The Overlooked Trait of God’s Children | Matthew 5:9

Show Notes

Episode 865: 
In this episode, we dive into Jesus’ words: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” True peace doesn’t come from avoidance or politeness—it requires intentional effort, wisdom, and sometimes sacrifice. We explore biblical peacemaking, conflict, and what it means to live as God’s ambassadors in a broken world. A practical and challenging conversation on cultivating real peace.

What is The Bible Guys?

Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.

Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.

Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, my name is Chris and my name is Jeff, and we ares I. Could have done that a little better. Hey, we want to welcome you here, and we are in the middle of a series talking about the Beatitudes. But before we get into that, we are going to take time to read, Jeff one of the best articles I think I've. Ever read, some of the very important. We're always looking for special interest pieces, yeah, that are useful to our listeners. And since we're called the Bible Guys, right, we thought that, you know, there's probably people as they're in the new year. Now you're a couple of weeks in and you're trying to think, you know, maybe you've already missed a couple of your your New year resolutions. Fourth weekend now probably yeah, yeah. But you've probably already missed a few resolutions, and you're thinking, man, I just want to be a better Christian. Yeah, And so we scour every good resource we can find to help our people be better Christians. And what better place to go look than the Babylon b yes, right. So The Babylon b is our favorite news and self help website on the entire Internet if you don't know. Just to be clear, it is literally just as reliable and I sort of mean this as every other news outlet out there. It is, it is. But this one is seven simple ways to be a better Christian this year from the Babylon b. This is under the heading of Christian Living. Which I love this article. The premise of this article is great. Here's what they say. If you're hoping to make a good, make good on your New year's resolution to become a better Christian, then you've come to the right place. The staff of the Babylon Bee has collectively read the Bible at least once, so we know a thing or two about being a better Christian collective as here's a few good tips. One stop sinning. It's simple, really, it's so great. It's so great. Hey, we know the answers. Just stop sitting. It's so good. Yep. Number two, take a double helping of communion each time we heard this might work. That is so funny, It is really funny. Number three, try to read the Bible at least as much time as you spend playing that one little mobile game where you do simple math calculations to multiply your soldiers to fight these zombie people who are marching towards you. Oh my goodness, that's every advertisement. Ever, right, that'd be a huge improvement over last year. So good, it's so good. I love this next one. This next one makes me laugh. Make Number four is make a donation to k Love. If you don't know, k Love is the one of the top Christian music radio stations, and it says the Holy Spirit has been urging you to support positive, encouraging family music for years. Oh my goodness, it is so funny because that's all you hear, right. Support them. Number five learn to do a backflip. It's not particularly Christian, but it feels like a Christian who can do one is better than one, and can't I love that. It's so great. It is so good. A Christian who can do one is better than one who can't do one. That makes sense to me. Yeah, I never thought of it that way, but yeah, we should put that in a discipleship process. It's random, right, You need to read more, you need to pray more, you need to come to church more, and if you learn to do a backflip that puts you top ten percent, it can't hurt. Yeah. Number six, own more people in theological debates online. Just like the Apostle Paul. He'd be online just typing all caps. It's the altimate way of busting on those people. It's so good, just like you know, how just you know, just the Apostle Paul. Did he actually just like you and your theological debates online? Oh my goodness. That's right. And then number seven, don't wait until you're suffering from an existential life crisis to pray. It makes praying during your life crisis come more naturally. Right, So that makes sense. So follow these simple steps and you'll be holy in no time. Being a Christian has never been easier. There you go. I have a thought that I want to share about people who debate theological things online. Yes, and then share political thoughts online. Okay, so I'm opening up can of worms. You're you're nervous, aren't you. I know I'm for it. Okay, here's here's what I want to say to you. Because I hate social media. If you're a person who I have one, let me say it this way. This is a better way to say it. I have a friend whose wife she has no identity other than the identity. Of like. Sort of like, you know, expressing her anger against her opposing political view, right, because that's sort of what it is. Right, So her identity is being upset at people who don't believe what she believes politically correct. Yeah, and and and and and so. But either way, even if she's for what she believes, or if she's against what she doesn't believe, she's more against what she doesn't believe. But but even if she's for what she believes, she has no other idea. Like if you go over their house and you sit down and you talk with them, it's like, do you have a personality other than political views? Right? Like do you do? You? Do you talk about? Are you? Are you more than that? Because I sort of don't think you are right? And so I started and anyway, let me just say it this way. The number of people who are persuaded by her political views, let me think, let me try to add them up. Carry the two oh zero, right, yes, and and the people who are persuaded by your political views online are zero. And the people who are persuaded by anybody's view is zero. And and I feel the same way about theological