Friday, February 2, 2007 · no responses · comments closed

Tuesday, I wrote about letting peace be the umpire in Colossians 3:15 and started to explore what that entails. Submission is one part; an umpire, by definition, has authority to make a call, and the umpire’s authority necessitates my submission to that call.

And that leads me to the second big idea: an umpire only makes a call when there’s potential for dispute. An arbitrator is needed only when conflict or disagreement exists. Notice what Paul says here: “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” He’s been talking about relationships in the preceding verses, so it’s interesting that he doesn’t say “let the peace of Christ rule in your relationships,” though he brings it back to that with the rest of the verse as he says, “to which indeed you were called in one body.” Paul seems to be saying that peace in my heart will enable peace in my relationships.

Newsflash: I can’t be at peace with others if I’m not at peace within and with myself! Paul tells us “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18) and “agree with one another, live in peace” (2 Corinthians 13:11). Jesus declared that peacemakers are blessed (Matthew 5:9). But I can’t have peace on the outside if I don’t have peace on the inside. That seems pretty obvious, but I suspect that many of us, myself included, focus more on trying to bring (force?) peace in our relationships and ignore the turmoil inside in our hearts and heads.

Perhaps that’s because it seems a lot easier to deal with what’s going on outside than what’s inside. When we lack peace in a relationship, we can point to the problem, if not the cause; and we can conclude that peace is the solution. Lack of peace outside is easier to identify. I suspect that we also gravitate toward a focus on relationships because it makes it easier to share the blame responsibility. If all fails, we can say we did our part and the other person kept us from peace. After all, Paul did say, “so far as it depends on you.” Doesn’t that leave it open to make it the other person’s fault?

But Paul doesn’t allow for that here in Colossians. He tells us, in the midst of instruction about relationships, to “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.” That puts the responsibility squarely on me. And it makes me wonder about the conflict that peace is umpire-ing. I think that Paul is telling us to let peace rule over our thoughts and feelings, and the Amplified supports that: “deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds.” Yes, this can — and does — apply to those “what should I do in this situation?” questions. But the more fundamental need for peace is in stilling the fears and doubts and yammering that often go on inside us as our thoughts and emotions try to take over.

Paul tells us how to let the peace of Christ rule in Philippians 4:

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (v. 5 — 7)

I love this passage! I quote and pray it often; it’s a tremendous promise that my thoughts and my heart can indeed be stilled. How do we let the peace of Christ rule? We pray about those things that make us anxious. We pray with thanksgiving. And then we get out of way so that the peace of God can come in and do its work, which is to guard our hearts and minds.

Practically, for me, it looks like this: yesterday, I had an encounter with a friend that left me offended. I knew that I shouldn’t be offended, but I was, and I was having a hard time getting over it. My mind was racing: “I can’t believe he said that” and “I should have said this” and “why are you still offended? Get over it!” — Have you ever noticed that Satan tempts you and then in the very next breath chastises you for falling prey?

Anyway, I was having a hard time bringing quiet, bringing peace, to my mind. And so I prayed, giving it over to God. I prayed several times, because the first few times I didn’t move out of His way so that His peace could do the work of guarding. But once I let the offense go, and truly turned it over to God, peace came and did its work. And I was able to do my part. As I was tempted to take up the offense again, I was able to say, “No, I’ve turned that over to God; I’m not taking it back again.” And when I finally talked to this friend again, the offense was not an issue. It was there, trying to get back in, but peace kept it out.

And that’s how peace can be the umpire: the conflict within was “do I stay offended or do I let it go?” Peace, as umpire, said “Let it go.” I had to make a choice to submit to that call. Notice that Paul says, “let”: “let the peace of Christ rule.” It’s my choice. When I submitted to the umpire’s ruling, I got peace in two ways. I got peace within, and I got peace outside in my relationship. But the peace in my heart came first, and that allowed me to do what Paul says right before in Colossians 3: “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other.”

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