Blessed Are The Peacemakers

[SolaDude]

Okay, that's fine...but where were/are the Peacemakers in the CofC??.....you've got me. I think it's an "extinct distinctive" .....perhaps there are some, but I would think not many....I don't even remember it being discussed, preached, encouraged....

[Ivy]

Okay, that's fine...but where were/are the Peacemakers in the CofC??.....you've got me. I think it's an "extinct distinctive" .....perhaps there are some, but I would think not many....I don't even remember it being discussed, preached, encouraged....

Mama always told me I was a "peacemaker". But in reality, I learned to suppress or deny feelings of anger and other strong emotions...and to fear anger in others, so
I'd try to smooth things over.

Sola, what do you see as the role of a peacemaker in the cofc? What would that look like?

[KLP]

Peace comes when everyone just follows the simple gospel and pattern of the NT. This is the message of Paul over and over and over. But these folks who think they know better, have some better/deeper understanding, that they have the "real" truth are always pushing stuff that just gets folks divided into factions. Paul was always having to deal with the trouble caused by those pushing circumcision or agnosticism or asceticism or something other ism. Paul was the peace maker because he said to follow him as he follows Jesus. Everybody on the same page leads to peace. It ain't rocket science.

But as soon as someone says well it doesn't say you can't have cheeseburgers and Coke on the Lord's table then it is a fight all over again. Seeking to be as much like God as possible instead of seeing how far the envelope can be stretched and how close to the line one can get and still be "saved".

[SolaDude]

Okay, that's fine...but where were/are the Peacemakers in the CofC??.....you've got me. I think it's an "extinct distinctive" .....perhaps there are some, but I would think not many....I don't even remember it being discussed, preached, encouraged....

Mama always told me I was a "peacemaker". But in reality, I learned to suppress or deny feelings of anger and other strong emotions...and to fear anger in others, so
I'd try to smooth things over.

Sola, what do you see as the role of a peacemaker in the cofc? What would that look like?

Great question Ivy (hard to answer esp on my cellphone here at the Hong Kong Airport!)... I am probably not the one to ask as I look at it as an innate sort of void in the church's culture... But perhaps the first thing would be to come to terms with the meaning of Jesus as peacemaker between God and man.... And with their concept of salvation I don't see that happening. Secondly rethinking their obsession with the attacking and condemnation of everyone else (especially Christians) but themselves.... Something again that I don't see as probable...

[Struggler]

Learned this first-hand in high school. There were three predominantly white C of C's in our city, not counting the two small NI congregations.
The head elders of the three churches had more or less excommunicated each other when our family arrived in town. My Dad, as minister of one, met with the ministers of the other two to see if differences could be worked out. For a time, there was an uneasy truce, but when the other two consolidated, things became difficult again. At one point, I was instructed by my parents, on orders from the head elder, not to talk to the kids who went to the other C of C's. Some of them were my friends, and I told my parents that was crazy, and I refused to comply. We kids got along great. It was the egos of three men that caused problems for everyone at their respective churches. They didn't want peace for their congregations. They wanted power for themselves.

[gordie91]

KLP, has something here that makes a lot of sense.

My father in law wrote a book about unity a few years ago. The main theme was to not seek differences but to find the common things to agree on and just agree to exclude the differences.

For example, (this is my take) if one thinks a piano is ok and the other doesn't, what can they both agree on? At the very least they should sing, so why not just sing and not play the piano? So what if someone thinks it is ok to play a piano? The peacemaker in the two would find common ground and agree to just sing and not pursue it any further. Sounds good on paper doesn't it? The problem is that one or both have their view as a matter of faith. This results in an argument then formal debates along with articles in the respective journals ultimately leading to a split wrought with animosity.

It is the opinion that becomes a matter of faith and it is usually the more strict member that forces the issue and the less strict that would rather exclude and do what they want and make fun of the more strict resulting in the liberal/conservative dynamic. So in this case and probably in most, there is no peace maker in either camp

[Ivy]

It is the opinion that becomes a matter of faith and it is usually the more strict member that forces the issue and the less strict that would rather exclude and do what they want and make fun of the more strict resulting in the liberal/conservative dynamic. So in this case and probably in most, there is no peace maker in either camp

Well stated, gordie. It seems to always be that the more conservative people end up controlling what is ok for everyone, and there things go stale. It begins to feel stifling, and people move on so they can have more "freedom in Christ".

[SolaDude]

Learned this first-hand in high school. There were three predominantly white C of C's in our city, not counting the two small NI congregations.
The head elders of the three churches had more or less excommunicated each other when our family arrived in town. My Dad, as minister of one, met with the ministers of the other two to see if differences could be worked out. For a time, there was an uneasy truce, but when the other two consolidated, things became difficult again. At one point, I was instructed by my parents, on orders from the head elder, not to talk to the kids who went to the other C of C's. Some of them were my friends, and I told my parents that was crazy, and I refused to comply. We kids got along great. It was the egos of three men that caused problems for everyone at their respective churches. They didn't want peace for their congregations. They wanted power for themselves.

Struggler, this is one of the all time, Top Ten List type stories....very sad and depressing to me personally......it is really to me a God-forsaken wilderness of life.....I think Earth, Wind, and Fire sang about it once: h**ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUCLNPOjPZw

[B.H.]

Peace comes when everyone just follows the simple gospel and pattern of the NT. This is the message of Paul over and over and over. But these folks who think they know better, have some better/deeper understanding, that they have the "real" truth are always pushing stuff that just gets folks divided into factions. Paul was always having to deal with the trouble caused by those pushing circumcision or agnosticism or asceticism or something other ism. Paul was the peace maker because he said to follow him as he follows Jesus. Everybody on the same page leads to peace. It ain't rocket science.

But as soon as someone says well it doesn't say you can't have cheeseburgers and Coke on the Lord's table then it is a fight all over again. Seeking to be as much like God as possible instead of seeing how far the envelope can be stretched and how close to the line one can get and still be "saved".

One time I helped clean a church and we put our cheeseburgers and cokes on the Lord's Table because there wasn't any other place to put them. The drinks would tump over if we put them on the pews and I did not want to leave them on the floor in cas a bug or roach got one them.

I'll debate you anyday KLP you can put cheeseburgers and coke on the Lord's table.

[KLP]

One time I helped clean a church and we put our cheeseburgers and cokes on the Lord's Table because there wasn't any other place to put them. The drinks would tump over if we put them on the pews and I did not want to leave them on the floor in cas a bug or roach got one them.

I'll debate you anyday KLP you can put cheeseburgers and coke on the Lord's table.

I was going to make an comment about the cheesemakers ala Emily Litella until I saw you used "tump" and it made you seem more real to me.

BH, I lurv you almost as much as I lurv Ivy