When reflecting on familiar biblical passages like Matthew 28:19 or Acts 14:21, I've long wrestled with subtle yet profound implications of translation choices. In particular, I've been considering the Greek verb often translated into English as "make disciples." Common English translations such as "make disciples of all nations" shift the focus onto measurable outcomes—how many disciples have been successfully "made." This interpretation, however, places the evaluation of faithfulness and obedience on the actions and decisions of others, which are ultimately beyond our control.

When I became a follower of Jesus, everything changed. My citizenship, my allegiance, my purpose. I no longer belonged to the kingdoms of this world. I was transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. A kingdom that doesn’t operate by the rules of power or control or violence. A kingdom that looks like Jesus. But I’ll be honest. The more I advocate for Palestinians, the more I speak out against injustice, the easier it is for me to lose sight of Jesus. I get angry. I get bitter. I feel rage. And if I’m not careful, I stop reflecting the kingdom of Jesus and start reflecting the kingdoms of this world.

And that’s not the path I want to be on.

A few questions that we keep getting have to do with the relationship between peacebuilding and Christian witness. Is peacebuilding supposed to lead to witness? Does Christian witness simply not matter in light of so much division and conflict? What is Christian witness? Is it mainly about expressing religious convictions through our words? Or is it about serving as a living example of one’s faith? Read on to see our answers.

We talk about “shalom” a lot, and it’s a driving force behind what we do and why. It’s also one of our core values as an organization, so we got our staff together and wrote this post to articulate the centrality of the biblical concept of shalom in how we understand God’s work in the world and our calling as Christians.