Talking about peace

Be agents of reconciliation in all relationships.

There are people in the office I don’t like.

• Practice love of your enemies as taught by Christ.

There are those who hate me for what I do.

• Be peacemakers in all situations.

My siblings don’t always get along. There are people in my church who disagree with each other over church decisions.

• As much as is possible, live at peace with all people.

Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see God.” This is where the rubber hits the road in our teaching on peace – in the everyday situations in our homes, work, church and neighbourhood.

Because peace was declared on November 11, 1918 to end World War I, many churches have designated November as Peace Month. Peace Sunday is traditionally observed by Mennonites, including Mennonite Brethren, on the Sunday closest to November 11. When I was a teenager, we regularly had peace conferences on that Sunday and we would be taught the importance of the Anabaptist stance on peace and non-resistance. Is that observance still significant to our Conference today? What exactly is our stance as a Conference on that subject? Anabaptists, including Mennonites, have in their confessions of faith a statement on peace (see next page).

Do we really still consider this important? Do we teach it to our children? Is it taught in our churches? Is there a practical application to it other than avoiding the war in Iraq? Do we have an obligation to support our country’s stance on the war? How?

Our teaching on peace needs to be at least two-fold – how we relate to situations in everyday life that are in our control, and how we relate to the state and how it deals with conflict situations.

We are citizens of heaven but we are also citizens of Canada. We need to know how to be loyal to our civil government and to God. However, this is not blind obedience to the state. We have a higher loyalty.

I am travelling in the U.S. while writing this and have seen many interesting takes on war, peace and militarism. One bumper sticker had a Catholic viewpoint: “Angry? Need a Weapon? Pray the rosary.”

A letter to the editor in the Lancaster, Pa. Intelligencer Journal stated, “Peace: so forgotten about it’s become a radical new idea.”

And 11 different Lancaster County church groups organized an interchurch peace gathering featuring noted Mennonite theologian Donald B. Kraybill, speaking on the Christian mandate to “Pursue Peace: Peacefully, Truthfully, Hopefully.”

Other denominations seem to be embracing a peace position while we in the historic peace churches seem to move farther away from it. However, we need to have a position so that when a time of war comes, we know where we stand.

Wartime is not the only time to take a stand on peace. The commentary on peacemaking in our Confession of Faith says: “Teaching on peacemaking should start in the family . . . How we live within the home is more indicative of our peacemaking convictions than our non-participation in the military.” It must also include, the commentary continues, neighbour relations, business associates in the office, students in the classroom and the stranger on the street. “[P]eacemaking makes little sense in the social–political sphere if it does not also impact our relationships within the church.”

We probably all understand in our heads the command to peace and non-resistance, but what is needed is more obedience. We need to practice it and be agents of reconciliation – here – today.

Our MB Confession of Faith on “Love and Nonresistance” states:

God’s Community of Peace

We believe that God in Christ reconciles people to Himself and to one another, making peace through the cross. The church is a fellowship of redeemed people living by love. Our bond with other believers of Jesus transcends all racial, social and national barriers.

Christian Peacemaking

Believers seek to be agents of reconciliation in all relationships, to practice love of enemies as taught by Christ, to be peacemakers in all situations. We view violence in its many different forms as contradictory to the new nature of the Christian. We believe that the evil and inhumane nature of violence is contrary to the gospel of love and peace. In terms of national conscription or war, we believe we are called to give alternative service where possible. Alleviating suffering, reducing strife, and promoting justice are ways of demonstrating Christ’s love.