How Do We Pursue Peace?

Peace should be a high priority for all believers. We should do all we can to ensure that the church is a harmonious and pleasant place to worship. Each Christian should be peaceable. But what does it mean to be peaceable?

Wilhelmus à Brakel, in his Reformed classic The Christian’s Reasonable Service, offers this definition of peaceableness:

Peaceableness is a believer’s quiet and contented disposition of soul, inclining him toward, and causing him to strive for, the maintaining of a relationship with his neighbor characterized by sweet unity—doing so in the way of truth and godliness. (4:91)

The first part of this definition offers excellent insight into the nature of peacefulness. It begins with a quiet and contented spirit. When we are agitated within, we are more prone to lash out in anger and stir up conflict. But the quiet spirit of the believer rests in the sovereignty of God and entrusts others into His hands. We are also quiet in spirit because we recognize that we are accepted by God in Christ—something we do not deserve—and that every good thing we enjoy is a gift of His grace.

When we are not agitated with our neighbor, we are inclined to relate to them with sweet harmony. Even when our neighbors are cross or angry, we can respond with patience, remembering that God has placed them in our lives for His good purposes. As Brakel explains:

At one time we may encounter someone who is cross, and then again another who is angry, stirring up our corrupt nature to respond to our neighbor in like manner. The peacemaker overlooks this, however, responds in a good-natured manner, and gives in—even if this is to his own detriment and causes him to lose the esteem of the world. (4:94)

At peace with God and within himself, the believer is able to relate to others in sweet harmony—even when they do not return it.

But Brakel’s definition includes an important qualification: though we may yield our own desires and preferences for the sake of peace, we must never yield truth or godliness. He warns that some yield not out of godliness but out of fear of conflict:

There are people who are fearful of experiencing the displeasure or opposition of someone else, and therefore . . . easily yield that which is not theirs but was entrusted by God to their safekeeping, namely, truth and godliness—even if this would mean the loss of everything, yes, even their own life. Such people will then hide themselves behind the phrase “peace, peace.” (4:94)

Brakel sees this error addressed in Zechariah 8:19: “Therefore love the truth and peace” (KJV).

Brakel was aware that the pursuit of truth could be a cloak for neglecting peace. So, he warned those pursuing truth not to depart from truth or peace. He wrote:

Do you love the truth and godliness so much that you do not wish to depart from it one iota, even if the entire world were to assault you, and do you nevertheless maintain a peaceable disposition of heart toward such, seeking by your deeds to manifest peace from your side? (4:96)

It is an incisive question for us to consider: when we need to disagree, do we still show by our demeanor that we want to be at peace?

In his conclusion to this section, Brakel offers four practical directions for cultivating peace—a helpful summary of his teaching:

1. “Crucify your desire for money, honor, and love; it is impossible to have and maintain a peaceable heart without self-denial” (4:100).
2. “Keep yourself and let others govern their own matters. Do not appoint yourself as a detective and judge concerning the deeds of others; close your ears to backbiters” (4:100).
3. “Be always the least—both in your own eyes as well as in your conduct toward others” (4:101).
4. “If someone encounters you in an unpleasant manner, or if you detect the first stirring of displeasure, arm yourself at once and resist strife at the very outset; be completely silent” (4:101).

I commend this entire section of Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service to you. Brakel was a practical theologian of the first rate. He knew how to defend the truth but also to call us to do it in the right way. He promoted love and peace as well as truth and clarity. Those who read his words will find themselves challenged and edified.

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