“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
When the Scripture speaks of being a peacemaker it is speaking of brokering peace between humans and God. The need for a peacemaker is to say that peace doesn’t automatically exist. It implies that peace is possible, but it also implies that there is a standard for that peace. Jesus is that standard. Not only is He the standard but He sets the standard. He is the peacemaker. He alone is our peace. Those who have experienced that peace are now to become peacemakers and thus partake of His family status, “sons of God.” The spiritual message of the peacemaker is that mankind is sinful and in need of a Savior who can save them from their sinfulness. Sinfulness is identified as a state of BEING rather than a behavior of DOING. That means we all sin because we are sinners and not just a sinner because we sin.
The path to peace with God is dictated by the whole of Scripture. From creation, to the Fall, to the Cross of Christ, to the empty tomb, to the Second Coming of Christ, the path to peace is laid out. In Jesus’ own words the path for each individual is determined by a work of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:8, 13) He convicts, woos, and provides the faith and grace to save and bring about a peaceful relationship between God and mankind. The one word that describes beginning this path is “repent.” Repentance is the turning point that begins the path to peace with God. That one word describes an awareness of fault and failure to be at peace and a recognition that Jesus is the only way to peace. It identifies a decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ and begin to be transformed into His likeness.
When that internal, spiritual peace becomes a reality in one's life it changes that person. And when that person shares that peace with another, they become a peacemaker. That peace changes the person and that person changes the culture they live in. In the Gospels and the Book of Acts the governing body, whether Jew or Greek, did what they did because they were afraid of the people (Acts 5:26). The Gospel of Jesus Christ was impacting so many and causing such a cultural voice that when they tried to stop its spread they couldn’t because there was a cultural restraint by the enthusiasm of lives being changed. Yet, opposition to the Gospel still brought about arrest, imprisonments, exiles, beatings, and executions.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Romans 12:18
“If possible” implies a standard in which interrelational peace is possible. It also indicates that outside that standard, there is no peace. The Greek word for “if” in this context establishes a reality that peace with everyone is never going to happen. “So far as it depends on you” states that the road to interrelational peace is a two-way street where one can be at peace but the other may not be at peace. It also implies that you don’t have to lay down your standards or give-up your convictions to accomplish peace. Peace at all cost is no peace no matter the cost. Trying to broker peace between two entities that are unequivocally diametrically opposed is neither possible nor wise. That is, unless one entity is gracious, and the other entity is repentant.
For example, fire and water are at odds with one another. They both cannot inhabit the same space at the same time. One will cease to exist in connection with the other. It is no mistake that the term “fight” is used when we identify a fireman as one who “fights” fire. The fireman is one who is trying to bring peace to the culture (structures, property, people, etc.) which the fire is trying to destroy. To insinuate that the fireman and water are antithetical to peace is to deny the reality that the fire demolishes or destroys that which it comes in contact with. If fire is contained (i.e. like a campfire) and water is controlled (i.e. like a cup of coffee) then, metaphorically, each can share the benefits of a pluralistic society where human dignity, civility, and respect is extended toward each other.
Another example could be trying to broker peace between the pedophile and a child so they can inhabit the same house. If the pedophile will not cease to behave as a pedophile the child will never be able to exist in peace in the same space as the molester. One must be removed from the house or there will be no peace. The pedophile will destroy the child unless someone steps in and protects the child. To bring peace to the child it is of necessity to identify the behavior of the pedophile as wrong, evil, sick, sin.
Just as the first century Christians lived a radically different life than the culture around them, believers are to live a radically different life in our culture. First century Christians paid a price for being peacemakers. The culture they lived in didn’t always accept their peacemaking message. Some of them paid with their lives and became martyrs. Some of them were cast into prison. Some were exiled from their home, family, and friends. Some were stoned or physically assaulted. Most, if not all, were shunned by the culture they lived in.
We must understand that the peacemaker is motivated by a spiritual reality and not a social movement. The message of peace with God is never dependent on the social environment. As history instructs it is possible to experience the peace of God while being persecuted for sharing the message of peace with God. The Prince of Peace was the embodiment of grace and truth and came as the ultimate peacemaker, yet, He was met with scourging, a crown of thorns, and the cross. In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, Peter and John acknowledged in open rebellion against the governing body that they must continue to speak the truth (5:27-32). So, whether the social environment is hostile or at peace with the message of the peacemaker, the character of the peacemaker is one of grace and truth, love and respect, dependent on the Holy Spirit to take the message and bear fruit.