debate online because it's not a real debate, right. A real debate involves care, it involves friendship, involves respect, right, it involves all those things like like productive debate. Uh, but online trolling and and caps, you know, opposition yelling, inserting. Opinion, especially typed debate. I do think that there have been a lot of beneficial video debate because you're watching humans interact with humans. Yes, that's a different thing than me typing my argument against you and waiting for an hour until you have time to type yours back. And then I do a little bit of chat GPT research and you do a little bit of chat GBT research, and we come back and clash again. That kind of stuff. I don't know how much effect it really has. It has zero, but watching others debate helps helps us form ideas. So here's so here's what I'm going to say. I'm going to say that if you really think about the heart of this, both of those things is really not about changing anything, right, although you may think it is. If you're that person who does those things, you may think you're doing good. And yet the whole world knows that you're not doing any good, right, and that that's an overstatement. But but but really, truly it's almost zero point zero percent good. Right. So here's what I'm gonna say, if you really think about it. I'm no psychologist, I'm no counselor, right, although I've done those things. It really comes down to people wanting their voice to be heard. So it's about It's really about whether or not you feel like you have a voice that is heard somewhere. And I believe that the people who have a voice that is heard, Like if you grow up and your family listens to you, your friends listen to you, and you have meaningful conversations, I think you don't have that tendency to spit off online because you live a life where your voice is heard. In general, I'm not talking about being a political person. I'm saying just you are a person whose voice is heard, right. But if you're a person who you feel like your voice has not been listened to, those are typically the people who are characterized in that manner. And so really it comes down to, like insecurity, it comes out it's the same thing if you grew up in a family and you experience unconditional love, acceptance, and value, then you don't have to look for love, acceptance, and value in unhealthy places. Right now, people go off and they join gangs right because they don't have acceptance right growing up in their home. So you're designed to receive those things, and you're designed to be a person whose voice is heard in a healthy way. But if you're not a person who receives that in a healthy way, you're going to look for unhealthy ways for your voice to be heard, and that is those people online. Yeah, and then we have to also understand that the algorithms are against us. We're not going to change the world with our opinions because algorithms are designed to feed you more of what they what the algorithm already knows you believe and what you want. And then your message is only getting out to a portion of your friend group that agrees with what you agree with and only a portion of your friend group that disagrees, very small portion that disagrees, because the algorithms are designed to give your friends more of what they also believe. And so what happens is you fight with your nieces and nephews and that's about it. Occasionally you get one of their friends. We'll see a thing, but that's a deep diver that eventually finds what you what you say, So there's better ways. I do believe in legit dialogue. I do think that you should be active in your in your engagement with your government and with your voting and those things. I think you should have a strong, strong opinion that should be well educated on these things. I'm just saying I don't think that social media is the place to get educated. And you're not actually gonna get more prayers answered if you keep forwarding things, right, and don't let this chain break, God's gonna bless you. Right, Let's see who really loves Jesus kind of stuff. That's all just junk. It's just junk. And when I said I hate social media, what I hate is what it turns people into. For the most part, right, it's a useful tool, but I say all the time it gives a plus play formed a lot of d minus ideas, right, And uh that's a that's the disadvantage. But uh, you know, you know what, rather than picking fights, my desires just to to try to make as much peace as possible, is it? Jeff it is Corean is at the core of who I am. I just want to be you know what, you know what I want to be. It's just part of the wonderfulness of me. I just want to be a peacemaker. That is what I want. That's a b renoldsol. It's just a wonderful. Yeah. Lannie Anderson looked at Burt Reynolds in the movie Struck Uration and she goes, you were just you were just so great because you did this thing, you know, and he goes, that's just part of the wonderfulness of me. That's huge. Well. In Matthew chapter five, verse nine, it's amazing because it says God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. This is a brand new beatitude. That's an incredible that's the brand new one there. I have taken note that you've read it. Yes, I just read it right there. God blesses those who work for peace. They will be called the children of. The Last be attitude. I didn't hear that. You officially read it, and that's twice right there. Oh, you said it. Well, blessed are the peacemakers, for they called the children of God. That's a good one. That's one of my favorites. Yeah. So so other translations would say blessed are the peacemakers. Yes, and I love this translation. Blessed are those who work for peace? Right. It's not people that are are. It doesn't say God blesses those people who like peace. Right. It doesn't say God blesses those people who never have confrontation. Correct. It doesn't say. It's so good, it's it's such an unbelievable distinction. Right. It doesn't say that God blesses those people who avoid difficult conversations or difficult topics. It doesn't say that God blesses people who choose neutrality. Right. It says that God blesses those people who