Investigating the Bible: Striving for peace

Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democrat Speaker of the house, Tip O’Neill, were political foes. To help build a bridge of friendship, Reagan and his wife hosted O’Neill and his wife for an evening dinner. They swapped Irish stories and enjoyed a friendly evening.

However a couple of days later, O’Neill publicly attacked one of the new president’s programs. Reagan called him. “I thought we had a pretty good relationship going.” O’Neill said, “Old buddy, that’s politics. After six o’clock we can be friends, but before six, it’s politics.” Reagan continued to hope for a better working relationship. He wrote, “…Whenever I’d run into him, whatever time it was, I’d say, ‘Look, Tip, I’m resetting my watch; it’s six o’clock.”

The Bible teaches believers to, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14, English Standard Version used throughout.) The work of peacemaking requires at least three actions.

Prepare. We understand the Bible better by reading a section of verses instead of a single verse, which is looking at the context. Ahead of verse 14 in Hebrews, the author wrote: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12-13).

Jeffrey A. Kottler, Ph.D., wrote about preparation for conflicts: “Don’t tell the other person, You made me do it, or Why did you do that to me? Instead, forget about whose fault it is and decide to take whatever steps you can to improve the situation. Rehearse in your mind how you are going to handle the difficult situation. Next time it occurs you will be prepared.”

Persist. The verb “strive” in verse 14 was used in another ancient document to describe a lion’s striving after his prey in the forest. It’s an image of action and persistence. Likewise, striving in a disagreement with another person requires action. In the Greek New Testament, the verb strive is in the present tense, which focuses on the continuous nature of the action more than time. It’s the same verb tense used for perishing in Mark 4:38, when the disciples were in the middle of a storm in a sinking boat. They experienced relentless waves and water pouring into their boat, when they shouted to Jesus, “And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” In Hebrews 12:14 the translation can be expanded: “Keep on striving, striving, and striving for peace.”

Dr. Kottler told of a man named Jim with a neighbor who allowed his dog to bark all night. Jim asked his neighbor to quiet the dog, but the neighbor did nothing. The next night, he sprayed the dog with water and the neighbor filed a complaint with the police. His better solution was recruiting other neighbors, who all agreed to meet with the dog owner. Finally, the barking dog owner controlled his pet.

Find good in the bad. Also, before Hebrews 12:14, the author wrote about difficulties and struggles. “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:4). He explains that the difficulties come to believers are like the discipline a parent gives to correct a child’s errant behavior.

Then he gave the uncomfortable truth: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11). Hard labor in a garden yields fruit. So will hard labor improve relationships.

A woman was shocked when President Abraham Lincoln said kind words about the Confederates. She told him his job was not to be kind, but to destroy the enemies. “What madam,” Lincoln asked, “do I not destroy them when I make them my friends?”

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th)