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Peacemaker Or Trucebreaker?

January 10, 2007

By Ron Schwartz

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This particular subject area has and does present us with many personal challenges.  We can truly say that we write with much personal experience.  After reading, most of you will also agree that you face similar personal challenges.

Peacemakers

Matthew 5:9 KJV

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

The word “peacemaker” (the Greek adjective eirenopoios) is actually a composite of two Greek words:  eirene, which mean “peace,” and poieo, which means "to make."

As a side note, Eirene was also the goddess of peace and the Spring season.  She became popular among the Romans about the same time Christ was born.

Poieo (Greek: “to make” or “create”) has a broad range of meanings and uses, but perhaps the most interesting of its characteristics is the fact that our English word “poetry” is derived from it.

According to Strong’s Concordance, the word eirenopoios means “pacificatory” and “(subjectively) peaceable.”  It is found only in Matthew 5 where it is translated in the KJV as “peacemaker.”  From this, we learn that a true peacemaker is one who crafts peace as carefully and poetically as a poet fashions a poem.   Just as a poem is a work of art, so is the work of the peacemaker.   Consequently, peacemaking should not be viewed as simply negotiating compromise and consensus.   It goes far beyond this.  Peacemaking is the ability to find the beauty of harmony and unity in the midst of chaos.

Consider the Psalms.  In many of the chapters of this book, we find numerous descriptions of a soul who is lost, confused, fearful, or downtrodden.  But then, through a chorus of verses, the author paints a picture of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.  As the chapter plays out, the poet turns tragedy into triumph, defeat into victory, and rejection into embrace.  Through the words of the Psalms, you begin to see the sad eyes of the lost soul as he slowly shifts his gaze away from his problems to look up to his Creator.  There he finds peace, love, and forgiveness.  The sin and loss that surrounds him vanishes into the brilliance of God’s goodness.  This is the work of a true peacemaker.

Trucebreakers

2 Timothy 3:1-5 KJV

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We find here an odd description of the nature of people in the end times: they will be “trucebreakers.”

Trucebreaker (Greek aspondos) literally means “without libation.” Libation (dictionary: “a pouring out of wine or other liquid in honor of a deity”) was always a part of treaty-making with the Greek.  Saying that someone is “without libation” implies that he will never allow a treaty to be made with him.  That is why this word has come to mean “implacable (i.e., not easy to be appeased, mollified, or pacified), inexorable (i.e., unyielding), unalterable, and not persuaded, moved, or affected by prayer or entreaties.”  Trucebreakers do not want a truce: it’s “my way or the highway.”  They look to self-interest rather than to the interest of others.   To trucebreakers, relationships take a backseat to their own self-interest.  A trucebreaker is therefore the antithesis of a peacemaker.

In contrast, the character of a peacemaker is one of self-denial and the preference of others above himself.  Therefore, on a personal level, peacemakers tend to overlook offenses.  They do not respond or react to them.  Many times, you will never know that their feelings were hurt or that they were offended.  This is because they place the value of friendship and family above their own reputation and needs.  Peacemakers are the expression of love: “charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).”   Perhaps no other verses in the Bible better describe a peacemaker.

It is on this personal level that we have often struggled.  Perhaps at work or elsewhere, we are not fairly treated, and we must guard ourselves from discord.   Sometimes with friends, we hear talk that causes us not to want to be around them.  But probably the most difficult place to be a peacemaker is with those who touch us in the deepest parts of our hearts: our family.  As a result, many families are broken and divided – not just between spouses, but also between siblings and between parents and children.  When issues come about that affect the heart so deeply, it is extremely difficult to be a peacemaker.  To fail to be a peacemaker in one’s own family is not right, and it is not charity.

On a corporate level, churches can also be peacemakers or trucebreakers.  Churches that are led by and filled with peacemakers have very thin barriers.  The traditional idea of “membership” is usually optional.  People feel free to come and go as they will.  Churches like this are evangelistic and look to grow their church the way the New Testament teaches: bringing the lost to salvation.  Such churches reach out to other area churches in hopes of fellowship and unity.

