Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
For some reason, the Beatle’s song Let It Be entered my mind as I began to contemplate what to write today. It’s easy to make a connection between the lyrics and the notion of “the peace of Christ” when you hear the opening verses:
“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be”
Even though Paul McCartney was raised Catholic, the “Mother Mary” in the song is his own mother…and in his dream she had come to offer him solace, which is what inspired the song. Sadly, the famous Beatle has claimed agnosticism for his entire adult life, so he has no access to the peace of Christ (yet). But for those of us who do, do we let the peace of our Savior rule in our hearts, especially when it comes to our relationships with other Believers?
Paul continues to expand on Christian character with a special emphasis on how we treat one another as Christians. Unfortunately, the past few years have made peace within the Body of Christ more difficult than at any other time in my own walk with God. With our differing opinions on President Trump, Covid-19, masks, and vaccines…the peace of Christ has been an elusive goal in a large part of his Body, hasn’t it? That’s a sad reality. We certainly are not called nor able to have total unity in the way we see the world and its issues…but can we find a way to “agree to disagree” and remain in peaceful relations with one another? It appears from this passage that the choice is ours.
“And let the peace of Christ rule…”
This peace of Christ is not only the peace we experience when there is no conflict (from the Greek eirene), but like the Hebrew counterpart (shalom), it gives us a sense of wholeness and well-being, completeness and totality. We may disagree on some issues here and there, but that should not destroy our peace with one another. If you can’t stand to be in the same room with another Christian because of political differences, you are not letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart. The one in charge is you.
Let’s finish with this powerful exhortation from Charles Spurgeon:
“Do not fall out with one another. You are called to peace, for you are cared for in one body. Does one hand in the body fight with the other hand? Does the foot contend with the eye? Of course not, for they are in one body. So are you in one body with all your fellow-Christians, therefore lay aside all strife. I deeply deplore when I see Christians — and especially eminent Christians — contending with one another about minor matters of small account. Surely, almost anything ought to be borne before there should be public strife among members of the one body. God grant that such a state of things may speedily come to an end wherever it has existed! We have enough to do to ‘earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,’ without contending for our own dignity or honor.”
Amen and Amen.
