A long time ago I learned that there was a big difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker. They can look similar, but they are in fact very different entities.
PEACEKEEPERS are people who love peace…. perhaps too much. They have a distaste for conflict that will cause them to tolerate all manner of wrongdoing and injustice. Often they are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid a disagreement or fight. Peace is the ultimate goal, not righteousness. Not fairness. Not justice. They are often willing to ignore or tolerate evil, feeling that maintaining order is more important.
PEACEMAKERS also love peace, but realize that lasting peace cannot coexist with evil. There are times when some disruption or conflict is necessary to set things right. There are times when you have to fight for what is right. Peace is not worth any price. Peace will not last unless it is resting on a foundation of fairness and justice. It must be built on a foundation of righteousness. That is why “giving in” to something or someone who is doing something wrong, though it may delay a conflict, will usually in the end make that conflict worse. Tolerating evil and injustice is short sighted. Fighting against these elements, in the short run, can be very uncomfortable, but in the end will lead to a more lasting peace.
The principles of PEACEKEEPING vs PEACEMAKING apply both to our own individual lives and also to the lives of nations. America needs to stand for righteousness if she wants to be a peacemaker. Tolerance of everything may gain an illusion of peace for a short time, but the day will come when both the peace we have enjoyed and our freedoms will crumble. Worse yet, I fear, is that we will no longer have the the moral stamina or fortitude to fight for what is right and true. We will be another example that “if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything.”
What we desperately need are peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Evil is real in this world. Only by standing for what is right…for righteousness…will we be able to look forward to lasting peace. The battles are everywhere. We were victims on 9/11 of a real evil. France was a victim of real evil a few days ago. There is real evil on our campuses, on our streets, and in our own hearts. Individually, and as a nation, we must decide on which side we will stand. I do not believe that we will be able to stay neutral. We can stay quiet and try to keep the peace, but in the end, if we do not fight for what is right, the evil will come. Peacekeeping does not work. You must make peace by fighting for what is right! In the book of Matthew, Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” Where, oh where, are the sons of God in America?