In contrast, churches that are led by and filled with trucebreakers are not looking for truces or relationships with Christians of other doctrines.  In fact, none is possible.  They are looking for conquest and victory.   They do not want to fellowship with those who believe differently.  They redefine unity to mean that all believe the same way in everything.  They want to convince others that they are right and everyone else needs to change.  They attempt to recruit from other churches.  Trucebreaker churches are characterized by self-endorsement and marketing.  Their membership is tight, and members are not encouraged to go anywhere else.  They have many meetings and functions, and everyone is expected to be in attendance.  Sometimes they even attempt to strictly prohibit the influence of other beliefs over their members – especially when it comes to their children.

Trucebreakers insist on their way, and they will have little to do with those who do not agree with them on every little thing.  In fact, to them, little things become of major importance.  Trucebreakers rally around doctrine, whereas peacemakers rally around God’s love and unity.  You can discover trucebreakers because they will not readily associate with others who will not eventually adopt their pet doctrines and beliefs.   They hide behind the veil of denomination and dogma.  They judge other Christians by how compliant they are to the trucebreaker’s beliefs and whether they can be changed to follow the trucebreaker’s doctrines.  Trucebreakers can easily be recognized by their flagrant promotion of doctrine and dogma and are easily identified by their tightly knit group that talks about the rightness of their church.  But the most distinguishing characteristic of the trucebreaker church is that their doctrine is their cause.

The Poetry of Peace

God did not place us on this earth to be right or to spend our days searching for the ever-elusive “Truth.”  He placed us here to build relationships and to bring the light of His goodness and mercy to the world.  Not understanding this is where trucebreakers find confidence.   Trucebreakers believe that their mission is to deliver “Truth” – that is, “Truth” as they interpret it.   To them, “Truth” is a sword, and they use it without mercy.  Therefore, the trail of wounded people in their wake is just par for the course.  But is it “Truth?”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth…”  “Truth” is not your doctrine or system of beliefs.  They are, at best, dogma.  The truth is Jesus.  If you know Jesus, you know the truth.   If you want to share the truth, then share Jesus, not your doctrine.  This is what trucebreakers never seem to get.  The truth is alive!  It is not a system of beliefs that seem to be backed up by scripture.  Such beliefs cannot free anyone or deliver him from sin. Only Jesus can.

Peacemakers understand this and therefore rarely brandish their doctrine.  They are preoccupied with relationship.  They understand that the Prince of Peace would have all people come to know Him (not their doctrine) and to love one another (not to separate along doctrinal lines).

Try to imagine this: you have six children and each believes he knows you and what you want.   But because their views of you and your ideas are different, they separate themselves from each other, choosing instead to stay in different rooms of the house.  They spend their time arguing across the house how they are right and know the truth, while you sit idly by wanting them to spend time with each other and with you.   Your desire is for a happy family, for your children to love one another.  But they each believe that their knowledge of you and what you want is more important than their family relationships.  The division is so bad you are forced to spend time with them individually rather than as a family.  When vacation time comes, you are forced to take a separate one with each child or none at all.  You can never be a family.  You can never all eat together in fellowship.  How long would you tolerate this?  Yet this is the behavior of Christian leaders, and they truly believe that God approves of this.

Peacemakers know that this type of behavior is wrong.  Therefore, they are willing to set aside being right in order to embrace their brothers and sisters.  They understand that the “truth” is not about being right but in demonstrating brotherly love to their brethren.  When you look at the scripture from this point of view, then it all makes sense.

But there is more to peacemakers than just de-emphasizing personal beliefs.  There is also the ability to handle personal hurts.  It is not just beliefs that separate people.  Sometimes separation comes from offenses.  Sometimes pastors and congregations hurt one another.  Sometimes husbands and wives, parents and children hurt each other.  Offenses separate people.  When this happens, people usually respond in a very normal manner: they separate themselves, they quit talking, and communication breaks down immediately.  Both parties believe that they are justified in their feelings and actions.  Sometimes these hurts can be so deep that there is no chance for resolution (trucebreaker).  Sometimes these hurts can transcend death and be passed along to the following generation.

While visiting some friends not long ago, I saw that they were watching “Apprentice.”  Donald Trump was explaining to someone his perspective of doing business.   He said if people are honest with him, he tries to work with them, but if you cross him, he said, “I’ll hate you forever.”  Such is the nature and action of a trucebreaker, not a peacemaker.  Peacemakers have an inexplicable capacity to forgive.  They find a way to set aside the hurts they feel for the sake of the relationship.  They find a way to spin peace in an almost poetic style to fill in the void of their pain.   They overcome all things by their love.

