Ellen DeGeneres sees the world from a different perspective than we do. Which means our politics are different, our religion is different, and our views on social and cultural issues — particularly marriage and sexuality — are at opposite ends of any measurable spectrum.
Nevertheless, it was refreshing to hear her defend her friendship with George W. Bush. On Oct. 14, DeGeneres and Bush were spotted together at a Dallas Cowboys game, chatting and sharing a few friendly laughs in the owner’s box. Afterward, DeGeneres suffered a predictable backlash on social media, where many were riled that she’d befriend someone who, they believed, had damaged their dearest cause. Ellen pushed back.
“Here’s the thing,” she replied, “I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different, and I think that we’ve forgotten that that’s OK.” DeGeneres continued, “When I say ‘be kind to one another,’ I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.”
Who’d have thought that Ellen DeGeneres would defend herself by paraphrasing Hebrews 12:14, which instructs us to “pursue peace with everyone.” And who’d have guessed that she’d agree with the conservative theologian Richard Mouw, who explains that the key word in this verse is the verb “pursue.”
We must pursue peace and remember that Isaiah declared, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”
The writer of Hebrews, Mouw says, is telling us that peace doesn’t come easily. It has to be chased down, fought for, and won. And for those who see the world through a biblical lens, the battle never ends. Every day we live and work with people who hold different views, live by different standards, and see the culture’s volatile issues from an altogether foreign perspective.
Doggedly Pursue Peace
Too many of us have given up on one another. After all, we’ve concluded, the social bond is frayed past mending. What’s the use? But Mouw points out that the writer of Hebrews was surrounded by hostile religions and mind-boggling debauchery, and that the mainstream culture of his day, like ours, scoffed at do-gooder Christians. Even so, he insisted, we’re to doggedly pursue peace.
We’re to make new friends, but we mustn’t stay quiet. We remember that the prophet Isaiah declared, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). We’re to keep in mind that the Apostle John instructed readers to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). And that in his letter to the Galatians, Paul — in the same passage where he told readers to cultivate kindness, patience, and generosity — also charged them to oppose “works of the flesh,” including sexual immorality, impurity, and drunkenness.
We’re “to live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). We’re to care about our neighbors’ health and safety; we want them to live satisfying lives. We have to ask, then, if toleration helps them thrive. If friends or family members abuse alcohol, drugs, or sex — if they refuse to work and never exercise — is toleration the “peaceable” reply?
The answer, of course, is no.
We’re Never to Ignore Destructive Behavior
When the writer of Hebrews told us to pursue peace, he surely didn’t mean for us to ignore destructive behavior. We see, for example, that Jesus, when He met the woman at the well (John 4:7-26) knew about her five marriages and current adultery. And that He didn’t flinch from explaining that sex and men could never provide the satisfaction she craved. But He didn’t browbeat her. Instead, says PCA pastor Scott Sauls in his book “Jesus Outside the Lines,” “He saw beneath her distorted behavior to the need and emptiness that were driving it.” With great compassion Jesus told her that only He could quench her thirst forever; only He could give her what six partners had failed to deliver.
Jesus Didn’t Ignore Sin But Loved People in Spite of It
Throughout the Gospels, when Jesus befriended prostitutes and tax collectors, He didn’t ignore their sin; He loved them in spite of it. Think about Mary Magdalene and Zacchaeus, and how He called them to change their ways and become his faithful disciples. That’s the acceptance we owe to everyone, Sauls writes. For their sakes — and for the creation of a gentle and courteous culture — we never turn a blind eye to destructive behavior. That’s hardly civil, and in the long run it is never kind.
When Jesus dealt with wayward people, He saw their sin and confronted it. But He saw their potential, too. He affirmed them as God’s image bearers, Sauls tells us, and looked to their potential for living as faithful children of God. He showed us that we’re to pursue peace with everyone, because no one — not you, me, Ellen, or George Bush — is beyond Christ’s redemption.
Peace doesn’t come easily. It has to be chased down, fought for, and won. And the battle never ends.