In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says, “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called 
sons of God.” What do we make of that verse? Too many people in the church have taken the term peacemakers to mean peacekeeper. The two are distinctly different. Peacemaking is active and necessary when peace is not prevalent, peacekeeping is passive and is only possible when peace is present.
We can see a great illustration in the movie, Tombstone. Before the fight at the OK Corral, Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) goes home and opens a drawer that contains his sidearm. The engraved brass plate on the handle displays the word PEACEMAKER boldly. An unarmed man can keep the peace if it exists, but an armed man can make peace out of chaos. Through the course of the movie we see Earp making peace by confronting and overcoming evil.
Far too many believe that keeping the peace is their job in the church, and so they do not confront sins and dissension for fear of creating a rift. But Jesus commands us to be peacemakers and not just peacekeepers. When we try to keep the peace, we generally allow sin and strife to live on. Peacemaking requires activity and is sometimes ugly, just as with law enforcement, force is sometimes necessary to make peace.
In your church, be a peacemaker. Confront sin, attack dissension, and pray to God for guidance and grace as you do so. Martin Luther was a peacemaker, but definitely no peacekeeper. The church hierarchy did all they could to silence him, but he moved forward, attacking sinful power structures and freed the gospel from the power of the Roman Church. For his efforts, we are forever grateful.
Had Luther kept the peace, we may not now know grace. Are you willing to face the battles in your own church to make peace or are you retreating in fear trying to keep the peace?
