Strife. Conflict. Offense. Resentment. Revenge. Violence. War. Justice that has no mercy and perpetrates more injustice. That is the norm in our wounded and very broken world. God created this same world and filled it with beauty and grandeur, and with human beings made in His image. And it was good. In the original design, all of creation was meant to live harmoniously in right relationship with God and in an interconnected web of relationships, characterized by flourishing, mutuality, justice and peace.

The ancient Hebrew word that describes this way in which the world was intended to be is shalom. If we are to take seriously God’s desire and plan, then we have to set our hearts and minds on the shalom of God. Jesus invites us to embody this counter-cultural way of living, to join him in his kingdom work of healing and repair, and to be his ambassadors of reconciliation. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” reads Matthew 5:9.

To participate in the shalom-making of God is to be in the "family business."

The Principles and Practices of Peacemaking M25i White Paper helps us to better understand the texture of this shalom and how to embody it here and now. In the power of the Holy Spirit, we can better live out peacemaking as a central calling of our discipleship journey and live as Kingdom citizens, dropping signposts of God’s coming shalom.