Pursue Peace
Friday Highlight – Pursue Peace
In ancient Rome, temples to the various Roman emperors and deities were a common sight. They had temples to Apollo, Caesar, Ceres, Diana, Hercules, Hadrian, Janus, Juno, Jupiter, Luna, Mars, Marcus Aurelius, Mercury, Minerva, Neptune, Romulus, Saturn, Trajan, Venus, Vesta, Vespasian, and Vulcan, just to name a few. And of course they had the Pantheon, or “the temple to all the gods,” just to cover their bases. And basically every temple in Rome served meat as a part of their sacrificial worship. This was a huge source of tension—even hostility—in the Roman church, because they basically had three groups of people who vehemently disagreed with other:
- Jewish believers who saw this meat as ceremonially unclean.
- Gentile believers who saw eating this meat as participating in the worship of idols.
- Gentile and Jewish believers who understood their freedom in Christ to mean that the meat was fine to eat, but they were eating it in a way that violated the consciences of the first two groups.
Into this volatile situation, the Apostle Paul injects:
Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.
(Romans 14:19–20)
Pursue peace. What a funny way to convey that idea. “Pursue” is a hunting word: active, direct, persistent. We typically think of peace as the opposite: passive, calm, restful. Mashing these two words together creates a funny mental image. Like a hunter-gatherer, spear in hand, stalking a mountain stream or a crisp autumn sunrise. But the image is apt for what Paul is describing. Sometimes, peace is hard to find, and you have to choose to chase after it. How do we do this?
First off, we have to recognize that we can only pursue peace with others because in Christ, God pursued peace with us first. God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). While we were still far off, stuck in darkness, hostile to God and to each other, God pursued peace with us. Jesus came to the earth like a sunrise, dawning on a people in darkness (Isaiah 9:2). And on the cross he reconciled us to God (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Colossians 1:20-22), making peace where there was only hostility. This provides a model for us to pursue peace with each other, even when we vehemently disagree with each other.
Second, we have to listen to the Spirit to discern when to lay down our freedoms for the sake of our brothers and sisters. The reality of the situation in Rome was that the meat sacrificed at pagan temples was fine to eat. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, there were no more ceremonially unclean foods (see Acts 10), and food sacrificed to idols is nothing because the idols themselves are nothing (see 1 Corinthians 8). In other words, the Roman Christians did indeed have the freedom to eat whatever meat they brought home, but in this case, the believers who recognized their freedom were called to lay down their rights in order to keep their brothers and sisters from stumbling. “It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble” (Romans 14:21).
How do we come to learn what makes our brothers and sisters stumble? One word: Relationship. Get to know one another. Spend time together. Listen to each others’ stories. You’ll hear stories from their past and what might be sensitive topics. Once you get a sense of what another person has been through and their struggles, you can avoid bringing up those painful topics. When we pause and think about it, we’ve all seen examples of this. I have some friends who are experiencing infertility, and when another couple was laughing about yet another “accidental” pregnancy, the first couple was deeply hurt. My mother grew up with an alcoholic father, so whenever anyone talks about alcohol, she experiences fear and anxiety. I know several people who have lost family members to suicide, and when they hear people joke about being “depressed,” I can see the shadow of loss and grief pass over their faces. All of these examples can be avoided simply by building bridges of relationship. And when there’s disagreement, reflect your heavenly Father by laying down your comfort and seeking to reconcile.
That’s how we pursue peace. We temporarily lay aside our freedom in Christ to pick up our struggling brother or sister. In doing so, we build each other up, and strengthen the whole Body of Christ. Isn’t that worth it?