By David Faust
Last month I spoke at Mid-Atlantic Christian University. While I was in the area, my friend Dr. Johnny Pressley invited me to preach at the church where he serves as senior minister, First Church of Christ in Washington, North Carolina. Walking through the town, I saw an unusual-looking museum called the North Carolina Estuarium. After calculating the odds I would ever have another chance to visit an Estuarium, I paid the $5.00 admission fee, strolled past a 20-foot-tall statue made out of driftwood, and began my self-guided tour of the museum.
Estuaries, I learned, are coastal areas where the saltwater ocean tide mixes with a freshwater river current. Estuaries sound like terrible places for life to grow, but plant and animal populations thrive in the brackish water. Salmon, crabs, oysters, and countless other creatures make their home in these regions nicknamed “nurseries of the sea.”
Prosperous commercial centers (including about two-thirds of the largest cities in the world) have developed around estuaries. Think of New York City’s Hudson River, Montreal’s St. Lawrence River, London’s Thames River, and the fertile Nile delta in northern Egypt. The largest estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay, covers parts of six states and the District of Columbia. Life thrives in these places where saltwater and freshwater collide.
The Missing Peace
Clashing cultural tides create chaos in today’s polarized political environment. Divisions abound: Democrats versus Republicans, progressives versus conservatives, women versus men, old versus young. It’s like saltwater trying to merge with freshwater.
And yet, “the fruit of the Spirit is . . . peace” (Galatians 5:22, New International Version), and this fruit can grow in unlikely places. David composed poems about peace while running for his life. Jesus spoke about peace the night before Calvary. Paul wrote about peace from a prison cell.
The Hebrew concept of shalom included wellbeing, wholeness, completeness, and safety—being in a right relationship with God and with others. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you” (John 14:27), and he wasn’t talking about the shallow pseudo-peace the world gives. Peace doesn’t come from the absence of conflict, but from the presence of the Holy Spirit. It comes from having a calm, settled confidence in God’s faithfulness even during times of anxiety and adversity.
God’s peace not only gives us assurance of salvation; it makes us want to introduce others to God’s peace, too. We are ambassadors sharing the message of reconciliation “as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
A Person More Than a Policy
It takes courage to be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), not just peacekeepers. General Norman Schwarzkopf said, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
God’s peace changes our relationships with others—including relationships with those who are difficult to get along with. Messy, difficult interactions are “relational estuaries” where saltwater and freshwater merge; but God brings life to unlikely places. In the church, clashing groups like older and younger generations, Jews and Gentiles, poor and rich, males and females can find common ground.
Peace is more than a political policy or an abstract goal. Ultimately, we find peace in a Person: the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Christ is the necessary estuary. He brings unlikely partners together and gives us new life, “for he himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).
Next Week: The Fruit of the Spirit is PATIENCE.
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years.
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