Lately I've been learning a lesson - to sow peace is wise because over the long haul, it reaps a harvest of righteousness which seems to be the fruit of what we know as a redemptive heritage that builds the Kingdom over time.
I really like to see results from my visions, dreams and actions sooner that they are designed to be achieved. By pushing forward with selfish ambition because of jealousy and envy that leads to impatience, I forego the plan of God for my life and for the way that my life is to minister and serve the lives I'm connected to directly or indirectly. The way we live is designed to outlast our actual life. That "way" can either be redemptive, creative, life-giving and beautiful or it can be destructive, utilitarian, impatient and life-diminishing.
If I constantly keep in my heart and head and hands the practice of sowing peace in all my situations of life, easy, difficult or indifferent, I will over time see a harvest of shalom and fullness. This will have to cost me something and at times things and valued treasures that are dear to me, but the outcome will be worth it all. In one sense then, the concept of living our lives based on results can actually be good if those results are not according to our terms, time-frame or quantitative/qualitative controls. If we were to live for results that outlived us that gave life, brought light to darkness, truth to deception and redemption to hopelessness, then it would be ethical to live according to the results. The paremeters for measuring those results obviously would be much different than our current culture tells us. The interesting thing is that many times, the culture shaping corpus's that we look to and are fed by - the media, strong personalities, itching ear teachers, economic systems of control and wealth, religious platforms, political ideals and the like - many times their intentions and preached messages are actually redemptive but their hearts and the methods, structures and lived ethics that they actually employ don't match up. I am the same in my personal life.
I want what's best for my family, me and the people that God has given me to care for and be cared for by but there is a disconnect between what I do each day and what I "think" and "say" to establish my sense of ethical responsibility and an ensuing lifestyle to match.
James says, "...And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."
In the Message, it says it like this, "You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along withe each other, treating each other with dignity and honor."
I have learned that in spite of my desire to want what's right, I try to achieve it combatively at times when an attitude of patience and peace-making is a better path. My personality doesn't shy away from conflict and at times looks for it to solve problems. This can be good when stuff needs to come to the surface that has been simmering below the surface for too long but many things that simmmer just need to have the burner shut off. That is not natural to my consciousness and I have seen that no matter what the issue is - large or small, that i tend to be ready to resolve most problems head on in full force, when many issues are better left alone. Sowing peace in my life looks a lot like avoiding the first punch at a problem and seeking the shalom of a community rather than being the first one in line to critique, condemn, catalyze the issue or conflate an issue pasts its necessary limits. I'm very judicial at times and as a result have little room for grace and patience.
The flip side is that there are some who do everything they can to avoid conflict and brush issues under the carpet or have many simmering pots full of issues that have rarely been dealt with which makes for a lot of simmering pots and a lot of collective heat, ready to be let off at an untimely place and in an untimely manner.
I guess both types of people struggle to sow peace. My type wants to deal directly and scare up the issue asap - to "nip it in the bud" as they say whereas the other side doesn't nip anything in the bud and weeds begin to take over the life of the garden. Either way, both approaches do not seek to sow peace. Sometimes peace being sown means letting an issue go and giving grace while at other times it means letting an issue come to the surface and facing it with courage. These are difficult patterns of community life and probably the most difficult over time. Though in time, James tells us that if we continually (not perfectly) sow peace, then a harvest of right relationships and many other right things will result.
There's always space for some weeds in the garden yet, if there are two many weeds then it is no longer a garden.
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' " (Matt. 13:24-30)
This parable doesn't seem to line up exactly with what I'm learning yet the characteristics of taking on a problem that has come up seem to be very similar with the conclusion that James was writing with in his third chapter.
James notes,
"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor."
So it looks like we always come back to wisdom. Wisdom seems to always say something more and deeper and beyond our first thoughts and feelings in most situations. I know that I'm not afraid of conflict and conflict resolution but the path that I "viscerally" or "naturally" take to get there many times works against the very resolution that I'm seeking. It's more painful to wait, listen seek the path of wisdom in dealing with conflict which may or may not require what one feels or sense first. Whatever I feel, think or sense is the right thing to do, I have begun to ask myself two questions,
"Am I sowing seeds of peace?"
"What would wisdom do?"
I like asking what would wisdom do instead of what Jesus would do? I find it difficult to critique my own sense of ethics and whether I'm able to be true to the truth when I'm asking what Jesus would do. Many, including myself, find it easier to cast Jesus in our own image and refer to the aspects of his actions and personality that fit with our actions and personalities - we then can easily ask - WWJD?
I barely know the guy and yet I've been with him for years. Not knowing him well enough and the frustration with not knowing what he would actually do in a given situation drives me to an impatient appraisal of who I think he is. I then speak of him doing what I would really do - and I can do all of this without even thinking about it. Then I parade Jesus' name and reputation around to other people to show them why I'm right and ethical in my actions.
WWJD is designed to hurt us and discomfort us (though at times it can comfort) more than to confirm our imposed personal ethics or to allay our fears of being wrong. So I find it more realistic and safer to ask, what would wisdom do. This doesn't circumvent Christ but allows us to see him in the context of wisdom, as he is our wisdom from God according to Scripture. I think we can all freely admit we need a lot of growth in wisdom. If Christ is our wisdom then he retains the ability to lead us to wisdom and to embody wisdom and its implications for difficult decisions. In this we do not look past Christ to Wisdom but look to wisdom as a paradigm through which Christ lived ethically and obediently to the Father.
Consistently asking these questions and then doing the hard work of listening to the answers and not just asking the questions, has a promise - a harvest of right relationships and a bunch of other... right things.
-Nathan Smith (inspiration from humiliation)
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