What If Peacemaking Costs Your Comfort

“Blessed are the peacemakers” sounds simple until you realize peacemaking is not passive and it is definitely not the same thing as avoiding conflict. We start with a gut-check question: are you the person who calms the room, or the person who quietly fuels the fire? Then we dig into Matthew 5:9 and what “peacemaker” actually means: someone who makes peace on purpose, with action, not denial.

From there we get painfully practical. We talk about why buried issues don’t disappear, they compound, and why conflict avoidance in marriage, family, and friendships often creates bigger explosions later. Real peace takes courage, but it also takes restraint. Peacemaking is not bullying or winning arguments. It’s loving people enough to step into the tension, tell the truth, and work toward reconciliation.

We also zoom out to the bigger story of Scripture: sin creates conflict everywhere, and Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker because he left comfort to enter our mess and bring peace through the cross. That’s why truth matters so much. If we keep trading truth for lies, we lose peace, inside ourselves and with each other. Finally, we land on 2 Corinthians 5 and our calling as ambassadors with a ministry of reconciliation, plus a clear weekly challenge: have one hard conversation you’ve been avoiding.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs peace, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s one conflict you know you need to step into this week?

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Transcript

Are You A Peacemaker

Josh 0:00

Alright, well, good morning. As we jump in this morning, I'm gonna start with this. This is probably, I don't wanna say the most confusing of the Beatitudes, but I think it's definitely the one we miss the most. I think it's definitely the one that we can kind of take the wrong way if we're not careful. Um, but I'm gonna start this morning by asking a simple question, which is our big idea, and that is this are you a peacemaker? Now, a lot of things probably come to mind when you hear those words, peacemaker, right? And and like I said, we have to be very careful on how we take this, as we're gonna get into in just a little bit. But let me ask like, are you a person that settles things down? Are you a person who is calm? Are you the person that people call when there's a crisis? Like, are you the person that like kind of handles everyone else's stuff? Or if you're honest, are you throwing gasoline on the fire? Because some of us, like, we we kind of miss this peacemaker thing, right? We we are the opposite of this. We're war makers, right? Like some of us, we just have this inside of us, and and you're probably the last person people are like, hey, you know what? Let's get so and so involved in on this, right? I remember when I was a cop, there were certain cops that when you would hear them come over the radio and say they're on the way, you would instinctively like key up and be like, no, no, no, no, just cancel them, I'm good. Because you knew if this person showed up on this call, you're going to fight. Like you just knew it was happening. And I go, and then there were other ones where like you would actually ask, hey, can you come out with me? Right? So I go, which one are you? And really challenge ourselves as we move through this, because again, here we hear another promise from Jesus in this beatitude. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into that. Father, I thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray, God, that as we move through it, that I am just a tool you use to say your word. That Father, it is not my thought, it is not my opinion, it is not what I think, but that God, it is your very words that you speak to your people so that we look more like your son. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.

What Peacemaker Really Means

Josh 2:29

All right, so Matthew 5.9 says this blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Now, like we started with, this is one of those words that we could very easily mistake or take out of context or think it means something that the Bible itself is not saying. So the most glaring question we have to start with is this what is this word peacemaker? Because this kind of piece is not, if you guys are familiar with Jewish thought, right? Are anybody in here? Are you familiar with the word shalom? Okay, it's not that kind of piece. This is a different kind of piece that the Bible is talking about here. All right, so it's actually a very complicated word in Greek. This word peacemaker, it is a compound word. It is this word that says arena poyos, and it's literally two different words that are put together just like in English, right? Peace and maker. Now, these two words, arena, means peace. That's why I said it's not the shalom piece that most of us would think of. All right, shalom peace is kind of this like well-being, this just at peace kind of thing. This is a different kind of peace. This piece has more to do with understanding and knowing and walking in truth, right? And then the second part of this is puyeo, which means literally to make. And that's the word that I think some of us are gonna get stuck on. Because when we think of this, this is a verb, this is an action word. When you think peacemaker, it is literally someone who is making peace. And that's gonna be very important for us to understand here. This is not a passive person. This is not a person who just kind of sits back. This is not, and and really, this is like one of the things we have to understand is this is not a person who avoids conflict. All right, because some of us, like when we hear this word peacemaker, some of us we know our tendencies, right? We know we're hotheads, we know like we have the tendency to like amp some stuff up. And so when we hear stuff like this and we go, okay, peacemaker, that means I have to just shut my mouth and kind of stay back. That is not what this word means, though. This is this is an active word. This is a very, very active word. And understand this: avoiding conflict is not the same as making peace.

