Should I Ever Take an Action I Don’t ‘Have Peace’ About?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:04.000 | We get loads of email questions about decision-making and the will of God, like this one today
00:00:09.280 | from a long-time listener to the podcast named Zach.
00:00:12.240 | "Pastor John, please help me.
00:00:14.960 | Should there always be a peace and calm about decisions before we make those decisions with
00:00:21.680 | confidence?"
00:00:22.680 | What would you say to Zach?
00:00:24.200 | I'm not sure Zach is asking this exactly the way he wants to.
00:00:33.160 | Not to read Zach's mind, but I could be misunderstanding.
00:00:36.440 | It sounds like he wants to know whether he can choose, quote, "with confidence" that
00:00:44.680 | something is right to do if he doesn't have peace and calm before he chooses.
00:00:50.380 | But acting with confidence, by its very nature, it seems to me, implies the conscience is
00:01:00.520 | clear.
00:01:01.520 | That's how you have this strong confidence.
00:01:04.760 | There is a kind of peace there if you're acting with confidence.
00:01:09.720 | So the way he puts the question seems all ready to contain the answer.
00:01:13.440 | You can only act with confidence if your action is untroubled by doubt and guilt.
00:01:21.960 | That's what "with confidence" means.
00:01:24.720 | But not to be too picky.
00:01:26.640 | I don't think that's what Zach is really asking.
00:01:29.520 | I think what he means is, and this is a hard question, should you act, should you choose
00:01:37.720 | an action, if there is a lack of peace and a lack of calm in your heart about the decision?
00:01:48.480 | I think that's what he's asking.
00:01:49.720 | It's a good question.
00:01:52.040 | My guess is that behind that question are a couple of passages of Scripture that he
00:01:58.000 | has been taught or read over the years.
00:02:01.280 | Colossians 3:15, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were
00:02:10.720 | called in the one body, and be thankful."
00:02:12.960 | So, peace of Christ ruling in your heart.
00:02:15.720 | Or the other one is Philippians 4, 6, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything
00:02:22.000 | by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and
00:02:27.840 | the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
00:02:40.520 | Jesus."
00:02:41.520 | So, if we put those two texts together, Colossians and Philippians, if we put them together,
00:02:47.880 | it seems like the peace of Christ or the peace of God should function in our minds and hearts
00:02:56.520 | to hold sway there and protect, guard the mind and the heart from forces that would
00:03:05.920 | ruin the ability of the mind and the heart to trust God and to think rightly about his
00:03:14.000 | character and his will.
00:03:16.440 | So Zach is right to connect the peace that Christ gives to his followers and the decisions
00:03:26.200 | that we have to make.
00:03:27.560 | There's a connection.
00:03:28.560 | So the question now remains, and now it has some biblical support behind it to make it
00:03:33.880 | all the more crucial.
00:03:35.840 | Should we act, should we choose an action, if there is a lack of peace or a lack of calm
00:03:43.480 | in our heart about the decision?
00:03:46.720 | And let me make just several observations to point to an answer.
00:03:51.240 | Number one, what Paul does not say in those two texts is that peace and calm are the only
00:03:59.960 | factors in determining what one ought to do.
00:04:06.140 | The point of peace ruling in the heart is not to help you decide whether to obey explicit
00:04:13.540 | commands of the apostle.
00:04:15.440 | For example, when Paul says in Romans 12, 14, "Bless those who persecute you.
00:04:20.360 | Bless and do not curse them."
00:04:22.200 | He does not mean that this command is optional if you happen not to have peace about it.
00:04:28.080 | The explicit commands of Scripture are to be obeyed, yes, ideally with a heart of great
00:04:33.880 | peace and great calm, but in the absence of that peace, we should confess our sinful anxiety
00:04:42.240 | and obey anyway.
00:04:44.320 | Bless those who persecute you.
00:04:45.960 | Bless and do not curse them.
00:04:47.280 | So that's the first observation.
00:04:48.440 | Here's the second one.
00:04:51.080 | When it comes to choices that are not explicitly commanded or prohibited in Scripture but depend
00:04:59.680 | on wisdom in the situation, the state of our hearts and our minds, the presence or absence
00:05:08.320 | of peace and calm do matter.
00:05:11.600 | For example, Paul said in Romans 14, 23, "Whatever does not proceed, whatever behavior does not
00:05:18.420 | proceed from faith is sin."
00:05:23.160 | Now I think that means if you act against your conscience, even if what you do is not
00:05:31.800 | objectively wrong, it is sin for you to do it.
00:05:36.560 | And so, insofar as peace and calm are missing as a fruit of faith, when you have doubts
00:05:45.840 | about a decision, then going ahead with the decision is sin.
00:05:51.320 | And let me just throw out a recommendation here for a book by Andrew Nacelle and J.D.
00:05:56.120 | Crowley called "Conscience," who tackles that kind of thing.
00:06:01.200 | Third observation.
00:06:04.040 | Remember that our peace and calm can be disturbed as we make a decision, not only by whether
00:06:14.600 | the decision is right or wrong, but our peace and calm can be disturbed by whether the decision
00:06:20.440 | will be costly or not.
00:06:23.400 | So if you're about to make a decision to do something good for somebody, and your conscience
00:06:31.600 | is not disturbed that it might be wrong, but your heart is disturbed that it might be painful,
00:06:39.400 | do it.
00:06:41.240 | Lack of peace over possible danger and lack of peace over possible sinning are not the
00:06:49.320 | same.
00:06:51.320 | Last observation.
00:06:53.480 | It is always right to be free from anxiety, if you can be.
00:06:58.120 | You should be.
00:06:59.720 | We are commanded not to be anxious about anything, Philippians 4.4.
00:07:05.640 | We will not arrive at this perfect state in this life.
00:07:10.280 | That's my view of sanctification.
00:07:13.080 | We should have perfect peace all the time.
00:07:15.800 | We don't, and we won't.
00:07:17.440 | But we should fight for it, pray for it, aspire to it.
00:07:21.240 | But it should be something we lay hold on if we can, by faith.
00:07:27.080 | In fact, the closer we come to peaceful, cheerful, loving acts, even in the face of loss and
00:07:35.280 | pain, the more clearly the light of Christ's worth will shine through us.
00:07:41.600 | Amen.
00:07:42.600 | And that's why we exist, to reflect the worth of Christ to the world, imaging, reflecting
00:07:49.000 | the perfect image.
00:07:50.000 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:07:51.600 | Well over at our online home, you can explore all 1,250 of our episodes, scan a list of
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00:08:11.720 | Well, we love to proclaim the truths of Christian hedonism, the idea that God is most glorified
00:08:17.960 | in us when we are most satisfied in him.
00:08:21.640 | But how do we parent our kids to understand these precious truths at an age-appropriate
00:08:25.960 | level that they can understand?
00:08:27.960 | Grandfather John Piper will take a stab at what this would look like in family devotions
00:08:32.320 | today and he will help us understand what points a parent would want to emphasize in
00:08:36.920 | those conversations.
00:08:37.920 | I've been looking forward to this topic and this episode for a really long time.
00:08:42.040 | We're finally going to tackle it on Wednesday.
00:08:43.880 | I'm your host Tony Reinke.
00:08:44.880 | We'll see you then.
00:08:44.880 | We'll see you then.
00:08:46.080 | [BLANK_AUDIO]