Peace When Possible

By Charmaine Rusin

“If it’s possible, and you have enough money on you, can you please pick up a rotisserie chicken on your way home?”

I was stuck at my desk handling work issues, but the clock — and my family’s stomachs — were calling for dinner. My mom was heading back up the mountain where we live after an appointment in town, so I called for a dinner rescue. I knew, however, there were some circumstances that may prevent her from accomplishing the mission, so I did what people often do when asking for a favor — I gave her some “opt-outs.” I wanted her to know that I’d understand if she arrived home chicken-less. I wanted to be considerate of her limitations.

In Chapter 12 of his letter to the Romans, Paul writes to the early church, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (v.18).

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“… there will be times when it will be impossible to live at peace with everyone, and times when it will not depend on us.”

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In these instructions to live in peace, Paul provides the recipients two potential “opt-outs.” Like the request I made of my mom to pick up dinner, Paul has an ideal outcome in mind, but is also expressing consideration for the potential limitations of those he is instructing. His phrasing implies that there will be times when it will be impossible to live at peace with everyone, and times when it will not depend on us.

Dual Domains

When peace is lacking in our life, we must consider whether it depends on us, or if it is out of our control. Being in the world while also being set apart from it, we live in the space of two domains. The world will hate us because it first hated Jesus. Scripture says that we are blessed when the world insults us and says all kinds of evil about us because of our faith in Jesus. That much is out of our control. How we respond to the attacks, however, is up to us.

Have you ever stopped to think about the phrase “take offense”? It is interesting to think that in order to be offended, we have to “take” the offense. We have to choose to bring in that hurtful word or action.

In Hebrews 12:14, Paul charges believers to “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Holiness is the key to a right response in any circumstance.

When the words and deeds of others cause us pain, we have an opportunity to either grow in holiness or default to our flesh. Examining our hurt through the lens of the Holy Spirit may uncover a wound that Jesus wants to heal. It is a privilege to turn over more and more of our old self to Jesus and allow Him to make every part of us new. Conversely, in seeing the offense from a solely human perspective, we allow our flesh to rule our heart and mind. Our response then comes from a wounded identity, a place of hurt, rather than holiness. This often leads to what Paul warns of in the next verse of Hebrews 12, when he writes, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

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“We can become the reason that someone won’t see Jesus.”

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When we choose to be offended, we are short of grace and open to bitterness. If allowed to grow up, a bitter root will cause trouble and defile many. When we allow the arrows hurled at us to penetrate, we create within ourselves an environment where seeds of bitterness can take root. Left alone, these seeds will grow up to cause trouble in our hearts and our relationships. We may even become a source of corruption rather than edification within the body of Christ. We can become the reason that someone won’t see Jesus.

Holy and Unoffendable

Jesus was unoffendable. He endured severe ridicule, insults, and physical violence, without ever losing His peace. He took nothing personally because He knew, without a doubt, who He was. When our heart, mind, and identity are in Christ, we will have peace in the midst of personal attacks. Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we too can share in Christ’s supernatural power — the power of being unoffendable.

Holiness takes us beyond just keeping our composure while our inner self is raging and bleeding. A healed heart, a pure heart, shows Jesus to the world. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord, but through our holiness, we can show others Jesus. Then, as far as depends on us, we can live at peace with everyone.

Even the fully sanctified believer, however, can expect to come into circumstances where the “opt-outs” that Paul provided are needed. When might living in peace be impossible or out of our control? Again, it comes down to holiness.

With Jesus as our model, we see only one time where He chose to overtly disrupt the peace. Upon entering the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, which He affectionately called “my Father’s house,” Jesus finds the court has been turned into a bazaar, with dishonest vendors swindling buyers, and animals defecating on the holy ground. Jesus’ holiness was aroused to righteous anger by the extreme disrespect for this sacred space — space that was consecrated to His Father.

In every other situation, Jesus peaceably endured disrespect and even violent injustices against Himself. But when it came to the things that belong to His Father, His holiness ignited zealous action.

The righteous cannot tolerate desecration of what is sacred. As we are made holy, we too will share Christ’s zeal for the sacred things of God.

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“There are things in this world that are not of it, that do not belong to it. These are the sacred things of God.”

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The dynamic of living in two domains requires us to exercise specific discernment. God has allowed Satan to rule over the world for a time. He has not, however, given Satan dominion over everything here. There are things in this world that are not of it, that do not belong to it. These are the sacred things of God.

Satan’s primary mission is to debase these sacred things, and he is an expert in his work. His corrupting influence has penetrated the church, the design of the family, our bodies that house the Holy Spirit, and the unborn and innocent, all of which are sacred to God. Confronted by this increasing wickedness, we who are in Christ will find our zeal for the things of God that will invoke within us a righteous anger — a yearning to disrupt the peace wherever evil crosses the line into God’s domain. Then it no longer depends on us, but on Christ in us, whether living at peace is possible.

Holiness enables us to live in peace, and holiness compels us to zealous action. Holiness is critical in our heart and life, because without holiness, no one will see the Lord. +