Avoiding Conflict Is Not Peace

Josh 5:00

Those are two totally different things. So if you're someone in here, and I get it, most of us try to avoid conflict. And I'm not saying don't use wisdom here. All right? What I am saying is, is in order to be a peacemaker, you cannot be afraid to enter into conflict. And since Debbie's doing children's church today, I'm gonna use her for every example that I give because she's not in here. Okay? Now that being said, one of the things me and Debbie talk about a lot is Debbie is a conflict avoider, right? So, like when it comes to like issues that we may have, and I know it's funny, right? You know, because we're supposed to be perfect in everything we do, but sometimes me and Debbie don't see things eye to eye. And it doesn't happen a lot, but when it does happen, Debbie will avoid an argument. She hates arguing, she it just emotionally drains her. So she will do everything she can to avoid an argument. Where me, on the other hand, I don't know if you know this about me, I like to argue. Okay? Now, I don't look for arguments, but if an argument happens to come up, I'm also not the person that's gonna go, hey, I'm afraid to have this argument. I go, no, let's like get into it, let's like dig into it, let's get down to what is actually going on so that we can deal with the problem, and then guess what we have? Peace. It's gonna be awkward for a minute, it's gonna be uncomfortable for a minute, it's not gonna be very fun for a minute, and and and sometimes that minute might stretch into a couple of minutes, right? But when it's done, we're done and over with. See, some of you sitting in here, you're still holding on to things from years and years and years and years ago that you have yet to let go of and walk away because you didn't want to deal with it. You didn't want to. You avoid that conflict, even that internal conflict within yourself. And so you kind of push away from it, you kind of push it down, you don't really deal with it, you don't talk about it, you don't work through it, and then you wonder why you have these huge explosions because your spouse went, Hey, what do you want for dinner tonight? And it turns into like three days of nonstop arguing. See, a peacemaker is actively going to dig into that. A peacemaker is someone who is not going to avoid that conflict, but is going to hit that conflict straight on. And that doesn't mean with brute force. This is not saying a bully. Okay, this is not someone who is sitting here going, hey, I'm gonna push everything I can push. But this is someone who sees that conflict and goes, hey, I'm gonna lean into that.

Jesus Enters Conflict To Bring Peace

Josh 7:45

And understand this: Jesus is the ideal peacemaker. Okay? Like when we are reading in in Isaiah, we get this, it's called a mesionic prophecy. Isaiah's talking about this coming Messiah that's going to come. In Isaiah 9, we get, and he shall be called. And it's this beautiful list of all these different things that Jesus is going to be called when he comes on scene. And one of them is what? Prince of peace. He's going to bring peace. But understand this. If Jesus never leaves glory, if Jesus never leaves the Father and the Spirit, if Jesus never leaves where it's comfortable and nice and enter into this flesh, guess what? We never have? Peace. I don't know about you, but I am one who anytime I pass a church, I love reading their signs. Sometimes they're really funny, and I'm like, hey, you know what? I give you credit. Other times I'm like, really, man, come on, you guys can do, you gotta do better than that, right? But there's one that I'm sure most people are familiar with, right? No Jesus, N-O, no peace in O. And then the other one is no Jesus, K-N-O-W, no peace. And that's why. Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker because Jesus, instead of choosing to stay with the Father in glory, decides, hey, creation is doomed without me. So I'm going to leave glory. I'm going to step into conflict and I'm going to make peace. And he does this because we see all the way back in the book of Genesis, at the very beginning of our Bible, conflict.

