If you ask a Presbyterian to define “peace,” you’ll get lots of answers, and they’re mostly all correct. Peace is tranquility and calm and quiet and respect and all those things that we ask of our children, at least for a few blessed moments every now and then. Peace is well-being, wholeness, health, safety, security, civility and all those things we expect from our communities. Peace is diplomatic treaties, international accords, global conventions, mutual aid, disaster relief and all those things that create understanding among nations. Peace finds its expression in many ways, takes on a variety of forms and is evident in both the most intimate and expansive parts of life. And as people of faith, we believe peace — in all its expressions and forms — is a gift from God.
Preachers and other leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) hear this piece of advice all the time, particularly during the run-up to one of the most divisive elections in U.S. history: preacher, keep politics out of your sermon.
I remember how shocked I was the first time I heard the question. As I stood in the receiving line during my first year as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the parishioners asked point-blank, “Pastor, do you love Jesus or the social gospel?”
Politics can divide a church. I remember how shocked I was the first time I heard the question. As I stood in the receiving line during my first year as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the parishioners asked point-blank, “Pastor, do you love Jesus or the social gospel?”
