From Forward Day by Day
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
In many parts of our world, hierarchical systems are slowly but surely falling away, some of them dying ugly and drawn-out deaths. Rising from those ash heaps, here and there, are ways of living that look much more like the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed, where the voices of the least are valued and heard. From businesses to emerging church communities, many leaders are finding ways of governance that are collaborative rather than hierarchical, systems based on listening rather than telling.
Peacemakers seek win-win solutions to problems: opportunities for life to be lived all around any challenge we face. The children of God are finding ways to make peace, and it has to do with community, collaboration, and allowing the dying hierarchical institutional structures to have a dignified death. The opposite of this kind of peacemaking is to forcibly and persuasively dominate so that one side wins, continuing the system of hierarchy. That is the way of power, something that Jesus willingly laid down (see also: the cross).
