Transforming Your Church:
Cultivating a Culture of Peace™
For a full length, reproducible version of this article, click here. (103 kb Adobe Acrobat file)
A Culture of Peace
Churches all around the world are changing the way they respond to conflict. By God's grace, they are deliberately training their congregations to be peacemakers. As a result, their churches are cultivating a culture of peace. In the process, they are discovering the wonderful blessings promised in James 3:18: "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." This harvest James referred to involves a wide variety of relational fruit.
When a local church teaches its people to live out the gospel in the conflicts of daily life, people are more willing to admit their shortcomings and ask for help before a crisis occurs. Families are better equipped to handle disputes, which makes divorce less likely. Members are encouraged to go to each other to discuss problems instead of letting them fester. The church is protected from division and splits, and offended members are less likely to leave. As a result, church growth is improved.
Pastors and other church leaders can experience many benefits as well. When leaders fulfill their shepherding responsibilities more fully, respect and appreciation for their work grows. As they are taken out of the day-to-day "complaint loop," they can spend less time dealing with disgruntled members and more time on forward-moving ministry. When members learn to stop gossiping, leaders are subjected to less criticism. As conflict declines in a church, stress on leaders' families is often reduced. And when respectful discussion and reconciliation are the norm in a church, pastors and other staff are less likely to burn out or be forced out of their jobs.
Of course, no church sees all of these benefits at once or all the time. Our sin continually works against a culture of peace. Even Paul and Barnabas had a falling out! (See Acts 15:39.) So we should not be surprised when members forget what they have learned, leaders are inconsistent, and our efforts seem to have been wasted. Even though we stumble, we need not fall, for the Lord upholds us with his hand (Ps. 37:24). As he helps us back to our feet, we can learn from our mistakes, forgive one another, and continue to grow. When we do, God can use both our mistakes and our forgiveness to encourage others.
One of the greatest benefits of resolving conflicts biblically is that outreach and evangelism are enhanced. Conflict is inevitable in a fallen world; Christian and unbeliever alike struggle with disputes and broken relationships. So when unsaved people see Christians admitting their failures and forgiving and reconciling with one another, even after intense disputes, they cannot help but take notice. The more our relationships reflect the amazing love and mercy of God, the more people will want to know about the power that is working in us to maintain peace and unity. What a marvelous way to increase the harvest!
Leading a Cultural Transformation
Most of these peacemaking churches had anything but a culture of peace a few years ago. In fact, almost all of them had what might be called a culture of disbelief. They did not believe there was much the church could do to help its members deal with conflict. The reason for this disbelief was fairly simple. They did not really understand what the Bible teaches about peacemaking, and they lacked faith that biblical principles would actually work in today's culture.
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Transforming Your Church:
Cultivating a
Culture of Peace
booklet by
Ken Sande
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This disbelief robbed them of the ability to respond to conflict in a constructive and helpful way. They did not provide their members with any practical training on personal conflict resolution, and they were unprepared to assist members who were caught in difficult disputes. As a result, their churches were characterized all too often by gossip, broken relationships, divorce, and a steady turnover in members. Worst yet, they lost much of their ability to give an effective witness to the reconciling love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
God graciously led the leaders in these churches to take an honest look at their "peacemaking culture," or their combination of attitudes, traditions, habits, and abilities for resolving conflict. What they saw troubled them. They realized that their church cultures were not conducive to peacemaking. So they asked God to help them change.
The pastors of these churches played a key role in transforming their churches. Their preaching and personal example set the stage for change. At the same time, they wisely delegated most of the day-to-day educational and reconciliation work to elders and other gifted people in their congregations. Together, they transformed their church cultures and steadily raised their level of peacemaking productivity. This process was like nurturing a tree and bringing it to a point of abundant fruitfulness. It usually involved five levels of growth and productivity:
- Level 1 – A Culture of Disbelief: People lack practical training in resolving conflict and doubt that the church can do much to help them resolve their differences. This church is like a tree that is missing some of its sweetest fruit.
