MANY KIDS GROW up in homes where tensions run high. Some lay low until the shouting stops. But others get drawn into the conflict. Mom and Dad don’t seem to be able to communicate with each other, so they talk to or through one of more of the kids instead. That’s generally not good for the emotional well-being of the child — but then again, neither is constant conflict. To survive, these kids are forced to learn ways of helping their parents calm down. Ideally, the adults — as adults — should be able to do that for themselves. But when they can’t or won’t, the kids may take on the role of keeping the peace.

This is what the role of “peacemaker” means to many people: it’s the person who’s responsible for getting others to simmer down, maybe even listen to one another. It can be an emotionally draining and burdensome role for anyone, but especially for children who should be the recipients of their parents’ care and not the other way around. It’s not a blessing for anyone, especially a child, to be stuck in that position.

So what does Jesus mean by “Blessed are the peacemakers”?

As I suggested earlier, to be a peacemaker in the biblical sense is to be an agent of God’s shalom in a broken world. Think of the beauty and wonder, the wholeness and goodness the universe was meant to have as it came from the hand of its Creator. Think of what it means for the God of the universe to look at what he’s created and pronounce it “good.” That is shalom: again, as Cornelius Plantinga has put it, shalom is the way things were meant to be. And that is what has been marred and distorted by the entrance of sin into the world. The world is no longer whole. Signs of brokenness are all around us.

But that’s not the end of the story.

In the words of theologian Graham Cole, God initiated a “divine reclamation project” which is still ongoing. It started with choosing and making a covenant with a particular people who were meant to embody God’s character and be a blessing to the world. Thus began a long and tortuous journey of obedience and disobedience, faithfulness and idolatry that led through the exile to the foot of the cross. It is there, Paul insists, that God made peace with sinful humanity through the blood of Jesus (e.g., Col 1:20). And because of this, as believers, we are expected to live at peace with one another (e.g., Rom 12:18; Eph 4:3; 1 Thess 5:13).

God, in other words, is at work restoring a broken creation to a state of wholeness, to the shalom it was meant to have. Those who follow Jesus, those who are at peace with God through his blood, are called to be peacemakers, to be agents of God’s shalom. Put differently, we are called to enact shalom whenever and wherever possible. And when we do, we show that we are children of God — we show a family resemblance to the God of peace.

DOES THAT SOUND too abstract? Let’s make it a bit more concrete. Think back again to the creation story, to God saying “It is good” at the end of each day of creation. It’s an appreciative aesthetic judgment: a divine 5-star rating, an A+++ grade. After all, nobody does it like God, and God knows shalom when he sees it.

With that in mind, think back to the last conflict you had with someone. Imagine the situation again: the who, what, when, where, and why of the conflict. What did the other person say or do that made you upset? How did you respond? Did you make each other even more upset as the argument went around in circles?

Now comes the hard question: what could you have done differently? Never mind what you would change about the other person; what would you now, in retrospect, change about your own behavior? Remember, God saw it all. What would God have had to see in your behavior to smile and say appreciatively, “Now that’s good”?

It doesn’t have to be something complicated. It doesn’t have to be full reconciliation and understanding. But if in humility you decide to stop shouting and listen instead, that’s good. If you stop trying to make the other person understand you and instead try to understand them, that’s good. And if both of you can actually come to a place of compassion for one another, well, that’s very good.

Peacemaking isn’t saving the world; that’s God’s job. Peacemaking isn’t fixing everything that’s broken or preventing bad things from happening. We can’t.

But God can and will. The work is ongoing, and we have the privilege of being part of it.

SO WHY ISN’T it peacemaking for children to referee conflicts between their parents? Because even if there is some good in getting the anger under control, to have children in that kind of role is not the way it was meant to be. It’s not shalom.

But the parents could make peace by having the humility to recognize their own part in the fight. They can make peace by turning toward each other with the beginnings of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. Another adult could make peace by caring for the child when the parents have abandoned their post. A therapist or pastor can make peace by speaking the truth in love and working for the health and healing of the family.

And all of this can be done with a big-picture view of God’s kingdom, the kingdom that is already here but not yet complete. Moments of shalom are possible. If shalom is what we desire, we don’t have to wait for it to fall from heaven. We can pray for the wisdom we need to enact shalom, and the courage to make peace.