for now
they must live on earth which is filled with sin. And so, the Christian eagerly
waits. He or she is in the limen.
Living in the limen is not something that anyone (even
Christians) in America are necessarily happy about. Social science research has
shown that the United States is considered a "low-ambiguity tolerant"
culture (DeVito, 2006, pp. 43-44). This means that most Americans are not
comfortable with uncertainty, and living in the limen is rife with uncertainty.
There is a feeling of security in results and achievements that is not
necessarily present when living instead in obedience to process. A. W. Tozer
had a wonderful way of describing the feeling of in between-ness in which
Christians live:
A real Christian is an odd number, anyway. He feels supreme
love for One whom he has never seen; talks familiarly everyday to Someone he
cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another; empties himself
in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down
in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest
and happiest when he feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order
to have; gives away so that he can keep; sees the invisible, hears the
inaudible and knows that which passeth knowledge [peace; Philippians 4:7] (as
cited in Boa, 2001, p. 260).
Conclusion
Real peace is not something the world is familiar with. But
the world desires real peace. There is one source the world can discover it:
from the people of God themselves; the disciples of Jesus living in obedience,
in the limen, and doing so through the Bride of Christ, the Church.
References
Barker, K. (Ed.) (1995). The NIV study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
Boa, K. (2001). Conformed to his image: Biblical and
practical approaches to spiritual formation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
DeVito, J. (2006). Human communication: The basic course.
New York: Pearson.
Fee, G. (2009). God's empowering presence: The Holy Spirit
in the letters of Paul. Ada, MI: Baker Books.
Hooper, W. (Ed.) (1970). God in the dock: Essays on theology and
ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Lewis, C. S. (1979). Selected literary essays. (W. Hooper,
Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Press.
Lewis, C. S., & Calabria, D.
G. (1988). Letters: C. S. lewis, Don
Giovanni Calabria: A study in friendship. (M. Moynihan, Ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books.
Swindoll, C. (1998). Swindoll's ultimate book of illustrations
and quotes. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
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