In the Constitution of the United States of America, the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights established a society where the peacemaker could experience social peace while sharing the message of how to have peace with God. And, although the message is primarily spiritual in nature it can also bring about a social reform that identifies that the antithetical standard to peace is the sin of mankind. The message of peace with God creates a tension between behavior that is identified as sinful and the message of repentance that the peacemaker proclaims. It seems that as we embarked into the 21st century and the church growth movement of the past several decades along with the pressure to be politically correct the message of peace became more about social reform than spiritual in nature (think Moral Majority movement in the late 1970s-1980s, developing the church to be seeker sensitive, packaging the Gospel to be non-offensive, etc.). The message of the peacemaker became more about being practical and relative, lists of DOs and DON'Ts in behavior that brings about a desired result, rather than a spiritual conversion that identifies the need for repentance and brings about BEING at peace with God. This social gospel appears more about pop-psychology than it does about sound theology. The doctrine of the depravity of man is the beginning of the true Gospel of Jesus (Romans 3:10-18, 23). God established the church to be “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15) not only within the church but in the world, too.
What has happened in the past few decades in America is a shift where the society has not only rejected the social gospel but has rebelled against the need for repentance. Whether the community of faith recognizes it or not, the culture proves that there is a distinct difference between earthly kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. The idea that mankind is basically good in nature undermines the call to repentance (1 John 1:8-10). That is, society has demanded that the behavior that the peacemaker identifies as antithetical to peace with God no longer be identified as wrong and sinful. The social gospel has failed because it lacks the spiritual power (Romans 1:16) of personal conversion in repentance. Repentance is the recognition of not only DOING things that are wrong but a state of BEING wrong and the need to BE made right with God. Being made right with God is then the motivation to stop doing the things that God identifies as wrong (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
The message of the peacemaker begins with “Repent” (Romans 2:38). In the LGBTQ+ culture today the idea of repentance is rejected because there is nothing seen to repent of. Our culture has continued to blur the lines of immorality, whether that be lying, cheating, stealing, disrespect, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, drunkenness, greed, jealousy, envy, selfishness, and a host of other behavior/characteristics the Bible identifies as sinful behavior/characteristics that will destroy human relationships and corrupt society. Yet, the peacemaker must resist the temptation to make their message a cultural matter. It is first and foremost an individual, spiritual matter.
While the peacemakers may work toward a political resolution to create a cultural milieu that allows them to live at peace within their society, the peacemaker must resist the temptation to make their message a political matter. It is first and foremost a personal, spiritual matter. While the government can and should establish legislation that encourages moral behavior and punishes immoral behavior (Romans 13), they can also direct a society that emboldens immoral behavior (legalizing LGBTQ+ behavior legitimizes immorality). Though Christian principles and values may be expressed in politics, the message of the Gospel must not be connected with any political movement of the day. Jesus is neither Republican nor Democrat. The peacemakers do not carry their message in order to change politics but to change the person.
The tension between individual rights and society’s responsibilities are at an all-time high. We know from history that when society abdicates their responsibility to identify some things as right and wrong, moral and immoral, in the name of personal, individual freedom that society is doomed to self-implode. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes, in the name of individual rights without a concern for social responsibility, that society is set on a course of destruction.
When the peacemaker is in a community that is hostile toward the message of repentance (because the message is an offense to that community) then the peacemaker must resist the temptation to try to bring about social reform based on behavior alone. The peacemaker’s message must remain focused and intentional on the state of BEING and not just behavior. At the same time, the message of the peacemaker must not become against any group of people in society. The message is a message of hope and not condemnation. The peacemaker represents the embodiment of truth and grace. So, the peacemaker must remain gracious with the truth. Yet, the example of Christ lets us know that when society rejects the truth, they will also reject the graciousness of the messenger.
“But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:14–15).
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are identified in the Bible as an environment where the concept of homosexual and deviant sexual behavior was ruling over the cities. They were cities where unnatural sexuality (sexuality that goes against Nature and Natures God) were practiced, celebrated, and promoted. Immoral unnatural sexuality was being forced on the moral inhabitants. The residents that stood on the principled application of Natural Law were being humiliated because they wouldn’t pronounce as right that which is wrong. If they wouldn’t willingly give their guest over to the crowd of deviants to be raped, they were threatened with force. The homosexuals demanded that the man that was trying to protect his family and guest with moral values to give up their moral values and give in to the unethical behavior of the homosexual community. The threat of violence was used to try to intimidate the ethical inhabitants to accept the lifestyle of the sexual deviants.