Sin Creates Conflict Everywhere

Josh 9:46

In fact, if you read through the curses in Genesis 3, okay, starting in verse 15, it says that because the serpent tricked the woman, God is going to put enmity between his offspring and hers. That curse right there is conflict within the spiritual realm. If you fast forward all the way to Ephesians 6, Paul would tell us that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We don't wrestle against people. What we wrestle against is the principalities and the powers of darkness. Why? Because you have two competing kingdoms. You have the kingdom of this world and you have God's kingdom. That's why this is the upside down kingdom. Because Jesus is sitting here going, hey, my kingdom, it looks different than the kingdom of this world. It looks completely opposite of the kingdom of this world. Well, why is there conflict there? Go all the way back to Genesis 3.15. That's where that conflict starts. If you get into verse 16, right after that, we see this other conflict. It says that Eve's desire will be for her husband, but he shall rule over her. So what we see is we see conflict between each other. We see because of sin, because of this great chasm now, we're gonna have conflict with one another. And I don't know if anyone in here, if you've ever experienced that. But that's almost a daily thing, is it not? And then you get to verse 17. Right? And in verse 17, God's talking to Adam and he goes, by the sweat of your brow you will make your food. In other words, now we have conflict between us and nature. And all it takes is one Florida summer for you to fully understand conflict between us and nature. Like our, we literally worked our air conditioning to death yesterday. And when I say to death, I mean I went in garage, whole garage flooded out. Death. And I go, that is conflict between us and nature. Everywhere we look, we see conflict. No matter the relationship, no matter how close two people should be, there is still going to be conflict. Well, what is the root of all conflict though? Sin. Because did we have conflict before sin? No. Like understand, like when we get to Revelation, right? And it's talking about that the lion shall lay down with the lamb and graze on grass. Why do lions eat lambs then? Because of sin. Because that's not how it was designed. Like Kayla would have loved pre-Sin Earth. Where you kind of just walk around with the animals, and every animal wants to be your friend. Because Kayla really believes that animals are her friend. Like we woke up this morning, for those of you that don't know, Gator turns one today. And Kayla's like, you know, laying on the floor with him and is like, oh, happy birthday. And he's like looking at her like, what? Because he's a dog and doesn't understand that it's his birthday today.

unknown 13:14

Yes, they do.

Josh 13:17

Debbie's trying to get him presents now too, so let's not feed into this delusion. But see, we have no, they don't. No. If you have nine lives, you can't have a birthday because which day would be your birthday? Okay. Now that being said, that being said, sin is the root of all of that conflict. Well, who controls, or who not controls, but who demolishes sin? Jesus. And understand that if Jesus does not step in to the conflict, Jesus does not bring peace to the conflict. And that is why Jesus is the greatest example of a peacemaker throughout history. Because he left peace to enter into conflict to bring peace by being murdered on a cross so that we can have peace because of his death by ridding the world of sin. How many of us, though, we go, that would be us? How many of us are willing to enter into the conflict like that? See, Romans 5.8 is this beautiful verse, right? In Romans 5, Paul is starting to shift. I mean, we spent a year and a half in Romans. But what he's doing is he's starting to switch his argument and he's talking about how we obtain salvation. And it says this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How many of us you enter into the conflict before the conflict has been resolved? Or how many of us we have stipulations, right? Like if you, then I. If you would just, then I would just. And I'm gonna tell you guys right now, I've done a lot of marriage counseling throughout my career. This is how most marriages work. Well, she's a fill in the blank with whatever word you choose to use. And then he goes, that's because she, X, Y, and Z. So if she would just stop this, then I would stop that. Well, you want to know why you don't have peace in the marriage there? Because no one's willing to step into that conflict and be like, okay, here's the deal. Regardless of whether or not she changes, I will, because this is what I'm supposed to do. Regardless of whether he changes, I will because this is what I'm supposed to do. Because we're always so worried about, well, what about the other one? I don't want to give up. I'm gonna hold my ground. And I'm not saying there aren't times for that. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I would never tell a person who is in an abusive relationship, well, you know. And I've seen churches that have abused that. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm sitting here going, how many of us are the first ones to step in while they're yet sinners? How many of us are following Jesus' example and going, hey, it doesn't matter what you do because I can only control me. Because as much as I love my children, guess what? Sometimes they don't listen to me. Sometimes they do the exact opposite of what I told them to do. And then they sit here and go, but I don't understand why that didn't work out. You know how many times one of my children have heard, you are not so unique. Like you're unique to me. I love you. But at the end of the day, you are a human. And your experience is not going to be different than the generations that have come before you. And only if I had loving parents that would have explained this to me when I was younger, maybe then I wouldn't have had to experience what everything I've done. He was like his children.

unknown 17:10

Wouldn't always listen.