- Level 2 – A Culture of Faith: People begin to understand God's peacemaking commands and promises and to believe that his ways will work in today's culture. This church is like a tree blossoming in the spring.
- Level 3 – A Culture of Transformation: People want to put off worldly ways of resolving conflict and are taking steps to learn how to respond to conflict biblically. This church is like a tree that is being pruned and cultivated for greater productivity.
- Level 4 – A Culture of Peace: People are eager and able to resolve conflict and reconcile relationships in a way that clearly reflects the love and power of Jesus Christ. This church is like a tree producing a rich harvest.
- Level 5 – A Culture of Multiplication: People delight in expanding God's kingdom by showing other people and churches how they too can be peacemakers. This church is like a tree that is reproducing by spreading its seed.
The Characteristics of a Culture of Peace
A church that has a culture of peace usually has eight essential characteristics:
- Vision: The church is eager to bring glory to God by demonstrating the reconciling love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and therefore sees peacemaking as an essential part of the Christian life (see Luke 6:27-36; John 13:35; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:12-14).
- Training: The church knows that peacemaking does not come naturally, so it deliberately trains both its leaders and its members to respond to conflict biblically in all areas of life (see Gal. 5:19-21; Luke 6:40; Eph. 4:24-26; 1 Tim. 4:15-16; Tit. 2:1-10).
- Assistance: When members cannot resolve disputes privately, the church assists them through in-house trained reconcilers, even when conflicts involve financial, employment, or legal issues (see Matt. 18:16; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Gal. 6:1-2; Col. 3:16).
- Perseverance: Just as God pursues us, the church works long and hard to restore broken relationships, especially when a marriage is at stake, and even when attorneys are involved (see Matt. 18:12-16; Rom. 12:18; Eph. 4:1-3; Matt. 19:1-9; 1 Cor. 7:1-11).
- Accountability: If members refuse to listen to private correction, church leaders get directly involved to hold members accountable to Scripture and to promote repentance, justice, and forgiveness. (see Prov. 3:11-12; Matt. 18:12-20; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; James 5:19-20).
- Restoration: Wanting to imitate God's amazing mercy and grace, the church gladly forgives and fully restores members who have genuinely repented of serious and embarrassing sins (see Matt. 18:21-35; Eph. 4:32; 2 Cor. 2:5-11).
- Stability: Because relationships are valued and protected, leaders serve fruitfully year after year and members see the church as their long-term home (1 Tim. 4:15; Heb. 10:25).
- Witness: Members are equipped and encouraged to practice peacemaking so openly in their daily lives that others will notice, ask why they do it, and hear about the love of Christ (Matt. 5:9; John 13:34-35, 17:20-23; 1 Pet. 2:12, 3:15-16).
How to Transform a Church Culture
Peacemaking is an attitude expressed through action. The heart of this attitude is the joy and thankfulness that come from fully understanding the gospel of Christ (Phil. 4:4). Jesus died on the cross in our place to release us from the penalty and ongoing slavery of sin. He gave his life to buy our forgiveness, earn our freedom, and bring us back to God. Now he wants us to pass this priceless gift of reconciliation on to others in the form of personal peacemaking:
As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Col. 3:12-13; see also Eph. 4:1-3; Gal. 6:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:18).
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A Real Life Example:
Through John Piper's leadership, Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN is seeking to create a "Culture of Peace" in their church. Click here to read some of Pastor John's thoughts on the process. |
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These attitudes and actions do not come naturally to people. In fact, our instincts usually take us in the opposite direction! Therefore, in order to build a culture of peace, a church must do both pruning and cultivating. It must help its people to put off worldly ways for resolving conflict and to put on peacemaking attitudes and actions that mirror our reconciliation with God.
Pruning and cultivating takes a lot of work. The good news is that this work does not have to be done by an elite few, but can be shared by gifted people throughout a local church. Senior pastors in particular do not have time to resolve everybody's conflicts. Therefore, they should follow the advice that Moses received when he became weary from serving as the sole judge for Israel:
The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.... You must teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people.... Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied (Ex. 18:18-23).
