On Peacemaking

A friend shared the following post on social media this weekend. It was originally written by Todd Benkart, founder and director of Hope’s Companion. It provides some really helpful steps for cultivating a winsome Christian witness:

In times of deep division, followers of Jesus are called both to speak truth and to be peacemakers. These are the rules of engagement I live by, and I invite you to consider them.

1. Assume the best in others – that includes their motives. This doesn’t mean ignoring sin or the need for Jesus in their lives (or our own), but choosing not to default to suspicion or cynicism. Assuming the worst rarely leads to fruitful conversations or healthy relationships.

2. Diversify your feed – bust the algorithm by intentionally reading, following, and engaging with opinions that differ from your own. You can’t understand how and why people think the way they do if you never hear them, and it helps break the cycle of distrust and talking past one another in our culture.

3. Listen before you speak. Approach dialogue first with the desire to learn not only what another person believes, but why they believe it. Do your best to understand them, even as you hold contrary opinions and beliefs.

4. Engage with their real position – When you do engage in discussion or debate, engage with their actual position, not your caricature of it. If they tell you that “that’s not what I believe” or that you are misrepresenting them, take them at their word, seek first to understand, then engage.

5. Be humble. You may be right, but you’re not right about everything. Your opponent probably has insights, concerns, and perspectives you haven’t considered.

6. Be kind. Stirring up anger may win arguments, but it doesn’t win friends or change minds. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

7. Know when to walk away. Not every argument needs your voice. Choose to engage only when it can be helpful, healthy, and productive.

8. Engage where you can make an eternal impact. Politics and debates matter, but they’re not eternal. Too often we spend time in arguments that don’t move the needle and only leave us agitated and drained. Choose to invest your energy in things that uplift, point people toward Christ, and have lasting significance (Philippians 4:8).

May the way we speak and engage bear witness to the hope of Christ in a divided world.