Josh 17:11

And see, Debbie tells me the same thing now. But I go, but how many of us? That's what a peacemaker does. They don't wait for the situation to get resolved and then come along. They step into the conflict and they go, I'm going to bring and make peace. When Jesus says, Blessed is the peacemaker, he's sitting here going, Blessed are those who do this. Happy are those who do this. Because, see, at the end of the day, listen, you only have to give an account for who? You. You have to look in the mirror at the end of every day, and you have to go, did I? That's it. And if you're a parent in here, understand. You don't even have to give an account for what your kids do. But you do have to give an account for how you raise them. Did you? And see, and this is what a peacemaker understands. I can only control me. So am I going to do? Am I going to make peace? Am I going to enter into this conflict while the war is raging around it? Or am I going to avoid conflict because I'm a peacemaker? And if sin is the the result, if conflict is the result of sin, then peace is a consequence of truth.

Truthful Living Creates Real Peace

Josh 18:44

I'm going to tell you right now, you want to be a peacemaker? You have to live a truthful life. You have to live an honest life. And here's what I mean by that. We have to start being honest with ourselves. Because listen to me. No one in this world has lied to you more than you've lied to yourself. I, in my mind, have a full head of thick, luscious hair. In my mind, my tummy is flat and still could wash clothes on it. In my mind, I could lay down on a bench and still throw up 450 pounds. In reality, I'm pretty sure the bar right now could rip something in my chest. In reality, Debbie takes some pictures of my head sometimes, and I go, that's why I wear a hat. In reality, the washer probably doesn't shrink all of my shirts. See, that's being honest. And here's the thing: you keep lying to yourself, and you will never see change throughout your life. Because the fake you is amazing. And the fake you is crushing everything. And the fake you has no problems with anything in life and doesn't struggle and isn't like beat up and isn't any of that. But when we're honest with ourselves and we can really look at ourselves, guess what we can make inside? Peace. Because peace comes from truth. Like you you you struggle with pride, you know the first step in that? Admit you struggle with pride. You struggle with, you know, a temper. The first step is admit you struggle with a temper. You don't have to raise your hand to this, but has anyone ever gone through a 12-step program? What's the first thing? You have to admit there's a problem. Because denial is not just a river in Egypt. It's actually something you learn in counseling, guys. Because it breaks the you know ice with them. And they're like, oh, he's funny and cute, and like we can tell him anything. But you have to first admit there's a problem. Because if you don't admit there's a problem, guess what you can never fix? The problem. This is why pride is the opposite of peace. Because if you're sitting here going, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I got it, I got it, I got it. Guess what's never going to get fixed? Your problem. And six years from now, you're still gonna be sitting here going, I don't understand why I can't do this. Because truth is what you use to battle conflict. And the more honest you can be, the more brutal you are, the better you're gonna be able to do this. But here's what winds up happening every single one of us in this room hates truth. Every single one of us. How do I know that? Because John 19, which is only three verses away from the most famous verse in all the Bible, tells us. It says this, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world. And people what? Loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. Yeah. We were talking a week or two ago, and the girls were asking me about some stuff as a cop, and they went, hey, did you rather work during the day or at night? And as an adrenaline junkie, when do you want to work? At night. Why? Because that's when everything happens. During the day, the only thing you're dealing with is, hey, I went to file my taxes and they told me someone already did it, and I need to file a police report so that I can file my taxes. Like that's it. Or you're dealing with, like when you first come on shift, you're only dealing with everything that happened the night before. Someone broke into my car, someone broke into my house, someone whatever. But at night, oh man, that's when you have fun. Like that's when all of the fun calls are. Go home and just watch live PD today and tell me which one looks like it's more fun. Why? Because in the darkness we feel like we can hide and we can conceal. What is that the opposite of? The light, which is truth. And this dichotomy exists throughout all of the Bible. This is why I'm telling you, the more honest we can be with ourselves, the more we can bring into the light, the more we can sit here and go, hey, this is a problem, the better it is for us. This is why the Bible would tell you confess your sins to one another. Look broken in front of one another. Because if I'm all good, how are you going to help me in anything? But when I can come to you and I can go, hey, I got some issues. What are we going to be able to do at this point? What? I mean, 16-year-olds can get this with no problem. Us 40-year-olds though, we're like, I don't have issues. Yeah, you do. Here's why, because you're a millennial. If you were Gen Z or millennial, like you have issues. I agree, Miss Holly, but. Yes, we all do. And there's nothing wrong with that. Here's what's wrong with that. When we don't want to bring it into the light. When we would rather believe a lie than the truth. I tell Debbie all of the time, I would rather hear something I don't want to hear and know it's the truth than believe a lie. Because believing a lie, where does that get me? In my little fantasy world, I'm perfectly happy, right? Because this lie that I believe, that, oh yeah, it's gonna get better if I don't do anything. Like this is the darkness that I want to live in. This is the dishonesty I want to live in, and then I don't have peace. And how do I know we do this? Well, Romans 1.25 tells us, right? Because they exchanged the truth about God for what? A lie. Here's the deal.