work for peace. That's right. Peace always requires work, always the peace. Because we live in a cursed culture, because we live in a cursed world. All of creation is cursed. We live under the curse of sin. Say things degrade, they don't get better. Things don't move towards the utopia, they move away from them. Things don't go We don't go from chaos to order. It goes from order to chaos every single time, every time. Right, And it's the same thing with peace. Peace is something that has to be worked on and maintained. It has to be cultivated in order to thrive. And if you don't cultivate it, the weeds will grow up and eventually peace will fall apart. And this is true with every good thing in your life. Every single God made us to cultivate the garden, paradise, any piece of paradise we want in our life, we have to cultivate it. If you want more peace, you have to cultivate it. You have to be a peace maker. You have to be working for peace. You want joy, you need to be a joy maker. If you want love, you need to be a making. I don't know how to say that one. Now you need to be working to have more love in your life. Did you quite know? I walked myself right into that one. That is so good. That's so good, But it is true. Yeah, right, you have to work at it. You Romance in a marriage doesn't just keep happening, right, You have to work at it, and everything like that, every good thing. If you want paradise, you have to cultivate that part of it, otherwise it all falls apart. And so peace is not a thing just because you have peace today doesn't mean you have peace tomorrow. You have to keep working on it. Yeah. And by the way, uh, just that's hysterical. That's one of the funniest things I've done in this show. It's really funny. I'm really glad I avoided it. I almost stepped in it. Oh, I don't think it'd be that good. Yeah, the the let me go back and say, I want to say something fun. So whenever I teach on conflict, one of my favorite things to do is I usually have like a picture of an ostrich in a rhino. Right, So the ostriche has its head buried in the sand, and then there's a rhino who charges toward everything, right, and the rhino is blind, Right, the rhino can't see more than like a few feet in front of its face. Yeah. They can run forty five miles an hour and they can only see like fifty feet in front of them in that y Yeah, there's one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, just because they don't know where they're going. Yeah, but they weigh what five pounds or whatever? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know we've all heard the phrase a charging rhino, right, and so so, yeah, we liken it to you know, either running into conflict like a rhino or hiding, you know, burying your head in the sand. And we've used that phrase too. And the funny thing is there are people who lean toward one and lean toward the other. Now, what's interesting is you and I are a different breed of people. Yes we are. Right, so we're it's not like we love conflict, but for our personality type the way that God has made us. Uh. You you often say debate is a sport, right, yes, yeah, so we are e NTPs to the. Mind debates sport. Yeah, so we will get into arguments because we sometimes where others would avoid the debate, we would jump in it sometimes because we just like, yeah, we like it for a few minutes. Yeah. And and the funny thing is that I think you're at way slightly more than me. Uh but but but I think. Because I'm quicker quick, I have more answers. Actually I have more answers. I know you're joking, but it actually. Has stronger opinions. But it actually is true. You have stronger opinions, and honestly, you have self assurance. I think, and I think that that plays into the fact that you think you're right more. But yountps do tend to be very clever and very quick, Yes, and so we tend to know that we can get one over on the person who's arguing. And especially if it's a dumb argument, if it's a dumb argument, doesn't it just it just you can't help it. Dumb arguments are like chumming the water, and we're chumming the water. We can't help it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah. But but but I think all those things play into that. So because of that, you and I have a tendency and it's and it's healthy to recognize that, right, it's healthy to understand that there are different person personalities. But I would say more people, and I would say the vast majority of almost. All people lean toward the ostrich. Would you agree, avoid avoidance, avoidan yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah yeah. And they you know, as if you know, listen, if you bury your head in the sand, you may not be able to see what's around you, but your jugular is still exposed. Yeah, that's the truth. And so and so you're gonna suffer a lot of pain. Yeah, You're gonna suffer a lot of pain because that crazy rhino can only it turns out it can only see thirty feet in front of it can run thirty five miles an hour. So I was close. Oh it's close. Yeah, that rhino you can't even see you, and it's about ready I'll blast you. Yeah, And because you're not paying attention, So it's definitely you're gonna get hurt. It's definitely unhealthy for a person who loves conflict. Right, then there's a person who doesn't mind conflict. Right, But most people lean toward the people who avoid. They avoid, and so when they're hiding, they're gonna get blasted, they're gonna get hurt. Yeah. Well, a lot of marriages, quite honestly, are that way. You know. There are people who just say it's not worth it, it's not worth it, so they just avoid conflict. They just they just pretend like it doesn't exist, and it builds up and it's terrible and there's gonna be pain coming, you know, or maybe the whole life is your whole life is pain because you avoid conflict. So that's that's not what Jesus is saying here. He's not saying, Blessed be the peacemakers, you know, avoid conflict that needs to be addressed and and just try to keep the peace. That is not it. And I and I guarantee you that there are people who probably uh, they'll say, hey, I've spent my whole life, I just let that person say or do what