Peace Chucks

A hipster is someone who thinks that they were cool before being cool was cool. I was never cool, so that does not include me.

 I realized a long time ago that the cooler you are today the funnier your old pictures will be to your kids so I have made it a life goal to wear clothes that my future children will not make fun of. I stick with jeans, a T-shirt, and the single pair of tennis shoes that have been around for generations that I am certain will still be in style whenever Jesus comes back- the one and only, Chuck Taylor All-Star High-Top Converse. These shoes were created in the 1920’s as a basketball shoe endorsed by the professional player of which they are named. Thankfully, basketball shoes have improved in technology over the years, but this pair of shoes has outlasted every other shoe craze and has been worn consistently for close to a century.


For the last six years or so I have worn my various pairs of Chucks of all different colors almost exclusively. I keep it pretty simple so dressed up or dressed down both mean that they are a constant and consistent staple in my wardrobe.

Ephesians 6 tells me that there should be another pair of shoes, however, that I put on every day that I guess is a little more important than some Blue High-Tops.

Like every little boy who grew up in Sunday school, I had a plastic replica of the “Armor of God,” which of course is the only way a church kid can get his church parents to let him have a sword and pretend to be a violent warrior.  There is one piece of the armor though, that I do not really remember as being that significant- “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

That always sounded like a contradiction to me. I could understand shoes being associated with “readiness” because anyone who has ever been a kid knows that winning a foot race is all about lacing up your shoes dramatically and showing you are ready to go. Mr. Rogers put his shoes on at the beginning of every episode to show that he was ready to visit the neighborhood. I put on my shoes when I am ready to walk out the door. I did not understand, though, how “readiness” and “peace” could describe the same thing. Frankly, when I think of peace I think of boring. Peace to me was a Thomas Kinkade painting full of quaint little fire lit cottages by bubbling streams and magical forests.  To be “ready” meant to be armed and dangerous. I wanted the rest of the armor with all the pieces that protected me from demons and flaming arrows and the peace shoes could stay in the toy box.

I did not realize that readiness without peace equals misery. The desire for action, change, or improvement is a recipe for depression if it is not first grounded peace. I tend to be one that suffers from an over- readiness in almost every area of life. I am always ready for a change of pace to something more exciting. I am ready to improve and be better. I am ready to see dreams come true and become all I have ever wanted to be doing all the things I have always wanted to do. I have the wrong kind of readiness.

Paul is talking about a readiness that comes from the “gospel of peace,” which means he and I have different interpretations of the word. What if my ambition to move and grow came first out of my ability to sleep at night? What if it was not a ready restlessness that motivated me, but a “peace that passes understanding?” What if I wanted to see dreams come true not because I needed them to be happy but because I had a perfect contentment with simply being in God’s presence? What if I made New Years’ resolutions not because I was eager to change who I was but because I was really happy with who God said I could be.

I cannot pretend that I know exactly what peace is, but I am pretty sure I know what it isn’t. Peace is not needing caffeine all day to stay awake and sleeping pills at night to get to sleep. Peace is not waking up and wishing you were somewhere else. Peace is not waiting on a promise from God but worrying about all the details. Peace is not taking things into your own hands and fixing everything yourself because God is taking longer than you expected.

I have no idea how, but perfect peace inspires action. It inspires growth and maturity. It inspires motivation to go after your dream. Perfect peace is a far better motivator than the treadmill you bought and swore to yourself that you would use this year. Stop trying stuff and start learning how to rest in the presence of God. Stop doing everything and start learning what it means to just exist. Sit and talk to Jesus, ask Him about how to have this peace.

Let the gospel of peace be a constant staple in your wardrobe that never goes out of style. Let every resolution and dream be first laced up with Peace Chucks.