Pastor Villodas on peacemaking as spiritual practice

Rich Villodas, pastor of New Life Fellowship in Queens and author of The Narrow Path, argued that churches have confused peacekeeping with peacemaking, and that genuine peace requires truth-telling rooted in the Sermon on the Mount. Villodas, who became a Christian at nineteen along with fifteen family members, spent eight months meeting almost daily with his terminally ill grandfather, who assigned him to memorize psalms and live inside the Sermon on the Mount—instructions that shaped his spiritual life. Villodas distinguished between peacekeeping, which preserves appearances, and peacemaking, which costs something and speaks truth while staying emotionally close. He observed that churches have often chosen peacekeeping: silence on racism, avoidance of abuse, and retreat from hard conversations under the banner of unity. Villodas, describing himself as a recovering people pleaser, said real peace requires naming what is broken as a spiritual act. He outlined three steps: examining why conflict feels threatening and what stories one has internalized about it, building community with people who can support and challenge, and grounding oneself spiritually to find courage for difficult conversations. He also addressed how Christians often suppress anger, either forbidding it or embracing it as a brand, neither of which reflects healthy spiritual practice.

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Source: Relevant Magazine — https://relevantmagazine.com/life5/rich-villodas-on-being-a-peacekeeper-vs-a-peacemaker/