Articles for tag: Conflict

Church Life

Creating the Integrity of the Church

By Mark A. Taylor Peggy Noonan wrote in Saturday”s Wall Street JournalÂ about “the general decline of America”s faith in its institutions,” and you can guess the institutions she listed: “the professions, the presidency, the Supreme Court,” and the one she mentioned first, the church. I”m assuming Noonan, a Catholic, thinks first of the church she knows best, and statistics suggest the Catholic Church in America is in trouble. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a national nonprofit research center affiliated with Georgetown University, attendance at Mass in the U.S. declined from 55 percent of the

December 16, 2015

Devotionals

Meditating on Peace: December 16

By Becky Ahlberg Wednesday, December 16 Read Ephesians 2:14-22.Â Jesus is our peace. It was one of his purposes in coming. He was the only one who could destroy “the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14). He knew our nature and how easily we fall into conflict. He knew we would need help. He knew he couldn”t build the church he wanted without bringing people together and making them see each other as family, not enemies. He knew the walls would have to come down. Are there walls in your life that need to come down? Making peace

May 21, 2015

Let”s Fight!

By Shan Caldwell It is time for the church to begin taking part in MORE conflict””to the glory of God. Growing up, I used to listen to a song by Kenny Rogers called “The Coward of the County.” In it, a young man”s courage is called into question because of a promise he”d made as a 10-year-old to his dying father that he would always “walk away from trouble.” However, when the girl he loves is attacked, the “coward” doesn”t walk away””he stands his ground for her sake. Now, I don”t generally live my life according to the ethical codes

November 19, 2013

Church Leadership

Mistakes Are Good and Conflict Can Be Productive

By Mark A. Taylor If there”s one thing too many Christians avoid, especially with other Christians in church settings, it”s conflict. Bad situations fester because leaders fail to confront. Inferior ideas get implemented, and sometimes enshrined, because someone in charge is afraid to say no. A better way goes undiscovered because those discussing the future are too willing to follow the first plan proposed. A minority voice sways a decision because others in the group will not stand up and say, “Brother, you”re wrong.” Yet the greatest progress is often the product of freewheeling dialogue where dissent is welcome. Bob

April 13, 2013

Good Policies Can Prevent Conflict

By Don Green I can still remember the nugget of wisdom shared at a minister”s retreat I attended nearly 40 years ago. The speaker was Dr. Bruce Parmenter, a seminary counseling professor who mentored many of us. As he spoke of the challenges that confront ministers, he observed that in marriage and in ministry, one of the primary ways to prevent conflict is to have a carefully negotiated, mutually agreed upon, clearly defined set of expectations. That invaluable lesson has served me well through the years and gives impetus to working with leaders in developing a covenant of expectations that

April 12, 2013

It”s Hard to E-mail Your Way Through Matthew 18

By Jim Dalrymple It has been said, “Wherever two or more are gathered, there will be conflict.” In today”s digital world, conflict speaks a new language. Yet text tapped out on a screen comes with limitations and liabilities. Let”s face it””e-mails do not convey vocal inflection, and text messages do not allow for body language. It is too easy to fire off e-mails like cannonballs from a ship. All too often such exchanges between two people also bring others into the battle. In my experience with conflict, it is hard to e-mail your way through Matthew 18. In Matthew 18:15-20,

April 8, 2013

Family & Relationships

Bad Weather at Home

By Charity M. Walker-Byers and John M. Walker The black clouds of church conflict too often create bad weather at home, too. These “clouds” can cause problems that become all-consuming and overwhelming, influencing every aspect of life. When the church leader loses his or her ability to separate church life from home life, the “black cloud” can consume his or her emotions, relationships, attitude, perspective, and all other aspects of human experience. When that happens, the home becomes a battleground and a source of unhappiness instead of a safe haven, a storm center instead of a safe harbor offering rejuvenation

April 7, 2013

Family & Relationships

When Conflict Comes Home

By Tom Lawson So, how do you keep church conflict from impacting your home life? The short answer is you can”t. If you”re in church leadership, serious church conflict will, in various ways, impact your family life. Church leaders, however, are not alone in this. Nearly all employed adults in America experience tensions and conflicts in their workplace that, at times, spill over to impact their home life. Church conflicts have characteristics of both workplace conflicts and family feuds. They can be conflicts over power, programs, strategic direction, allocation of resources, and dysfunctional patterns of corporate communication. And some church

April 2, 2013

Embracing Conflict, Spreading the Gospel

By Mark A. Taylor As much as we might like to avoid the subject of conflict at church, the fact is we can”t. In fact, if your church is not experiencing conflict now, it”s safe to say it probably has. Or it will. Our best strategy is not to pretend conflict doesn”t exist or to assume all conflict is wrong. Instead, we”ll do well to anticipate conflict and find godly ways to handle it. The first step may be to embrace the potential of conflict. It”s OK to disagree with each other. Too many Christians harbor the notion that unity

December 4, 2012

Church Leadership

A Past Mistake and Three Challenges for Elders

By Casey Tygrett He had been leading in various capacities at our church for at least 20 years. As a newbie in my first “real” ministry (translated “full time with financial implications”), I was confronted with a church that had been embroiled in conflict for at least 50 years. The man in question had created some of this conflict, and in the midst of confronting him, I came across a troubling piece of evidence. “I don”t really read the Bible,” he said. “I”m not much of a reader.” From the tone of the statement and the expression of his

September 30, 2012

Encouraging Healthy Controversy

By Brian Giese We live in an age when the world invites Christians to keep their faith to themselves and out of the limelight. This is also a day when no one wants to confront anyone, and nobody wants to be confronted. The rule seems to be: “Let each person make his own choices, and don”t judge him or her. Don”t make waves, just love everybody.” No one can deny that the world needs more love, but what kind of love? When one reaches adulthood, he can look back and see that the correction and punishment his parents gave him

June 16, 2012

Worship Worship & Prayer

Conflict Is a Constant, Encouragement Is a Fuel

By Mark A. Taylor The best way to avoid conflict about worship styles is to leave things the way they are, right? Not according to a survey conducted by Faith Communities Today* (FACT). FACT has surveyed religious congregations of every kind, Jewish and Muslim and others as well as Protestants, Evangelicals, Catholics, and Orthodox. When it comes to worship, these groups, diverse as they are, have some things in common. One of these is conflict. One set of questions in the FACT surveys surrounded worship change and conflict. Most of the congregations (60 percent) that introduced “a lot of change”

December 19, 2007

Devotionals

The Price of War, the Promise of Peace

As war’s toll weighs heavily, this Christmas reflection considers peace through the stories of a former child soldier and an Army chaplain, then points to Jesus’ promise: “I have overcome the world.”

October 17, 2007