Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
On pursuing peace, the speaker says peace is a result of refocusing people on a “united vision,” not merely commanding them to “be sweet,” and calls peacemaking “hard work”; when adults in a church are “no longer at peace,” what “shifted purpose” is usually underneath, and what would it look like to unite around “a new and living cause” without sweeping sins and injustices under the rug?
Another way to ask: When adults in a church stop being at peace, what change in purpose is usually underneath it? How can a church unite around a new shared cause without ignoring real sin or injustice?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests that when adults lose peace, a shared purpose has shifted or died; peacemaking then means doing the hard work of helping both sides reconnect around a living, kingdom-oriented purpose rather than issuing shallow commands to be nice.
- He says peace is “more of a result than a thing to be taken a hold of… in and of itself.”
- He explains that telling children to “be sweet… stop fighting” “hardly ever works,” and the effective approach is refocusing them on something they both enjoy.
- He applies this to adults: lack of peace often means they “lost their united vision… lost their sense of purpose.”
- He says a peacemaker must help parties “unite in a new and a living cause and a new and a living purpose.”
- He concludes, “Just saying we need to have peace is not sufficient. Being a peacemaker is hard work,” and ties it to Jesus’ words: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”