Abraham Lincoln said, “Die when I may, let it be said of me that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”[1]

A PEACEMAKER FIRST MAKES PEACE WITH GOD HIMSELF (Isaiah 26:3–4). True peace comes from God; it cannot be found in a bottle or in a needle. It cannot be purchased at the market or found on a psychiatrist’s couch.

False teachers promise peace but cannot provide it (Jeremiah 6:14). Paul mentions that peace comes from God in the introductory sections of each of his epistles (except Hebrews, if he wrote it). He also concluded some books the same way (2 Corinthians; 2 Thessalonians).

We cannot lead others to a place we have never been.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3–5).

A PEACEMAKER LEADS OTHERS TO PEACE WITH GOD. The purpose of the church is to preach peace through Jesus Christ (Acts 10:36). The apostles committed the ministry of reconciliation, and we continue to present it to men. It is the ministry of peacemaking (2 Corinthians 5:19–20).

A PEACEMAKER IS A PART OF THE SOLUTION INSTEAD OF A PART OF THE PROBLEM (Matthew 5:23–24, 44–45; Romans 12:18; Philippians 4:2). A peacemaker does not needlessly offend others (Colossians 4:6; Titus 2:1) and is not easily offended by others (1 Corinthians 13:5). Peacemakers, when legitimately offended, do not make themselves irreconcilable (Matthew 6:12–14) and may even leave a worship service and go to straighten out a difference with a brother (Matthew 5:23–24).

A PEACEMAKER IS SLOW TO SPEAK (James 1:19; 1 Timothy 6:4; Titus 3:9). Peace never comes automatically; it comes because somebody is working to maintain it. Peace only comes by seeking and pursuing (1 Peter 3:11). This may require me saying to someone, “I don’t believe you should say this, and I don’t want you to say it to me, I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want to have any part in it.” A peacemaker detests all strife, contentions, and dissentions. If a congregation will have peace, troublesome talk must be replaced by worthwhile activities.

A PEACEMAKER HAS A COMPASSIONATE VIEW OF OTHERS (John 4; 8:1–11; 2 Timothy 2:24–26). The Pharisees were the embodiment of what peacemakers are not. They were smug, proud, complacent, and determined to have their own way and defend their own rights (Matthew 23). They had little interest in making peace with Rome, with the Samaritans, or even with fellow Jews who did not follow the party line.

Instead of “Why is he like that?” a “flower-planter” says, “The poor fellow has some emotional or spiritual problems and needs my sympathy and help.” The peacemaker is a beggar who has been fed and who now runs the soup line (Galatians 6:1).

A PEACEMAKER LOOKS FOR A POINT OF AGREEMENT. Paul had a lot of differences with the Athenian idolaters, but he started at a point of agreement—the unknown God (Acts 17:23). We, too, must “follow after the things which make for peace” (Romans 14:19). Peacemakers are bridge builders. By definition a bridge cannot be one-sided. It must extend between two sides to work. Once built, it requires support from both sides, or it will collapse.

False ideas, wrong standards, wrong beliefs, and wrong attitudes must be faced and dealt with, but they are not usually the best places to start the process of peacemaking. God’s people are to contend without being contentious, to disagree without being disagreeable, and to confront without be abusive (1 Corinthians 11:16; Ephesians 4:15). The peacemaker gives others the benefit of the doubt. He never assumes they will resist the gospel.

A PEACEMAKER WOULD RATHER TAKE WRONG AND BE DEFRAUDED THAN TO STRIVE WITH BRETHREN (1 Corinthians 6:8; 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:6). Jonathan tried to bring about peace between his father and David, although it meant that he would not be king (1 Samuel 19:1–7; 20:30).

The Jerusalem church is a good example of how to keep the peace. When a racial segment in that congregation had a grievance, the church selected seven men from that racial group and turned the whole matter over to them. And the problem was never heard of again (Acts 6).

Isaac had this attitude (Genesis 26:19–22). He had every right to hold his ground against the lazy Philistines and refuse to move when they wanted his well. But he loved peace more than property and did not defend his right. Unresisting, he packed tents, moved, and dug again. The thieving nomads came a second time. Most people would have moved the first time. Very few would have been as patient as Isaac and turned the second cheek for a second slap. But Isaac moved the second time, too. This time he had wells without contest. He probably thought that it was less trouble to dig a well than to fight a war.

God’s most effective peacemakers are often the simplest and least noticed people. They seldom win headlines or prizes. The repairers of breaches seldom get their names called out when the battle is over. Peacemakers have a thankless office, and it is the lot of him who parts a fray to have blows on both sides. But God knows, and He rewards.

“Blessed are the weed-pullers who plant flowers.”