Conflict: Part 7 – Conclusion

Conclusion

Where there are two or more people involved, sooner or later there will be conflict. Conflict is not the end of the world not should it interfere with ministry. Not all conflict that arises in either the secular world or church world is bad conflict. There is constructive conflict that can serve to bring problems out into the open where they may be addressed. There are destructive conflicts that must be dealt with. In the secular world we see there is generally a mechanism in place to handle such problems. We have also seen that there is guidance in Scripture as to how conflict should be handled.

Too often conflict is avoided for the sake of sparing an individual’s feelings when there is clear biblical teaching that conflict should be addressed directly as Jesus did. There is a role for church discipline to play in the resolution of conflict. At what point can certainly be a matter of opinion. Obviously questions of immorality should be handled quickly but disagreements may not require the use of discipline. Too often there is conflict in the church over style or preference rather than substance. It is the opinion of this blogger that this is a huge mistake that consumes the time and talents in far too many churches.