To Be a Peacemaker: Living the Beatitudes in Ordinary Callings

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a much beloved portion of Scripture, widely received as clearly good and wise, even by those outside the Christian church. Who would want to argue with the golden rule: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (7:12)? Most people readily admit they would love to live a world in which everyone followed those words of Jesus. But there are other words of Jesus in the sermon that are a bit more challenging, especially when they intersect with our everyday lives and ordinary callings.

What does Jesus mean for example, by “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (5:5) or “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (5:9)? Many of us work in callings that demand confidence in ourselves or the products and services we offer. Others of us work in callings that are highly competitive, that depend on a kind of conflict in competition for customers. Or what about something as simple as playing in professional sports? What does it mean to be “meek” or a “peacemaker” as a power forward or closing pitcher?

Perhaps the best way to get at the richness of Jesus' instruction is to consider its application in complex circumstances. For example, how might one entrusted with protecting others reconcile Jesus’ words in the sermon: “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (5:39)?

Isn’t that the very definition of a faithful solider in a just war: resisting evil? Is Jesus forbidding that? Is this what Jesus had in mind when He taught His followers to turn the other cheek? And even more, can a follower of Jesus faithfully delight in being good at work that requires conflict? While many vocations require thoughtful reflection on the kind of character Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps none present more obvious tension than those that involve protecting the rights and lives of others.

To start, we must consider just what Jesus is saying in the Sermon on the Mount—a process that offers wisdom for each of our callings.

Dispositions, not Legislation

First, Jesus is not giving legislation, but describing a certain kind of person.

This is the first key to understanding the Sermon on the Mount correctly: Jesus is not giving new legislation, describing laws or rules, but is rather directing His followers toward wisdom and virtue. Ultimately, He is describing a life of humbly receiving the kingdom rather than a formula for how to bring in the kingdom. All of this is described by Matthew as “the gospel of the kingdom” (4:23), a gift that Jesus brings and can only be received by faith. In the Sermon on the Mount, He is describing what it looks like to humbly receive that kingdom by faith, living with wisdom and virtue.

That way of life won't look the same in every situation. He says both “let your light shine” (5:16) and to keep good works hidden (6:5-6, 16-18). He says both not to judge (7:1-5) and to recognize pigs (7:6) and judge fruit (7:15-20). We might say: which is it? But He’s not giving rules; He’s directing us toward wisdom and virtue.

In essence, there is something deeply good and wise about being the sort of person who is humble (“meek”), who desires peace and the end of war (“peacemaker”), and who refrains from reacting to every personal insult (“turn the other cheek”). But that is not necessarily a legalistic requirement to reject certain callings or promote others. It is, rather, directing us to being that sort of person in every good and faithful calling in God’s good creation.

A Good and Faithful Calling

Second, the New Testament affirms the validity of serving in roles that require conflict or resistance, such as the military, as good and faithful work.

In Luke 3:14, soldiers went to John the Baptist and asked what they should do in response to his call to repentance because the kingdom was at hand. It is important to note that John does not tell them to stop being soldiers. He doesn’t say that because the kingdom is received by meek peacemakers who are eager to turn the other cheek, they should no longer embrace a calling that requires violence. Instead, he says to them: “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” He says to them, in effect, “be good soldiers,” committed to integrity, meekness, and contentment.

Additionally, in Romans 13, the Apostle Paul affirms the goodness of the civil magistrate, specifically referencing the calling to wield the sword: “for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (4).

God has specifically called certain individuals to wield the sword in order to defend the innocent and punish the wicked. From this, the Christian tradition in general and the Reformed tradition in particular has derived the principle that love of neighbor and obedience to Jesus requires resisting evil, even with violence, in defense of others.

This, too, is good and faithful work.

All of Life Infused

Finally, being a peacemaker and being willing to turn the other cheek is about being a particular sort of person, not about forbidding particular callings. Rather, it is first and foremost about infusing every legitimate calling.

Being a follower of Jesus does not mean that someone should not be a soldier – or a competitive marketer or a confident and aggressive pitcher – but is rather about carrying out such a calling in a particular way. Faithfulness in any calling means pursuing excellence in one’s work, for the glory of God, while being shaped by the character of Christ.

To be sure, this may be more complex for some callings, such as a soldier. But to simply reject serving in this way would be too easy. Many do bear the burden of a calling to protect others, and they too are to carry out that calling as followers of Jesus Christ: humble, desiring peace, and refusing to react to every personal insult. This way of thinking is what we must take into all legitimate callings. We must listen to the sermon as calling us to be human in a certain kind of way, a way formed by following Jesus, and allow that to shade all of the work in which God places us.