“they shall beat their swords into plowshares” — Isaiah 2:4
My wife directs the HR department for a large company. One of the surprising features of her job is the number of hours that go into resolving conflicts. On almost a daily basis, she is called in to adjudicate between two employees, a manager, and an employee, or an employee and the company. Often these conflicts are heated, with sharp words and escalating actions. When she is unable to resolve the issue, it frequently moves into litigation, where it will require additional time and money for the company’s legal team to resolve.
It’s incredible to think my wife is merely one person among countless numbers across the nation and around the globe who play these roles in companies. (To say nothing of how small businesses without the resources of HR and legal counsel muddle through such issues.) Indeed, it is staggering to think of the vast amount of time and effort that goes into resolving workplace conflict. Will it ever end?
The prophet Isaiah believes it will. In Isaiah 2:4 we read:
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
We’ve often heard that Christmas is about God bringing “peace on earth.” This is partly true. Yes, Christ is the Prince of Peace. And yes, he came to bring peace. But Christmas is not God’s end game. As Isaiah foretells, Christ will come again to thoroughly establish his kingdom on earth. And it is then, when he returns, that Christ will act as the ultimate adjudicator—definitively dealing with conflict on a global scale “for many peoples.”
“His ability to resolve conflict will be so comprehensive the mechanisms designed to navigate conflict will become obsolete.”
Places of employment do not have to worry about literal swords and spears. Nonetheless, they are not free from tongues that can cut and actions that can pierce. Such discord is notorious for destroying the efficiency of a team. The more hostile a work environment, the less efficient it is. A tremendous amount of energy is used when work relationships become tense, people are defended, and focus is redirected from fruitful labor to self-protection.
It is fascinating to think about what Christ’s conflict resolution will look like. How will he teach those who are at odds in the workplace to get along? What processes of healing and forgiveness will he employ? The text does not tell us. What it does say is that his ability to resolve conflict will be so comprehensive the mechanisms designed to navigate conflict will become obsolete. This includes not only literal weapons of warfare between nations but also the numerous resources companies employ to protect themselves. In other words, resources now used for security, cycles of conflict, and legal defense, will be freed up.
And when Christ resolves all conflict, note where these means previously put into conflict are directed. Isaiah tells us we will use these freed-up resources to create “plowshares” and “pruning hooks.” These are work tools! And not just any work tools. Rather than putting our energies in defensive instruments that at best can merely diminish the death-dealing power of conflict, these will be tools that produce life-giving resources.
Of course, we don’t need to await the return of Christ for his empire of forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace to begin. Even now, we can ask Christ to guide us as we seek to be peacemakers in the workplace.
“Peace on earth and mercy mild!”
Robert Covolo is a Cultural Theologian and Author of Fashion Theology. He is also on staff here at the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles, serving as our Director of Vocational Discipleship.