Why We Prefer Lies Over Light

Josh 25:19

I get article after article after article about how spiritual people in America are now. 80% of all Americans surveyed said that they are spiritual. And do you know what the fastest growing part of that is? Anybody? Well, that is the fastest growing generation, 100%. But what the spiritual is, do you think it's Jesus? No, no, it's not Jesus. It's new age. It's this idea that everything in the universe is connected and the energy flows through everything. It's called pantheism. It's not new. Okay? Gnosticism, you know, Paul wrote Galatians to the Gnostics, so that's not new. And all of this crazy crap that these people are seeing on TikTok that are like, oh, this is brand new. It ain't new. Because there is nothing new under the sun. What we do though is we we exchange the truth of who God is for a lie. And we worship creation rather than the creator. And then we wonder why we have no peace. Because we choose to believe lies. Because lies are better. Because in a lie, I can be anything I want to be. In a lie, I could still beat JT up. In truth, I can too, and do it all the time. But I will tell you, the more and more and more I do it, the more and more I realize my age is going to catch up to me.

unknown 26:49

It will.

Josh 26:51

Because there have been times where me and JT have wrestled and I won, and then he leaves the room, and I'm like, Debbie, go get the ice back. Don't let JT see you get it though. It happens, right? And if you if that doesn't happen with you and your kid yet, it will eventually. And I've already told JT, here's what happens, man. You can beat me up, great. I use weapons at that point. He only owns one gun and it stays in my safe, so I'm good. And that's what we have to do, though. We have to be honest. We have to live in truth. We have to bring stuff to the light. We have to sit here and go, hey, I got some baggage that I need to work on. I got some things I need to talk through. I have some things. I end every service the same way. What is the last thing I say? Does anybody know? Or have you guys already stopped by that point because I went too long again?

unknown 27:46

You need someone to talk to you or my own.

Josh 27:48

There you go. You need someone to talk to or pray. I'm always here. I am here to like at least, at the very least, the earliest I usually leave is like 1.30. Why? Because some of us we need to go, hey, I need someone to talk to, I need someone to pray with. And I'm not the only one here that can do that. But I sit here and go, but we have to start doing. We have to start being honest. We have to start sitting here and going. This is why I challenge us every week, like, hey, examine yourself. Look at yourself. My first slide is always going to be a question about you and going, hey, how do you stack up here? You know why? Because I go, the more we do, just like I've told you over and over, one thing a week is 52 things a year. You do 52 things different this year, I promise next year is going to look different. You do everything exactly the same, listen, next year is going to look exactly the same. Because if you never do it different, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. The biggest thing I know my kids hear during the year is this. If you want different, oh wow. They can all say it. And you can say it louder next time so everyone can hear. If you want different, do different. It's scary, I get it. Change is a scary thing. And what if I do and I fail? Listen, how many things have you failed at throughout your life? And honestly, here's what I'll say. You never fail until you stop doing. Does that mean you never lose? No. But you only fail when you stop. It may look different, it may change, things may have to happen, but you only fail when you stop. And that's what being a peacemaker is. It is loving people enough to hold truth up and go, how do we stack against this? Truth. Okay, I am not sitting here going, hey, we're gonna turn into Christians that beat people over the head with a Bible. Yeah, I get it. There's plenty of verses in there that you can throw out. And listen, there's plenty of verses someone else could throw out to you. But there's nothing wrong with truth. Because that is how we make peace. It's through truth. It's not what we think. Because anybody in here, like the more you study the Bible, the more you go, uh-oh. Might have been wrong about some things. Might have viewed some things a little wonky. And if you're like, not me, then you have not studied the Bible. Anyone in here, like your feelings? We don't confront people with that, right? Because if you confront people with feeling, and I'm not, listen, I know I get a bad rep for this, and it's my fault because of things I say. I understand that. Feelings are what we use to experience life. Feelings are what we use to enjoy and love and all of those things. Feelings in themselves are a neutral thing. When we are controlled by that is what I'm talking about. When we can't, like when we're making life decisions based on how I feel in a moment is what I'm talking about. That never turns out well. Why? Because that moment changes. Any of you you've ever looked at your parents and been like, I hate you? Oh, I'm the only one, cool. Okay, at least two of us. Yeah. You stomped off to the room, right? Sitting in there and you're like, hey, I hope they die. Like. And we all would wind up like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, right? Where like day two, you're like, just for Christmas, I hope they come back. Right? My kids better must stay. Why? I know my kids are the first kids that have never said that, but that's what feelings do, right? So we don't use our thinking, we don't use our feelings, and we definitely don't use the lies we choose to believe. Those will never bring peace. None of that will ever make peace. A peacemaker is not someone who chooses to make someone feel good about a lie. This is why we had so many problems over the past couple of years in this country. Because we went, hey, you know what? It's okay to believe a lie because it's your truth. And guess what you no longer have when you start having relative truth? Truth. Because truth by its nature cannot change. And instead of going, hey, no, like, look, we're just gonna call a spade a spade, you are a boy who is dressing like a girl, and that that whatever we can deal with, that's a separate issue we can deal with. We went, oh, okay, no, like we have to, you know, affirm that. And guys, when I say we have to, I'm not talking about like the government and stuff. I'm talking about churches. Like there are churches right here in our city that affirm that. There is a church I pass at least a dozen times a week that affirms that. And goes, everyone is loved. Listen, the Bible doesn't tell us that. God hates. And it we see it throughout the Bible. Anybody in here? You you're an offspring of an Edomite? An Edomite?

