Facing Conflict

The one thing that we can say about all relationships of any substance at all is that they will involve conflict. It’s just part of what it means to be human. The early church leader Paul wrote to his friends about a conflict that broke out into the open in front of the whole church. So Paul wrote about it to the whole church:

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel…  - Phil. 4:2-3

We’ll be reflecting on conflict all week. For today, let’s just ponder some of the surface learnings from this short passage. It seems pretty obvious that we can acknowledge that conflict is not only common but it’s painful, it’s affecting all our communities (certainly including our churches), and it takes real effort to resolve.

What sorts of conflict are you facing these days in your own life and in the communities that you are a part of? Can you spend a moment to think about the issues involved and to feel the emotions associated with that conflict? Now imagine that God wanted to speak into it - indeed, even to plead for the conflict to be healed.

Spend some time trying to put some words together to share with Jesus about the situation you’ve been wrestling with here.