Anyone who knows me well knows that I love social media; and Twitter in particular. I love interacting with brothers and sisters in Christ around the world through the site. I use it to joke around, discuss theology, encourage others, and minister.
But last week I ended up in a Twitter “brawl”. In other words, I helped to carry on a non-edifying conversation longer than I should have. Afterwards I owed up to my mistakes and am blessed to say that I am at peace with all involved.
My reaction at first was to stand on my initial reasoning and view myself as a defender of the truth. I wanted to think of myself on the correct side of the argument. But Christ convicted me. Hard. It weighed on me during the day; and I couldn’t stop thinking about it through the night. I had let my emotions cause me to make some mistakes in the argument. There were errs in judgement by all involved in my opinion, but I erred most definitely.
With this knowledge I knew I had to seek peace. I had to pursue that which is edifying to the body of Christ. Far be it from me for my actions to be a thorn in Christ’s side; a stumbling block for fellow believers. I would rather have deleted my account and avoided it altogether than for this to be true.
We should have a passion for peace in the church. A desire to see others edified by our actions. As Romans 14:19 says ”So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”. We are to pursue that which leads to peace. It won’t happen if we don’t seek it. Our natural, normal state is to allow a level of discord. We aren’t naturally peacemakers.
But I owe everything to Christ. My very soul, and any good which comes from me is from Him. He tasted a horrible death for my sake. He poured out His blood for me. Out of love for Him I choose to pursue peace. I choose to build others up in Him.
Do you have a strained relationship? Someone whom you have written off because of a fight or quarrel? We are called to “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18). This requires effort on our part to seek peace. This verse does make allowance however for the fact that peace requires two sides to mutually agree to it. But most of us do not put in the effort and go “as far as it depends on” us.
This is not a condemnation of those who struggle to be peacemakers. The whole reason for me to pursue peace was because of my failings. Peacemaking is the godly response to fleshly behavior. We seek peace with God, first and foremost; then with our fellow man.
Peace is highly important for the church because it is one of the ways the world recognizes us as true believers. Jesus said “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). Peace is an expression of love for Christ and love for fellow believers. And it is a valuable witness to the world of the genuineness of our faith.
Let us obey the command of Colossians 3:15: ”Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
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