Like Moses, a senior pastor is responsible before God to make sure that his people have the teaching and assistance they need to respond to conflict biblically. Since a pastor must play a primary educational role from the pulpit and may occasionally have to assist with difficult conflicts, he would be wise to develop a solid understanding of the basic principles of biblical conflict resolution. (The Peacemaker and Guiding People through Conflict provide a thorough foundation for personal peacemaking, conflict coaching, and mediation.) At the same time, a pastor can and should entrust most of the educational and reconciliation activities to capable leaders and members of the congregation.
In many situations, God will give a vision for peacemaking first to members of a church, and then work through them to bring this vision to the leaders. As leaders and members work together to weave peacemaking into their overall discipleship efforts, their church can cultivate those eight characteristics of a culture of peace: vision, training, assistance, perseverance, discipline, restoration, stability, and witness. This cultivation usually involves five essential activities.
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First, gain support from church leadership. Although God often works through lay members of a church to initiate interest in peacemaking, cultural transformation will take place only when church leaders officially support and lead this effort. The most important "tipping point" for seeing major progress is when the senior pastor sees peacemaking not as a helpful side-ministry, but as something that is vital to the well-being and fruitfulness of the church.
Second, form a core support group (sometimes known as a Church Reconciler Team). This team will be responsible for guiding educational and reconciliation activities within the church. Church leaders should spearhead the team, but it may also include spiritually mature lay members who have gifts for peacemaking.
Third, educate the entire congregation in peacemaking. God's peacemaking principles are like yeast. The more thoroughly they are worked into a congregation, the more good they can do. This requires an ongoing effort to teach peacemaking to every person in the church. The best ways to do this is to educate in two stages. Begin by presenting a preaching series that elevates the congregation's interest in and commitment to peacemaking. Then encourage every person in the church to participate in a Sunday school class or small group Bible study where they can learn specific peacemaking principles and discuss how the principles apply to conflicts in their own lives. (Educational resources are available through Peacemaker Ministries.)
Fourth, train gifted people within your congregation to become reconcilers. Reconcilers are gifted church members or leaders who have been trained to help others deal with conflict. This help may be provided through conflict coaching (advising one person how to respond to conflict biblically) or mediation (meeting with both parties to facilitate discussion and agreement). Well-trained church reconcilers can help members respond biblically to a wide variety of personal, family, employment, business, and even legal disputes.
Fifth, upgrade your church's organizational documents to support peacemaking and reduce legal liability. Churches are being sued at an alarming rate for conflict-related activities. Legal actions against churches include negligence, breach of confidentiality, defamation, sexual misconduct, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Judgments can be extremely costly, with church leaders sometimes being held personally responsible for the award. Upgrading church bylaws and adopting special policies for counseling, confidentiality, conflict resolution, and church discipline can substantially reduce exposure to legal liability. See the Risk Management section for details.
Some churches can make substantial progress in all of these areas in two years. Others will take four or five years to overcome deeply engrained attitudes and traditions. Yet even small initial efforts can produce noticeable fruit. A few people going through a Sunday school class on peacemaking can have a ripple effect on their own families and friends. As they use the basic principles in their daily lives and share what they are learning with others, relationships can be improved and a growing interest in peacemaking can be nurtured. These benefits will multiply as cultivation continues.
Peacemaker Ministries has developed comprehensive resources and guidelines that will help your church implement each of these five steps.
The Level 5 Church – A Culture of Multiplication
With many blessings comes great responsibility. God has given the church a unique and precious talent: the power and ability to bring peace, unity, and reconciliation to a broken and conflicted world. Sadly, many churches have been afraid to use this talent; like the unfaithful servant, they have hidden and neglected it for years. If they do not repent, they will be ashamed when Jesus calls them to give an accounting someday (see Matt. 25:24-27; Ezek. 34:1-16).
