Peace Keeper or Peace Maker?

What is the different between a peace keeper and a peace maker?  Aren’t they really the same thing? Aren’t both just interested in less conflict and more peace and tranquility?  Not necessarily.

Peace keeping implies that there is already a peace to be kept. It means that you try to bypass conflict, sometimes doing whatever it takes to avoid it.  It means that you hang on to whatever peace is there even if it’s not the best situation. If there is no conflict then there is nothing to worry about, everything will be just fine.

Peacemaking, on the other hand, implies that there is something that must be done. If you are going to “make” something you have to “do” something. It might require conflict, it might require negotiation, it WILL require risk.

Matthew 5:9 says “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” God wants us to be peacemakers. He wants us to be willing to take a risk in order to be used by Him to make peace happen.  His goal is a restored relationship, not an artificial sort of peace that says “as long as we don’t deal with it, it can’t hurt us.”

Do you have relationships that are products of peace keeping?  Become a peace maker and see those relationships become so much richer.

Romans 12:18  – If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.