"Work hard at living in peace with others."-1 Peter 3:11

Well, I guess that sums it up doesn't it?
Living in peace with others can be plain old hard work!

Not easy work, but hard.

Most of today's spirituality buzz is humming in soft and sweet tones like elevator music.
It's fantasy land spirituality.

Real spirituality is often tough not easy. Real relationships can't exist very long with hush tones, fake smiles, trite religious cliches that seem better suited in a fortune cookie than the day to day world we really live in.

Jesus didn't have His head in the sand when He called us to live for peace.
He wasn't talking about some puritanical, down south, Sunday school dress up kinda Christian walk.
Not some white glove, clinically clean type of walk that never gets it's hands dirty.

Much of church our relationships are so prissy.

We are a bunch of babies that can't handle real relationships.
We hide from each other, we pretend and we frantically try to avoid any conflict.
To make it all the more difficult, we talk in strange religious language that never really let's on what we really think or feel.
It's crazy, nobody really lives this way in their personal life, why do we do it corporately?

We take the easy way. We self medicate with walks in the park, aroma therapy, frequent massages, exercise, shopping, sports, work, food, movies, video games, sex, reading and TV. We try to convince ourselves that everything will be OK, if we just take a bath or breathe deeply. We hide under the proverbial covers instead of facing our relational monsters. We think by emotionally hiding they aren't there. But they are, and until you face them, they won't go away, even if you close the closet.

Peace doesn't come from pretending the issues aren't there.
Peace doesn't always come from "just praying about it."
Real peace has to be maintained and it can be tough to do.
Having peace doesn't mean we can't disagree or have to see eye to eye or can't debate.

Peace can exist in the midst of the storm and walk on unpredictable waves.
Sometimes we think the true peace is found in the safety of the boat; when in reality, it is out there on the dangerous waves of uncertainty.

Let's leave behind the fantasy that true spiritual life together is easy.
If you want easy...don't follow Jesus but if you want true life than dare to live for real peace.