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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
September 1926
“Blessed A re the Peacemakers DEAN JOHN M. MACINNIS
H HIS is Christ’s estimate of peacemakers. They are a blessed people. They are a blessed people be cause they are working with Ood. God loves peace. Again and again He is called the God of Peace in the New Testament. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. When He came into the world the angels sang about peace, for He came to make possible a peace in a world torn by strife and selfishness. He says that the peacemakers "shall be called the sons of God." They shall be called the sons of God for they are like their Father, the God of peace. Peace is a product of that life. Paul writes, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, Joy, peace. . . . . . ” The measure in which that life is being wrought in our lives we are peacemakers, that is, people who actually work for peace, and according to Christ it is a blessed work to be engaged in. Therefore, in the second place, the peace makers shall be called the sons of God not only because they have the life of God, but because they are also work ing with God. God is the great Peacemaker. He is con stantly working for peace, and to work with Him, or more accurately to have Him work in us, is to work for peace. "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking” as the Apostle Paul reminds us, but "righteousness and peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit"; and he adds that “ He that herein serveth Christ is well-pleasing to God,” and commands us to follow after things which make for peace, and the work of all who follow this order and whose lives are dominated by the Spirit of the kingdom of God (which means the reign or rule of God) work for peace, and if they must war their very war should be war for peace. In the final analysis there are only two great forces in the worlS— the force that is constructive and always works for peace, and the force that is destructive and works for strife and discord— the God life and the self life. The self life is the life of conflict, destruction and death. On the other hand the Christ life is the life of healing, concord and peace. Jesus put these two forces in striking contrast when He said, "He that gathers not with Me, scattereth abroad.” The gathering life is a constructive activity, while the scat tering life 1 b a destructive force. In modern days this con trast was stated in a startling way by Nietzsche, an apostle of strife and war, when he wrote, "Ye have heard men say. ‘blessed are the peacemakers,' but I say unto you, blessed are the warmakers, for they shall be called, if not the children of Jahve, the children of Odin, who is greater than Jahve.” Many who without hesitancy discard this crass militarism unconsciously lend their influence to the conception herein stated when they glorify the thought of war or oppose the movements, the sole purpose of which is the destruction of war. War is abnormal and wicked and is born of sin and selfishness and should be abolished. There may be honest differences of opinion as to the best way of abolishing it, but surely there can be no difference of opinion among Christians as to the fact that it should be abolished and that
every true Christian’s influence should be eternally against it. It does seem that if we would apply a little sanctified common sense to this whole question we would readily see that every true Christian must be finally lined up against war. Let us look at a few commonplace axioms that we may be helped to see this fact. There is war in the individual life. This fact is stated in a very illuminating way in Romans, seventh chapter.. The most careless reading of that chapter will show that this war is caused by Bin and brings defeat and death into the life. We also know that some people are going to have that struggle in them until Christ comes. That fact, however, does not mean that it would be useless or foolish to try and bring as many as possible to the place where they can be saved from that strife now. The peace maker will seek for peace in his own life and also in the lives of others. He will seek to win the man whose life is blasted and defeated by this warfare to the place where he will recognize Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord and will endeavor to lead him to surrender to His rule. The fact that men will be sinful and destroyed by this warfare until Jesus comes will not keep him from doing all he can to win as many men to Jesus Christ as he possibly can. The peace maker will also do all in his power to reconcile his friends when there is a misunderstanding that means a constant conflict between them. Men will have misunderstandings and contentions until the coming of Christ, but that does not keep us from doing our utmost to “ live peaceably with all men.” Obedience to this injunction does not mean that we are going to compromise ourselves or the truth, but only that we are going to do all we can to get men to live to gether peaceably. This surely is the very least that we can do as Christians. In fact we have no choice here. We are commanded to "follow after things which make for peace." If we do this in the case of individuals, why should we not do the same in the case of groups and states? We cannot think it can be wrong to do what we can to get different churches to dwell together in peace. Why should we except states? Do you think that our fathers committed a crime against God and humanity when they did their utmost to stop the states of this great nation fighting one another, and worked out a plan by which they could live together in one national life in peace? The states were not all Christian, and they will not be until Christ comes. Did that fact make it a crime for our fathers to give their lives to working out of a basis for union and peace? Can we not honestly say in this case, blessed were the peacemakers? What is un- Christian about carrying this a step further? Our fathers and ourselves have endeavored to work out an understanding between the United States and Canada that has enabled us to live side by side for more than one hundred years without a single day of war between us. Was this an unchristian thing for us to do? We know that (Continued on page 543)
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