I am adding a fourth peace focus to peacemaking, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping – peacespeaking. I do this with a sense of bewilderment. People’s United Methodist Church adopted as its annual theme, “Blessed Are the Peacemakers (for they shall be called children of God).” I did not expect the response this has received from people outside our congregation (and, initially, many people within the congregation). It can be summed up in two words: “why bother?” Apparently, Christians have given up on the concept of peace in our polarized age of immature name-calling, insult, attack, and outrage. Looking at the megalomaniacs involved in Russia and Israel, shoulders get shrugged, and hands get thrown up in frustration. On the home front, many of my colleagues shake their heads and say, “People don’t want peace; they want to win at any cost.”

Is this true? Yes, a strong case can be made for the argument that people don’t want peace, but is winning the highest value to which we can attribute the current reality? We have established conflict, contention, condemnation, and conquest as cultural norms, but these are human constructs. We could just as easily make normative such things as courtesy, concern, compassion, and collaboration. We choose not to. But why?

This is the heart of peacespeaking. It is grounded in the commitment to curiosity and the common good. It seeks win/win rather than win/lose options. It talks about what isn’t working (forcing peace through violence, putting stronger and stronger weapons into the hands of warmongers to “keep” peace, etc.) and offers alternatives. It casts a positive vision – what we want to create together – instead of a negative, fear-based vision. Peace isn’t the absence of all the negatives; the negatives disappear as a greater and greater commitment is made to creating structures, systems, and processes for peace. There is an intrinsic relationship of peace to justice, to mercy, to respect, to accountability, and to compassion. Peace is a good to move toward, not a sanctuary of escape from all that is horrible and violent. Being for peace is about much more than being against war.

Ironically, peacespeaking is not pacifist. In fact, to speak of peace is to open oneself to all kinds of criticism, mockery, and derision. One email reprimanded me this way: “If you would preach the gospel, you wouldn’t have time to waste on this social justice garbage.” I responded, “How could a preacher actually preach the good news of Jesus Christ without a strong focus on social justice?” I haven’t received an answer (yet?). Another note reminded me, “Christians are supposed to be strong and righteous; you are calling us to weakness. You can’t be merciful, humble, gracious, and kind to evil.” I thought the Apostle Paul eloquently addressed this issue when he talked about the wisdom of God appearing as foolishness to the world, but I could be wrong. I was also schooled in another alternative. This person wrote, “We don’t have to bomb out the Palestinians, there is a more peaceful alternative: starve them out and withhold medical supplies. If we can wipe out enough future terrorists (children), the problem solves itself and we don’t have to fire a shot.” I cannot begin to list everything I find offensive in this “Christian’s” perspective.

However, peacespeaking is pure Matthew 13 – sowing seed. I have had a half dozen people from our congregation offer a variation on this theme so far (1/3 of the way through the year), “When you announced this, I thought ‘how are we going to do this for a full year?’ and ‘the peacemaker vows we are asked to make are lame,’ but now I think about them all the time. I turn on the news and I wonder why stories are reported the way they are. I listen to politicians and see how abrasive and abusive they are, for no good reason. I am thinking differently when I disagree with someone. I am actually annoyed how important this actually is. Being a peacemaker is what it means to be a disciple, to actually be a Christian. I’m not sure a person can call themselves Christian and NOT be a peacemaker.” Boo-yah!

Peacespeaking seed sowing wastes a lot of energy. A lot of the seed falls on the path, on the rocks, in the weeds, and gets carried off by the birds. But some of the seed hits fertile ground. Nurtured in the rich and healthy soil of the four gospels, peacespeaking is at the heart of what Jesus taught, even admitting that peacespeaking sometimes serves as a dividing sword rather than a healing balm. Those who choose peace will never find acceptance by those deeply committed to war, violence, aggression, invective, and evil. Without a commitment to peacespeaking, peacemaking, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping are all but impossible. But the reality is, peacemakers will always be in the minority, just as socially aware, compassionately committed, and spiritually grounded Christians will always be in the minority – even within the institutional church. Peacemaking is hard work, and it is not safe work. But it is holy work, primary work of the body of Christ.