I‘m a peacemaker by nature. Give me any personality test where it’s a possible result, and you can skip the test and check that box. Chances are you have friends like me or maybe you’re a peacemaker yourself.
Currently we’re the ones in your social media feed sharing funny videos, old photos, or cute pictures of our dog. We’re conspicuously silent on Supreme Court decisions, the Confederate flag, or anything that stirs the pot instead of settles it.
This doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions and aren’t hurting too. Ask us in person and you might find out where we stand. We love your logical commentary; logic diffuses arguments.
Peacemakers don’t unfriend in haste
Social media has the power to connect us with family, neighbors, fellow church members, people we’ve met through business or blogging, and both current and childhood friends. While a peacemaker may see opposing viewpoints in our feeds, we don’t click the unfriend button in haste when opinions differ from our own.
A peacemaker considers why she initially connected with someone and whether anything has changed. She is slow to speak and fast to filter, ideally running everything through a lens of scripture:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20
Being a peacemaker isn’t the same as being a people-pleaser
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God,” (Matthew 5:9) but in Romans 12:2 we are told, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .” Conforming to the world means pleasing people instead of God. They aren’t the same.
If we allow our concept of right and wrong to be determined by current events or public opinion, we’ll whirl in the winds of change. The government, too, will never hold the source of our prosperity or peace.
An Avett Brothers lyric comes to mind (and honestly, you can sum up much in life with a good Avett lyric):
When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it.
– “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”
While we may remain silent in the public arena, it’s our job to speak within our homes. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” It must be hard for our children to grow up in a world where so much information comes at them from so many sources.
Do you find it challenging to parent your children in a culture so influenced by social media?
