At first glance, the work of Peace Catalyst International can seem puzzling. We build friendships across divides, step into difficult conflicts, critique the church’s entanglements with power, and insist that following Jesus means engaging in the messy, public, political work of peacebuilding. Some Christians look at this and wonder, “Why so much self-criticism? Doesn’t that just tear down the church?”, “Isn’t this getting too political? Shouldn’t the church focus on spiritual things?”, “And most importantly: how does this kind of peacebuilding relate to evangelism and the gospel?” In what follows, I want to walk through these questions—not to dismiss them, but to show why they are exactly the kinds of questions the gospel compels us to wrestle with.

On Christmas Eve we light the Christ candle, the center of our Advent wreath. By recovering Advent’s light, we return to Jesus himself—the one whose birth, life, and cross revealed what God’s reign truly looks like. In Christ, divine power entered the world through vulnerability; divine justice arrived through mercy. His coming was—and remains—God’s peacebuilding revolution: nonviolent, enemy-loving, and world-renewing.

In much of modern Christianity, love has become a sentimental feeling of warmth toward family, affection toward God, or admiration toward others. But biblical love is not an emotion; it is a revolution of relationship. It names God’s self-giving solidarity with a wounded world. It is the choice to draw near when fear pushes us toward distance.

Every Advent, the third candle burns for joy. Yet this word, like “hope” and “peace,” has been emptied of its full power. In much of modern faith, joy has become a synonym for positivity—the demand to keep spirits high, to smile through discomfort, to make worship cheerful even when the world is not. But the joy of scripture arises from trust that God’s future is breaking into the present.

Every Advent, the second candle flickers for peace. Yet like hope, this word has grown soft in the Christian imagination. “Peace” has come to mean inner calm, social quiet, or the absence of visible conflict. But throughout Scripture, peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. The Bible’s peace—shalom—names the wholeness of creation restored, the healing of injustice, the reconciliation of enemies, and the overthrow of every false order built on domination and control.

Advent begins this Sunday, and this week's Advent theme is HOPE. Today, hope often sounds like wishful thinking. We use the word to describe personal aspirations, feelings, or a positive outlook. But biblical hope is not optimism. It's born in the midst of despair—in exile, under empire, among people who have every reason to give up.

“Peacebuilding is not an elective that you can choose from your church’s course offerings; it is the essence of our calling as Christians and the motivator for all we do.” That feedback was one of many incredible responses we got from our last 6-week online small group: “Introduction to Christian Peacebuilding,” and we have another group coming up in September. Read what others are saying about it, and join us for the next one!

We are excited to announce the launch of a new project to help Christian peacebuilders across the world explore together how we might faithfully and effectively build bridges of understanding, respect, and friendship with neighbors from other social, ideological, and religious groups. The Christian Peacebuilding Network (CPN) is a private learning and networking platform currently housed on Facebook.

What happens when you bring together a dozen teenagers who don’t know each other, come from two totally different religious backgrounds, and ask them to put their phones away for the day and actually TALK to each other?