“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Matt. 5:9
One of the leaders we serve in the “informal settlements” (slums) of Nairobi sent me an email reporting that he has been spared violence and praising God that his small church community has chosen the way of peace. He quoted Matt. 5:9. In light of the events of Kenya this last week, I am wrestling with what it means to be a peacemaker and bear the title “children of God.” (To read more about the events in Kenya please see Joel’s post below.)
Even though I am an adult and a father with two kids of my own, I am still the youngest of four siblings and will always be the youngest. As such, the idea of becoming a “child” does not conjure up warm feelings for me. It does not evoke feelings of innocence, purity and wonder that are so often associated the word. On the contrary, it raises feelings of inadequacy, powerlessness and vulnerability. In a word, to be a child is to be weak and I am afraid of weakness. To be called a “child of God” sounds good in theory, but also strikes fear in the heart of an insecure person.
I think that Jesus understood my feelings when he said we must become like children to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 18:3). I seriously doubt that he was thinking of the romantic images that we apply to the idea of childhood today when he said these words. It is my opinion that these warm and fuzzy images regarding childhood largely stem from thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other Victorian idealists. We unconsciously project these sentiments onto the words of Jesus and use these sentiments to comfort and protect ourselves from the reality of what he was suggesting.
We would do well to remember that to be a child in first century Palestine was hardly warm and fuzzy. Children had no rights. They had no power. They had no position or status. As loved as they might have been by their parents, they were recognized within the culture as little more than property – a half a step below women who enjoyed no rights of their own. In the context in which Jesus spoke, the invitation to become like a child was truly a threatening proposition, especially to an insecure people living under the thumb of the Roman oppressor.
This is a hard word, especially to those of us have already lost so much and who have so little power to begin with. It is even a harder word for those of us who have gained so much at great cost (to ourselves and others) and therefore have much to lose. It is an insane invitation that Jesus issues unless, of course, we have a Heavenly Father whose abundant love makes it possible – even necessary.
My question is whether I can be a peacemaker without becoming a child – without journeying into my deepest fears and shame? If not, do I know of a love that both draws and sustains me on the difficult journey towards childhood? Is it possible that in becoming peacemakers we are called to loosen our grip on power, position, title and even our rights that we have worked so hard to attain, that we might be free to seek the power, position, title and even rights of others?
The ultimate expression of peacemaking is the Cross itself – the place where we all are finally and fully the “children of God.” I don’t pretend to know what this means for Kenya in the most practical sense, and so I will speak personally. I have a hunch that the degree to which I relax into the reality of the Cross is the degree to which I am free to absorb the fear, shame and even the violence of myself and my enemy, letting God perfect his transforming power in and through my weakness, and in doing so, make peace.
I wonder if being a peacemaker has something to do with learning to navigate the geography of our deepest fears and shame – loosening our grip on what is rightfully ours that we might honor what rightfully belongs to others? I wonder if this counter intuitive journey has something to do with becoming a child? I wonder if I will ever have the courage to be a peacemaker and fully bear the title, child of God? I wonder.
I close by acknowledging the leaders that we serve in Nairobi who have been peacemakers in a violent time. We serve grassroots leaders who come from different tribal backgrounds and who have chosen to love one another across these divides. It will take the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain this love. They have borne the title “Children of God” at great cost and with great dignity. It gives me hope.
Kris Rocke
Serves as director of Center for Transforming Mission
Bumps into Reality by accident, most of the time
Heard God laugh once