Perhaps you have been hurt.  Perhaps you have done nothing wrong to deserve how you were treated.   Perhaps you were misunderstood and mistreated.  Perhaps you were the victim of a trucebreaker’s actions.  What should you do?

As peacemakers, we must rise above the rights and wrongs and what we feel we deserve.  When we are wrongfully treated, peacemaking begins.  Peacemakers show love, kindness, respect, and patience to those who strike out at them.  There is no other way to survive.

This does not mean that a wife must stay with an abusive husband or that a person must stay with an abusive church, but it does mean that they must forgive.   Peacemakers - true peacemakers - rise above the anger, bitterness, and hate that tries to drag a wounded soul into the deep.  They experience the freedom that only true forgiveness can bring.  They shed the mantle of revenge and retribution to experience healing from their wounds that will come through the tender embrace of our Lord.   You see, He was also falsely accused, rejected and punished for no wrong on His part, so He does understand.  He is waiting to hold you and to help you set aside the pain and contempt you feel, to free you from the bondage of hate and bitterness.  Run to Him!

How important is it to God that we forgive one another and that we not allow doctrine to separate us?   Consider this: the first thing God ever did in regard to humanity is build a relationship.  He created a man and his wife.   It was His design not that they live separately but that they develop a relationship based on love.  This is the same relationship He wants with us.  So when we allow division to separate us, it is not His will.  Division always comes about by the institutions and selfishness of mankind.

Conclusion

If you are a pastor who smugly flouts the rightness of your personal beliefs (pet doctrines) and separates your church from others, then you are a trucebreaker.   If you personally separate yourself from others because they do not believe exactly as you do, then you are a trucebreaker.

Consider the story of Esther.  Esther was an orphan.  She had nothing but the kindness of an adoptive relative, Mordecai.  By a unique turn of events, she found herself beloved by a great and powerful king and became his queen.  Her life was perfect.  She would never have need of anything.  She must have been special to God, no?

But her perfect world was not to remain that way.  A selfish man named Haman, second only to the king in power, hated the Jews, especially Mordecai.  He persuaded the king to sign a petition to kill all the Jews, and He built a gallows outside his house for the execution of Mordecai.  Anything Esther tried to do would endanger her life.   If she went before the king, her life would be forfeit since going before the king uninvited was an insult that routinely cost people their lives.  If she tried to intervene in any other way, her heritage would be exposed.  Since Esther’s heritage was not known, she was safe.  After Mordecai died, all trace of her heritage would be lost.  She only had to do nothing.

But God had not given Esther her beauty and her position with the king in order to save herself.   He made her queen so that she could save others.   Her life, her royalty was not for her own sake but for the sake of others.  But to fulfill her destiny would require the greatest self-sacrifice: to jeopardize her own life.

Esther became a peacemaker.  She set aside her riches and security for the lives for others.  In the end, the Jews were saved, and Mordecai was exalted to Haman’s position, second only to the king.  Esther’s status did not change.  After risking her life, she was neither better off nor worse.  Her honor came only from God.

Christian leader, if you are to be a peacemaker then you must be like Esther.  Set aside your kingdom so that God’s people can be exalted.  You are where you are, not because you are special, but because God’s people are.  You must humbly come to see it.  Give the church back to God.

Christian brothers and sisters, consider your relationships.  They are what your calling is all about.  Not to be right, but to love and forgive, to cherish those around you.   Your purpose is to nurture and cherish those relationships you have with all the love and forgiveness that you have received from God yourself.

You have a choice.  You can be a trucebreaker and forever hate all those who have crossed you, or you can be a peacemaker and learn to forgive others, to give your wounds to God.   Remember, it is the mission of our Lord to “bind up [heal] the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1,Luke 4:18).”  Give Him your wounds today, forgive those who have crossed you, build again the bridges of broken relationships, and cherish those whom God has put into your life.  God has called you, as He called Esther, not for yourself but for others.  Be a peacemaker.  Practice the art of the poetry of peace.  If you are not sure how, or if you are not sure that you can forgive, do not despair.  You can learn at the feet of the Prince of Peace.  All you need to do is to let go of your pain and reach out to Him.

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