What is a Church Peacemaker? Do we need them? Are they relevant to church ministry? Is their work significant to the ministry of discipleship? What is their critical message to the Body of Christ? What are the eternal rewards of their ministry contribution?
What is a Church Peacemaker? Do we Need Them?
The primary role of the Church Peacemaker is to cultivate an atmosphere of love, unity and harmony within the church body. They protect the church and its people, cultivate a learning and growing community according to the ministry of reconciliation. They may also serve as a type of human relations director, supervising all auxiliary leadership.
This person or persons would manage all types of disputes within the church (within auxiliaries, among church and family members, and couples). The church Peacemaker would also host annual trainings and Peacemaker luncheons that are designed as a platform to bring inspirational teaching and foster fellowship gatherings under the theme of peacemaking. The Peacemaker could also correspond to all letters and complaints that come to the church and within the church body and they can also play a major role in managing legal issues pertaining to the church.
Is Their Work Significant to the Ministry of Discipleship?
The Church Peacemaker walks in a Pastoral anointing with a peacemaking spiritual assignment/ministry call upon their life.
The ministry of the Peacemaker is aligned with the five-fold leadership gifts to the church to aid in equipping the Body for works of service so that they may be built up in unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Jesus Christ and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-16 New International Version (NIV)
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
The Church Peacemaker Disciples Through a Number of Ways:
- Teaching and Training
- Mediation
- Coaching
- Facilitating and helping to shape church culture in the peacemaker mission
- Consulting the Pastor and Lay-leaders
- Recommends resources as it pertains to human relations and mental health
- Administrates discipline that restores on behalf of the church
- Troubleshooting dispute related matters throughout the church
- Inspiring the Body by maintaining awareness of the peacemaker message and ministry
- Personally strives to walk as a Peacemaker (a living example during times of error and excellence)
“Peacemakers are not perfect people; they are believers who are intently looking to God’s perfect word to instruct their walk of faith in all seasons of life, in times of error and of excellence”
Are They Relevant to Church Ministry?
The primary spiritual role of the Church Peacemaker is to be the “Watchmen on the Walls” of the church. Their eyes are watching and discerning the culture of the church and thereby functioning as a servant of God to maintain peace and unity among the body in accordance to the nature and truth of God and his word. The Church Peacemaker works closely with the senior pastor and prophet ministry or intercessory prayer ministry. Together they discern the issues of the church that are afflicting the heart of the body in their pursuit to build them up in the knowledge and image of Christ.
Consider then, the general work of the Church Peacemaker is to encourage church to continually “Draw Close to God”
James 4 New Living Translation (NLT)
Drawing Close to God
4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers![a] Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
What is the Critical Message of the Peacemaker to the Body of Christ?
The Church Peacemaker’s critical message to the Body of Christ is that the people of God (individually and corporately) are influential and powerful in God through two ways:
- Through their ability to effectively walk in LOVE and
- Their ability to walk in UNITY.
The powerful work of reconciliation was initially a work of Jesus, then given to the church as a personal ministry (Corin. 5:11-21). Consequently, as believers, we are now responsible to carry out that ministry among each other so that the same healing, fellowship, grace, peace and restoration that was afforded to us through Jesus with our heavenly Father, might be experienced in our own lives, one with another. This kind of testament of God’s power and presence in the world serves as a LIGHT to all mankind.
Matthew 5:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The Church Peacemaker’s foundation scriptures are: Eph. 4:11-12, 2 Corin. 5:11-21, Matt. 18:15-18 and Matt. 5:9. Peacemakers fully understand that the greatest image of Christ, reflected in the world through the life of the believer, is in their ability to walk in love and unity (peace) with all people. This is the heart of a PEACEMAKER, and they are called, “Children of God.”
What are the Eternal Rewards of the Peacemaker’s Ministry Contribution?
Eph. 4:14-16
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Eph. 4:1-3
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The walk of the peacemaker for every Child of God is a “Spiritual Skill,” meaning, training is required. This is because walking according to the scriptures will require a supernatural grace. The Bible instructs that God’s appointed leaders of the Church has been anointed and appointed to disciple the body of believers so they can grow in the faith and walk effectively (skillfully) and maturely. The Church Peacemaker plays a major role in this work of discipleship and it’s called, “PEACEMAKING DISCIPLESHIP.”
“Skill is the Missing Link between Principle and Practice”
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Karen Gaithers-Life Discipleship 