that person needs to say or do. I just I avoid it because I just want to keep the peace. Well, that is not that is not what Jesus is saying. So I believe that we have to address conflict when it needs to happen. Yes, but working for peace is much much different that avoiding conflict. Yeah. So I've spent in one of my roles with TTI as Chairman of the Board, I spent a significant amount of time which is called the Timothy Timothy Initiative. Yeah, we work with hundreds of thousands of church leaders around the world in fifty different countries and ex kins things. So just the scale of that means that you have to have some pretty strong infrastructure, and with that means you have strong leaders. And then now because we're in fifty different countries on every continent, that means that there's all kinds of different cultural issues. And then there's tribal issues because we're in developing nations and there's all these things, and so there's a lot of tension among high level strong leaders that we always have to be working on diplomacy and working on those things. But some of my role has been in the particularly different things. And I've referenced this a few times on the podcast of some particularly dangerous circumstances where if this blows up, it's going to cause a huge loss of money and people are going to go to jail, right, yes, and. Yeah, people's freedom, maybe even somebody's. Life, religious freedom, and so I've had to be a part of that, and and it's something that I enjoy. So on the one side, debate is a sport, but oftentimes that's that's our our us not at our best, that's right, that's right, at our best. Sometimes e NTPs also can be good peacemakers, navigation, navigating through because we also what makes us quick to be able to debate is because we're seeing the motive and we're seeing the dangers behind everything being said a little quicker, and so sometimes that can help. But so I've done a lot of that work and I'm in the middle of writing this book on Biblical Diplomacy our leaders. It's not done, but I've got like twenty twenty little you know, six page chapters, so the not long chapters, and there's a few premises that I'm starting with. First of all, we have to understand that God made us to be his ambassadors. That's not just pastors with the NTPs personalities, that's all believers. That's right. God made us to be his ambassadors. Whatever style or approach that you have, you shtill have that responsibility. That's right, right, And that means that I have to start with God's end in mind, not mine, Because an ambassador doesn't speak for himself. An ambassador speaks for the king or the president that he serves, right, So I have to begin with God's end in mind. So when I go into you know, something's blowing up in my family, something's blowing up at work, and I'm trying to think how do I help make peace here? I have to think what would Jesus do? And what does Jesus want from this? And it's not just that people start being nice to each other. Jesus' core value is not polite, right, he wants peace, and so I have to start with that what's God's end in mind? And then I have to be working on the idea that for a win win rather than a win lose. We tend to mostly think that the win is when I come out victorious and you finally submit and surrender. And peace making is not victory labs. Peace making is making sure that, if at all possible, we maintain as much dignity and that there's a win for everybody if possible, which means then we have to spend more time listening before we speak. We have to hear what's really going on in your heart, what is your because most of the time the threat or the anger isn't directly associated with the issue. The issue was the trigger, but there's this Usually the underlying portion of the of Theleisberg is way bigger than what you're seeing on top. Right, There's something else, there's another root. It's rooted in something, something else. You have to listen in order to be able to figure out what that is. Because it's possible to do or say the right thing at the wrong time or in the wrong way, and you're still going to get the wrong answers because you're trying to address the wrong thing right, And so then if we're working on the idea of building bridges rather than burning them. There have been times when people have told me off and quit their job, or told me off and quit the church. And as much as I can, as often as I can. It hasn't been every time, because I'm not a perfect human, but as often as possible, and most of the time, I try to leave the door open and say, hey, listen, I want you to know I love you, I wish you the best in your next step, and this is always home. The door's always open for you as much as possible, right, And we've had a number of people who try to come back. So if you're trying to build bridges rather than burn them, I think that that's incredibly powerful. And then there is a moment where sometimes as Christ's ambassador, we have to just decide forgiveness is the answer. There is no other solution except I'm going to take the beating for you. Sometimes that's the answer, because that's what Jesus did for me, right, right, and that's what that's what he would do for that person. So when we make peace, it's way more work than just getting everybody to stop being so loud. It's way more work than just trying to make everybody be more polite. Politeness is not peace making, right. We have to get to the core the issue and figure out what the win is for everybody according to whatever God's end is in this what what end in mind? What end does God have in mind for this issue? And that means we need wisdom in a sermon. We need to go know God's words. You summed up pretty well there. I kind of dominated that conversation a little bit, didn't I just it? But again, I sometimes I think that when you have a handle on things and you and you lay it out, I think it's just great. Man. Well that's the first nine chapters, the first nine do you mean that's the first nine chapters of that diplomacy book? I'm righting. Oh yeah, all right, Well, hey, that seems to be our time and we will see you hopefully on Monday on the Bible. Guys. H