unknown 33:53

No.

Josh 33:55

You're a descendant of Esau? No, right? You know why? Because they no longer exist. Why? Because Esau I hated. What about the Amalekites? The Hittites? All of these people that God has destroyed throughout history. So how can we now go, oh no, God loves everyone all the time. But the Bible shows us different. And this is why truth matters. This is why truth brings peace. This is why we confront lies with truth. This is why it's not avoiding the conflict, because in Mark 10, 34, these are the words of Jesus, mind you. I did not come to bring peace, but I came with a sword. He goes on to say, I came to divide households in this. Is Jesus now contradicting himself? No. Not at all. Because he's sitting here going, in order for me to make peace, in order for me to be a peacemaker, I have to cut this stuff out. I have to come against lies with truth. This is why you hear me say all of the time, let go of what you feel, hold on to what is real. Because they have to, the only way to battle this is with truth. And I get it. Sometimes, like people like me, we take that to a fault. I get it. But I would rather err on that than err on something less. Because that leaves me open to believe a lie. And believing a lie is never going to bring peace. Then I'm going to start wrapping up with this.

The Ministry Of Reconciliation

Josh 35:50

Says, those who are peacemakers, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul, and this is a longer section, Paul writes this. All this is from God. What he's talking about here is salvation. He's sitting here going, This is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us what? The ministry of reconciliation. You know what another word for reconciliation is? Anybody? Peace. That is, in Christ God, who was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are what? Ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him who knew no sin sin, so that we may know the righteousness of God. Here's what that means. If you're in Christ, you're supposed to do the things Christ did. If you were an ambassador, right? Because that's a new Gen Z term, right? I'm a brand ambassador. What's a brand ambassador? A marketing person, right? Like I'm waiting, and hopefully this will make it into a short. And hopefully Mercury decides I need to be a brand ambassador for them. And next thing you know, you pull up next Sunday and there's a bay boat sitting out here in the parking lot. But listen, what that means is wherever I would go, I would tell people how good Mercury engines are. I would tell people how good their new moving from a three to a seven-year warranty. Man, think about it. You just buy it one time and for seven years you're good. I would tell you how their whole shot is amazing. My boat gets on plane like that. I would tell you that if you have a Mercury, you're not gonna wind up broke down out there calling CETO. I would tell you how amazing Mercury is. And through the reconciliation we have in Christ, what are we? Ambassadors. So, how many of us, that's us? How many of us we're sitting here going, hey, let me tell you about the goodness of Jesus? Let me tell you about this peace that I experience. Let me tell you how he took a screw up like me and made me perfect and blameless in his sight. Let me tell you about how I don't have to hold on to all of the past. I don't have to hold on to all of this conflict and trauma and all of the stuff that I went through. I don't have to sit here and beat myself down because I didn't save myself. I never got to a point where Jesus went, hey, you know what? Now you're good. Now you can join my family. Because while I was yet sinner, Christ made peace on the cross for me. And I get to live with that. And I get to go, that pressure isn't on me. Jesus doesn't say, He who began a good work in you, now you carry it to the finish line. He goes, I Paul says, I'm convinced of this, that he who began a good work in you, he will bring it to completion. What do I have to do? The only ministry we're given throughout Scripture is this the ministry of reconciliation. Is to get people to see Jesus. Is to confront the lies with the truth and be a peacemaker. That's it. And listen, some of you, you're just like me. And what you just heard when I said confront the lie with the truth is you went, I get to argue about every little detail in scripture. Listen, that's not a peacemaker. You are starting more wars that don't need to be fought. If it doesn't have to do with your salvation and the deity of Christ and who Jesus is, listen, it doesn't matter. And I hate that I just sounded like the rock when I said that, but whatever.