America, as a whole, has been developed by the homosexual and sexual deviant community into an environment of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LGBTQ+ community has not only demanded the right to live out their unnatural sexuality but they demand the whole community to acknowledge, accept, and defend the idea that there is nothing wrong in their lifestyle. If you say you have a religious objection to homosexuality you are labeled a bigot. The threat of riotous behavior is being used to intimidate the historical position of morally righteous.
In our culture today there is the demand to accept homosexuality, gender identification issues, or any other belief/behavior of the LGBTQ+ community. Not only to accept it but to not label it as wrong and to not call it to repentance (see the Equality Act that Passed the House of Representatives May 17, 2019). The peacemaker’s message is laced with the Biblical truth that the belief/behavior of the LGBTQ+ community must be repented of in order to experience peace with God. The peacemaker’s message is seen as hostile to the LGBTQ+ culture even if the peacemaker is graciousness, gentle, and respectful.
The challenge to the church is not how to soft sell the Gospel to the LGBTQ+ community but to trust the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in love. God uses these words to describe how He feels about the sexual behavior of the LGBTQ+ community: Abomination and perversion (Leviticus 18:22). Gross immorality (Jude 7). Indecent acts (Romans 1:27). Wicked (Genesis 19:7). Degrading passions and unnatural (Romans 1:26). Unrighteous (1 Corinthians 6:9). Immoral (1 Timothy 1:10). Ungodly (Jude 15).
No matter how aggressive the LGBTQ+ community is in promoting their cause, the peacemaker must remain respectful of the persons involved in the LGBTQ+ community. The peacemaker must remain in an attitude of love, acceptance, and forgiveness when dealing with any individual.
Trying to bring peace between the LGBTQ+ community and the Christian community is like trying to bring peace to fire and water. No matter how much hostility the LGBTQ+ community exhibits toward the Christian’s message of gracious repentance, the Christian community must resist the temptation to become hostile toward the LGBTQ+ community. Likewise, the Christian community must resist the urge to change their message of repentance so they can live in a politically correct harmony with the LGBTQ+ community.
When the Christian community lays aside the message of repentance in order to be at peace with the LGBTQ+ community it is like the Old Testament prophets who were, “Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.” (Jerimiah 8:11) So, let the Christian community be the peacemaker in truth and grace, and let the chips fall where they may. Better to be persecuted for the message than to circumvent the responsibility to the One who gave us the message.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) The Jews could be identified as the ones who are moral in behavior and the Greeks could be seen as the ones who were immoral in their behavior. Both need the power of God to bring about their salvation. It takes the same amount of the power of God to save the homosexual as it does to save the heterosexual. It doesn’t take more grace or mercy or love to save the LGBTQ+ community than it does the adulterer. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:12-14)
Make no mistake. The Church cannot exist in harmony with the LGBTQ+ community. By their very nature (one proclaiming the need for repentance and the other proclaiming there is no need for repentance), one will try to destroy the other. I would that every last one of those in the LGBTQ+ community would repent and be saved. It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). The most loving and the kindest thing believers can do is to try to destroy the LGBTQ+ community through the power of the Gospel.
One may ask, “why single out the LGBTQ+ community over others that would be categorized as sinful by the Bible?” While it is true that the Biblical message of repentance is not limited to the LGBTQ+ community, it is also true that other groups of our society are not trying to demand and legislate their belief/behavior as protected by law. (The exception to this could be the abortion community.) Also, the nature of depravity behind the LGBTQ+ drives it to aggressively grow in its corruption and production of more deviant nature. Example: Acceptance of homosexuality rapidly went to legalized homosexual marriage and, now, even faster, has moved to Transgender, Queer, and the all-inclusive “+” that is attached to the movement. Over the past 3-4 decades the LGBTQ+ community has aggressively organized and pursued a legal status for their belief/behavior. They want to force society to recognize them as a civil rights community. To force society to cease and desist identifying their behavior as deviant. To make it illegal to speak against them whether that be in a public address (which could include preaching) or in private (counseling, family, etc). It is no coincident that the symbol of God’s promise (the rainbow) has been hijacked by the LGBTQ+ community as their symbol of their identification, love, and pride. It mocks God’s covenant, mercy, grace, and love. But, in the end, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
The Equality Act of 2019 was first presented in 2015 but did not find enough votes in the House to pass. This Bill identifies just how aggressive the LGBTQ+ community is toward trying to force their belief/behavior on society as a whole and on the Church specifically. Not only does the Bill force public entities and privately-owned businesses to consent to their belief/behavior as a normal, viable lifestyle but by using identity-politics the door is opened to overburden free-enterprise with discriminatory lawsuits (https://www.eeoc.gov/data/lgbtq-based-sex-discrimination-charges) The Equality Act has the following included: “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) shall not provide a claim concerning, or a defense to a claim under, a covered title, or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title.” That is, religious conviction or Biblical principle can not be used as a defense for any public or private judgment against the LGBTQ+ community. This kind of legislation undermines the First Amendment of Religious Liberty. ( A great article concerning this was written by Dr. Albert Mohler Jr., President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, TN. Is Religious Liberty Truly In Peril? A Warning.) The extent of the reach of the demand of the LGBTQ+ community has been played out in the microcosm of Houston Texas in 2015. Emboldened under President Obama’s push for legalization of homosexual marriage, the city of Houston subpoenaed a group of Houston pastors to submit their sermons and communications concerning homosexuality to the mayor (an open lesbian). Fortunately, some 400 churches joined together to fight against this kind of censorship. Another kind of censorship is that Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, is being asked to recuse herself from cases that involve LGBTQ+ because of her Christian views. This is an attempt of cancel culture toward Christian views.
