Conflict Resolution

Conflict is an inevitability in life.  In fact, conflict is a sign that we are truly alive.  As long as we are beings with free thought that move, consume, and produce, there will be conflict.

I have a gift, some would call it a naiveté, for conflict.  According to my iChange type, I am "engaged" in change.  I'm not one to suggest change for change's sake, but I'm a proponent of necessary change and less reluctant than most to dive in.  Because I'm willing to let go of some things for the sake of change, I have a tendency to find myself in the midst of conflict.

This week's sermon is on the conflict we find when we pursue God's vision.  Understand this clearly: when we choose to live as God's people and chase his vision through our lives, whether as individuals or as the church, we are essentially welcoming conflict.  It will happen.

Conflict takes two forms - internal dissention and external threats.  Internal conflict is the one that always gets me.

Long ago, God spoke to Moses, gave him a vision to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and their slavery there.  Pharoah relented and released them, but changed his mind later.  The Egyptian army began to chase after the Israelite people in the desert - clearly an external threat.

What was the response of the people though?  In Exodus 14, the people turn to (on) Moses and begin asking questions like "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?  What have you done to us?  Didn't we tell you to leave us alone in Egypt?"

Moses was probably wondering at this point if his own people would lynch him before the Egyptians had the chance.  His response to the people?  "Do not fear.  Stand firm.  Watch what God is going to do."  Sure enough, God parted the waters, granted safe crossing for the Israelites, and drowned the Egyptians.

The commentary I'm reading on this text has some profound words to say:
"Moses provided a revolutionary alternative for the slaves, an alternative to the demands of Egypt.  In prospect, such emancipation had been attractive.  In hand, however, it is only a profound hardship.  It is difficult to sustrain a revolution because one loses all the benefits of the old system, well before there are any tangible benefits from what is promised" (The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary).

It's hard to give things up sometimes on a bet that better things will happen.  It's like the kid that has to let go of his security blanket so he can grow up.

A friend of mine, the one who helped me discover my call to ministry, has a powerful story.  When he was in high school he accepted Christ.  That week, he came home and shared his decision with his parents who were outraged.  They were so upset that they kicked him out of the house!  Years later, Tom became a missionary in the Northeastern United States.  He lived a meek lifestyle, but powerfully touched the lives of hundreds of people - those living in some of our poorest communities and those with affluence who came to serve in those neighborhoods.  In large part, because of Tom, I am in ministry and working to help God change other people's lives.

Tom sacrificed alot and it would have been most people's reactions just to abandon faith and calling to keep a home and to live comfortably.  Tom wasn't willing to concede though.  Even when cancer tried to keep him home, he was following God.  Today, he's still at it and living a far more blessed life than he probably would have otherwise.

Conflict is inevitable.  What matters is how you deal with it and how you survive it.