How much better it will be if your church can say what the faithful servant said: "Master...you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more" (Matt. 25:20). What a joy it would be to hear the answer, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness" (v. 21).
How can your church produce the maximum harvest with the peacemaking talents God has given you? Start by weaving peacemaking thoroughly into the fabric of your congregation, as discussed in the previous section. But don't stop there, or you may still be hiding part of your talents. Ask God to help you build a culture of peace that is so fruitful that it overflows into your community, other churches, and your denomination. The following are ways that many churches are already doing this:
First, equip and encourage members to carry peacemaking into everyday life. As church members interact with their family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers, they will naturally have opportunities for peacemaking. When they themselves are involved in a conflict, they can ask God for grace to respond with humility. If they see others in conflict, they can ask God for wisdom on how to offer advice or encourage agreement. As word spreads about their ability to resolve conflict effectively, others may seek them out for advice, which can open the way for witnessing and inviting others to church. And when a church gains a reputation for resolving "small" problems, it will have greater credibility when it speaks to "large" issues that impact an entire community.
Second, teach peacemaking to children. Most parents would welcome any program that could teach their children to resolve conflict. Churches can respond to this need by using The Young Peacemaker curriculum in Sunday school or vacation Bible school classes that are advertised to people outside the church. As children and their parents benefit from this training, many of them may be drawn to the church and to the Lord.
Third, send peacemakers with mission teams. Churches can strengthen their missions efforts and promote peacemaking overseas by including trained peacemakers on their short-term mission teams. These peacemakers can protect teams from destructive internal conflict by teaching members conflict resolution skills, and by serving as reconcilers if conflicts occur on the field. Peacemakers can also teach these principles to pastors in other countries. As those pastors teach and model peacemaking in their own congregations, the benefits will continue to spread.
Fourth, develop a church-based reconciliation ministry. Once your church reconcilers have gained experience by working within your congregation, they can expand their ministry by making their services available to people outside your church. This kind of practical ministry provides an excellent way to demonstrate the power of the gospel to unchurched or unsaved people who are in conflict, and it could draw them to your church as it helps them to make peace.
Fifth, share your experience with other churches in your community or denomination. As God blesses your church with a culture of peace, you can multiply that blessing by sharing what you have learned with other churches. For example, you can host a Peacemaker Seminar in your community or train your reconcilers to assist neighboring churches when they cannot resolve internal conflicts on their own. You can also share your church's testimony by working with your denominational leaders as they seek to promote biblical peacemaking in your district.
Sixth, plant new churches that have peacemaking as part of their original "DNA." As God enables your church to support church planters and give birth to new congregations, you can pass on the spiritual characteristic of peacemaking. This precious gift will increase the new church's ability to survive natural growing pains and thrive as a family of believers who are visibly committed to living out the love of Christ in the natural conflicts of real life.
Comprehensive resources and guidelines that will help your church implement these five steps can be found in the Detailed Implentation Plan.
It Can Start Today with You
Even if a church is stuck in a culture of disbelief today and sees little peacemaking fruit, by God's grace, it can eventually overflow with a culture of peace that benefits its entire community and brings praise to God. What a wonderful way to fulfill Jesus' command in Matthew 5:14-16:
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
All it takes is one person who hears the call of God and responds, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isa. 6:8). Perhaps for your church, that person is you. Please pray about it and reflect on the Scriptures given above. Ask God to give you a longing to see a culture of peace in your church that reflects the love and power of his Son. If he gives you that longing, hard work awaits you, but great blessing is also in store, for Jesus' promise in Matthew 5 is absolutely dependable:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.
For a reproducible file containing a more complete discussion of the challenges and benefits of cultivating a culture of peace, click here. (103 kb Adobe Acrobat file)
For a PowerPoint presentation containing an introduction of the Culture of Peace concept (ideal for introducing your church/leadership team to the concept), click here.
For a Detailed Implementation Plan for cultivating a culture of peace, click here.
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