But the wisdom from God is always…filled with peace… James 3:17
Christ-like wisdom is filled with peace. It’s peaceable and peace-loving. But what does that mean? Many people think that the opposite of being peaceable is being hostile and mean. But more often, the opposite of peaceable is the perversion of peaceable:
It’s a spirit of wishy-washy. It’s the spirit of ‘don’t make waves’. It’s standing for nothing. It’s selling out to keep the peace. It’s so focused on the absence of conflict that it trades off its personal peace to try to establish a fake peace—an outward appearance that looks like it has no conflict, but turmoil is just below the surface as tensions go underground, swept under the carpet, hoping it will just go away. That kind of ‘peace’ is just a powder keg waiting to blow up.
For the peaceable that is a trait of Godly wisdom, those who are enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit do all that they can to build and preserve the bond of peace. They take peace with others seriously, but not at the cost of love.
With all their hearts, as far as it is possible, they try to be at peace with everyone (Rom 12:18). They are quick to forgive (Col 3:13), and don’t easily take offense (1 Cor 13:5). But they also stand in the truth (Eph 6:14) and don’t molly-coddle destructive behavior (Zech 5:6-8).
Today, too many Christians aren’t filled with peace, they aren’t peaceable and they aren’t even pursuing peace. Instead, they are quick to judge, criticize, and demand flawlessness in others without considering their own failings. Godly wisdom does all that it can to establish the bond of peace, including admitting when it is wrong, bearing with others. It compromises wherever it can without selling out on love and truth.
It’s the Christmas season and the proclamation of peace are all over the place. The angels in Luke 2:14 (“peace on earth, goodwill toward all mankind”) and Isaiah 9:6-7 (“For to us a child is born…and he will be called…Prince of Peace”) show up in stores and billboards. Even non-believers love the idea of peace in the abstract.
But we as Christians have been called to be known as peacemakers all year long. Is that what we’re known for? When people think about peace out in the world do they think about Christians? Or the United Nations? The word ‘peace’ shows up over 400 times in the Bible. God is called the ‘God of Peace’. Jesus is called ‘The Prince of Peace’. It says His followers are to be known for peace as well.
Biblical Peace is not: The absence of activity (like the sun setting over a mountain lake). That’s nice and we all could use times to get away from it all, to quiet our hearts, but that’s not what this is talking about.
Nor is peace in the Bible talking about the absence of disagreement. Bible peace goes much further than simply avoidance of conflict. Peace is not the absence of something bad, it’s the presence of something good. When Jesus spoke of ‘peace’ He was referring to the old testament word ‘Shalom’. And there’s no single English word to translate that. It means contentment, well-being, wholeness, and even beauty. And all of this is connected, not to our environment, but to our relationships. Obviously peace between us and God is included, but also our relationship to each other. And the ancient Jews considered this ‘Shalom’ as one of the richest states of life (Num 6:25).
And in the new testament, we find that this ‘Shalom’ was fulfilled in Jesus who came to give it to us. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:27) You’re not going to find the peace Jesus is talking about in the world. And quite often, you won’t find this kind of peace in your local church.
Jesus’ peace is very different than what you find in the world. It’s personal. It’s an untroubled heart; it’s an unfearful life. That’s the peace He has left with us.
Since He left it for all believers, why don’t we see more of it? More on that next time.