There is no doubt, if the LGBTQ+ community succeeds in their agenda the Biblical peacemaker will suffer persecution in the United States of America. Some will pay with their lives. Others will be cast in prison. Some will be separated from their homes, family, and friends. The Judeo-Christian values and mores that have been guiding America since her inception will become illegal.
The Apostle Peter writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds).” (2 Peter 2:6-8) Jude also instructs that “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them” (Jude 7) were destroyed as an example of God’s judgement against the ungodly.
Interestingly, Jude, though he gives explanation as to the identifying behavior and characteristics of those “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4) he gives this illustration as instruction on how to relate to them: “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9) We would do well to heed his instruction today in dealing with the LGBTQ+ community. The Christian community is not to hurl insults, be verbally abusive, or declare God’s judgement on them. According to God’s Word, even if we feel like Lot, that we are being harassed, verbally assaulted, called names, our soul is in anguish, and we are oppressed by what we hear and see on a daily basis we are to keep “building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 20-23)
The parenthetical insight into Lot’s character, 2 Peter 2:8, gives us an understanding into how oppressive it is to live in a society that has become so sensually corrupt that its public indecent acts are seen and heard daily. The righteousness of Lot was not enough to cause a restraint and curtail the open and unashamed public display of the sensuality of homosexual behavior. This is displayed in the fact that all the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded he turn over his guests so that they could rape them (Genesis 19). The homosexual community of Sodom had an expectation that Lot would let them rape his guest and they were willing to storm the house by force and take them if Lot didn’t hand them over. Living in this environment was tortuous, causing anguish to Lot’s soul. Maybe the anguish of soul was partly for what he saw in his own family. After all, some of his daughters and sons-in-law (assuming children too) refused to leave with Lot, his wife, and two of his unwed daughters. Those daughters and families were destroyed along with all the other inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Also, Lot lost his wife when she disobeyed and looked back as they were fleeing the cities and valley. That’s a lot of heartache, disappointment, and grief to bear. The Scripture implies that the anguish of soul was from the lawlessness of homosexual behavior that he saw and heard day-in and day-out. Yet, even as his soul grieved, he did not compromise the message that the behavior was wicked (Genesis 19:7). Lot confronted the ungodly mob with the words “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.” He refused to call it less than what it was. The homosexual community accused Lot of judging them and threatened to do more harm to him than they intended to do to his guest. This is the natural progression of the corruption of unbridled ungodliness. The more ungodly behavior is legalized the worse society will become. We see this playing out in every community in America.
Likewise, the Church in America must not compromise the message that identifies the behavior/character of the LGBTQ+ community as wicked in the sight of God. Also, the Church, must influence, as much as possible, the moral laws of the land so as to do what is best for society. God has established government to be “a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:4). So, in faith, in love, in mercy, in humility, in hope, with gentleness and reverence/respect and in obedience to her Lord the Church must keep on sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ until He comes again. Just as in Houston in 2015, the Church must be the restraint to the foolishness of mankind. The Church must not give consent to those who practice immorality. The peacemaker must with love proclaim the truth that the LGBTQ+ need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If they continue to find their identity in LGBTQ+ behavior and community, they are denying Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It’s not their behavior that cause them to be lost, it is that they are denying Jesus that cause them to be lost. If they repent and believe they will find their identity in Christ. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) In salvation they will no longer be identified by being LGBTQ+ because they will see that they are so much more in their identity in Christ. Identity in Christ destroys the LGBTQ+ community. My God bring about a spiritual revival in the LGBTQ+ community in the same way that He did in Nineveh through the proclamation of Jonah.