unknown 40:44

That we'll end in base.

Josh 40:48

It doesn't matter. Like, and and we have to understand that. That's not what I mean when I say confront truth. Now, you know some people who like they believe a different version of Jesus? There was a different gospel that was preached to them. Yes, absolutely. Confront that with truth. But listen, that's what a peacemaker does. This is why in Galatians 6 it would say this: that those of you who are caught in transgression, those of you who are spiritual, should go restore them in a spirit of gentleness. In other words, it's each of our responsibilities to watch each other. Because I may not see what you see. You may see things in me and go, mmm, hold up. That's why we have an accountability board of people that don't even come to this church. Because I go, I want you guys to be able to reach out to somebody who has nothing invested here. And if you don't know who them are, I know we have some newer people here. Come talk to me after service. I will give you all of their information too. Because I want to make sure that you guys are knowing, like, this isn't just stuff I say in a sermon. This is stuff I really try to live by. Where I go, I want people who have nothing to do with anything here to be able to look in at me and go, mm, bro, you're tripping on that. And these aren't just like, oh, my buddies and friends. These are people that I know would have no problem going, hey, get it together. And confront with truth. So if we're a son of God, we are brand ambassadors for Jesus.

One Hard Conversation This Week

Josh 42:32

I was telling Stephen a story this morning about how someone cut me off in traffic. Or tried to run me off the road, actually, I should say. And it just happened to be someone I know he knew. I sped by him because that's what you do when someone tries to run you into a lake. And then as we like cut them off and get in front of them, I went, we have a mission-cent bumper sticker on the back of our car. And I know Steven knows, like, I know Steven's had conversations about church and stuff like that with people he he knew, because I don't want to give too much away. I went, uh-oh. I hope now, and honestly, and I didn't tell them this outside. My biggest fear was this that they were gonna go, hey, what church did you say you went to? Hey, some guy in a silver explorer like cut me off, and like that was a move, and they had your church bumper sticker. And then he would have to go, dude, that wasn't just some guy there. That's the pastor. Like, how is that a brand ambassador? You just lost someone for Jesus for the rest of your life because you couldn't like get stuck behind the guy with the trailer. We had right away, by the way. We were in the lane, they were in the merge lane, okay? I could argue this from Florida State statutes. But I go, but are you a peacemaker? Are you someone who's entering into the conflict and bringing truth to battle? Are you someone people go to to get questions answered to get clarification? Or are you someone that people avoid at all cost because they know asking you this question is going to lead into an argument? Are you someone who enters into the conflict to bring peace to those who are far from Jesus? If not, that's not you. Are you in Christ to begin with? So as we go through this week, our challenge is to embrace the boldness and courage and enter into at least one conflict. And if you're sitting here going, no, no, no, no, I don't have any conflict in my life, enter into the conflict you have inside that causes you to be a liar. Okay? Because every single one of us have conflict that we in. I'm not saying yours is terrible, but you have conflict. Enter into at least one conflict, have at least one conversation with that person, that first person that came into mind. And listen, I know it might be scary and I know it may be uncomfortable, but this is what we are called to do. And as always, if you need to talk or pray, I am right over here. That is what I am here for. So, Father, I ask and I pray that as we move from this moment, Father, that because of the peace you have given to us, that you cause us to be peacemakers. That Father, we sit here and we go. It is our duty to go make peace. Father, I pray that you open up doors, open up windows, so that we can make peace with one another. So that we can make peace, Father, ultimately from those who are far from you, with you. So, Father, that we may know peace and have peace within ourselves. Father, I pray that as we move throughout this week, that God, we are honest with ourselves and with each other. Father, I ask and I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.