Cedric Moss
04-29-04, - 11:16 PM
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Offended Christians: Causes & Cure – Part 1
By Cedric Moss
Some dates are indelibly etched in my mind. One such date is April 24, 2004. On that day our church hosted Ken Sande’s Peacemaker video seminar. The seminar is about responding to offences and conflicts in a biblical manner. In addition to reminding me of the inevitability of offences and conflict in our lives, I was also reminded of the large number of offended Christians in the Church who do not resolve their conflicts biblically. Today, I begin part one of a three-part commentary on this subject.
A Bit of Background
Ken Sande is an attorney and the son of a former USA District Court judge. From his father’s and his own legal career, Sande saw the shortcomings of the legal system to bring about biblical reconciliation between parties in legal disputes. He lamented that the law is only concerned with justice and not relational reconciliation, but God is concerned with both. Additionally, Sande saw an increasing trend of Christians, regularly and causally, filing lawsuits against each other without making any effort to try to resolve their differences in the manner laid out in Scripture.
Out of these concerns, more than 20 years ago, Peacemaker Ministries started to serve churches, and the Christian community internationally, by providing conflict coaching, mediation and arbitration services, and conciliation training and certification.
Certainty of Conflict
In making the case for Christians to be intentional about resolving their conflicts biblically, Sande pointed to the inevitability of conflict. He humorously adjusted Matthew 18:20 by saying, “where two or three persons come together in Jesus’ name, there will be conflict!” Therefore, we should not be surprised when we find ourselves in the midst of conflicts; God is not. In His wisdom, God has made rich provision in His Word to help us deal with conflict by teaching us to forgive and bear with one another and even rebuke one another.
Understanding Conflict
What is conflict? Ken Sande gave a simple definition: “A difference in opinion or purpose that frustrates someone’s goals or desires”. Further, we live in a fallen world in which even those who follow Jesus Christ have sinful tendencies that many times put us at competing ends of different situations.
Some people try to avoid dealing with conflicts that arise in their lives because they see them as being bad. While some conflicts are the result of sinful motives and conduct, Scripture does not teach that all conflict is bad. To the contrary, some conflicts are natural and of a beneficial nature. More importantly, God is sovereign and has a plan for us in all conflicts, regardless of the nature and cause. Having this divine perspective enables us to not just go through conflicts but grow through them instead. It enables us, also, to come out of them better and not bitter.
A Primary Opportunity
All conflicts offer us a primary opportunity to glorify God. As hard as this might be to believe, this is true in the worst of conflicts. The Corinthian church was abounding with conflict ranging from tribal allegiance to different leaders, to issues of what to eat and drink. After instructing them about these things, Apostle Paul wisely gave them a principle for living that included handling conflicts. He told them that whether they ate or drank or whatever they did, they should do everything for God’s glory (see 1st Corinthians 10:31).
Apostle Paul was wise in his instruction because he knew that he could never prescribe exactly what we should do in the various conflicts we would encounter over time. Therefore, he gave the Corinthians, and us by extension, the guiding principle that we should ensure that whatever we do, our motivation should be to glorify God. This is not a natural motivation. Naturally, we want to vindicate ourselves and glorifying God does not seem like an option. However, if we will be obedient followers of Christ, in every conflict we must ask the question: How can I please and honor the Lord in this situation?
Click Here for Part 2 (http://www.bahamasissues.com/showthread.php?p=6001#post6001)
Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org.
Offended Christians: Causes & Cure – Part 1
By Cedric Moss
Some dates are indelibly etched in my mind. One such date is April 24, 2004. On that day our church hosted Ken Sande’s Peacemaker video seminar. The seminar is about responding to offences and conflicts in a biblical manner. In addition to reminding me of the inevitability of offences and conflict in our lives, I was also reminded of the large number of offended Christians in the Church who do not resolve their conflicts biblically. Today, I begin part one of a three-part commentary on this subject.
A Bit of Background
Ken Sande is an attorney and the son of a former USA District Court judge. From his father’s and his own legal career, Sande saw the shortcomings of the legal system to bring about biblical reconciliation between parties in legal disputes. He lamented that the law is only concerned with justice and not relational reconciliation, but God is concerned with both. Additionally, Sande saw an increasing trend of Christians, regularly and causally, filing lawsuits against each other without making any effort to try to resolve their differences in the manner laid out in Scripture.
Out of these concerns, more than 20 years ago, Peacemaker Ministries started to serve churches, and the Christian community internationally, by providing conflict coaching, mediation and arbitration services, and conciliation training and certification.
Certainty of Conflict
In making the case for Christians to be intentional about resolving their conflicts biblically, Sande pointed to the inevitability of conflict. He humorously adjusted Matthew 18:20 by saying, “where two or three persons come together in Jesus’ name, there will be conflict!” Therefore, we should not be surprised when we find ourselves in the midst of conflicts; God is not. In His wisdom, God has made rich provision in His Word to help us deal with conflict by teaching us to forgive and bear with one another and even rebuke one another.
Understanding Conflict
What is conflict? Ken Sande gave a simple definition: “A difference in opinion or purpose that frustrates someone’s goals or desires”. Further, we live in a fallen world in which even those who follow Jesus Christ have sinful tendencies that many times put us at competing ends of different situations.
Some people try to avoid dealing with conflicts that arise in their lives because they see them as being bad. While some conflicts are the result of sinful motives and conduct, Scripture does not teach that all conflict is bad. To the contrary, some conflicts are natural and of a beneficial nature. More importantly, God is sovereign and has a plan for us in all conflicts, regardless of the nature and cause. Having this divine perspective enables us to not just go through conflicts but grow through them instead. It enables us, also, to come out of them better and not bitter.
A Primary Opportunity
All conflicts offer us a primary opportunity to glorify God. As hard as this might be to believe, this is true in the worst of conflicts. The Corinthian church was abounding with conflict ranging from tribal allegiance to different leaders, to issues of what to eat and drink. After instructing them about these things, Apostle Paul wisely gave them a principle for living that included handling conflicts. He told them that whether they ate or drank or whatever they did, they should do everything for God’s glory (see 1st Corinthians 10:31).
Apostle Paul was wise in his instruction because he knew that he could never prescribe exactly what we should do in the various conflicts we would encounter over time. Therefore, he gave the Corinthians, and us by extension, the guiding principle that we should ensure that whatever we do, our motivation should be to glorify God. This is not a natural motivation. Naturally, we want to vindicate ourselves and glorifying God does not seem like an option. However, if we will be obedient followers of Christ, in every conflict we must ask the question: How can I please and honor the Lord in this situation?
Click Here for Part 2 (http://www.bahamasissues.com/showthread.php?p=6001#post6001)
Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org.