The Person of Peace Principle

What is the person of peace principle in church planting?  

Very simply put, this principle puts forth the idea that God always has someone in an unevangelized area that will be receptive to the gospel. Therefore, as church planters and those working with them make their initial contacts with a new area they should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading them to this person. Most often God uses this person and their family to establish a “beachhead” for the infiltration of the gospel into that neighborhood.

What is the basis of this principle?

The concept is based on the account of Jesus sending out the disciples two by two to minister in the surronding communities recorded in  Matthew 10, Luke 9, and Luke 10. As He  sent them, He gave certain instructions about what they were to do, what they should pack, and how they were to respond based upon a person’s reception. Specifically, in Luke 10: 5-7 Jesus instructs them:

When you enter a house offer peace. If a Person of Peace is present, your peace will rest on him. Stay in theat house, eat and drink what is put before you, and do not move around from house to house.   

Obviously, Jesus did not say, “here is the key person for starting a church plant in the area.” The passage can safely be interpreted, however, to imply that when you are entering a new territory with the gospel (the essence of missions) there are going to be those that will receive you well. We should recognize their reception as a place to begin fellowship. 

Who is the person of peace? 

You never know who this person is going to be. Oftentimes, God prepares the most unlikely candidate to take on this role. I recall in one of my last church plants in Brazil the “person of peace” turned out to be a family that had what we called “the bicycle shop.” The shop was nothing more than the palm leaf covered “front porch” of the mud and stick house where they lived. Of course, God knew that their location was not only strategically located, but well known by the residents of the neighborhood. In a recent church start effort in Mexico, the lady pictured at the right turned out to be the “person of peace.”

How does the principle apply to volunteer missionaries?  

One of the primary uses of volunteers by careeer missionaries is to cover great areas of geography to make multiple contacts with people that the missionary might not otherwise locate if he worked alone. Therefore, as a volunteer missionary, you play an incredibly important role in being a “scout” for the missionary and his church planting teams to help find the persons of peace which are so vital in the life of new church plants.