Conflict in Context

Conflict. The very word causes some to break out in a cold sweat as their anxiety level skyrockets. Others smile because their day just became more interesting. Some see conflict as evidence that things have gone awry while others determine it to be an obstacle that must be quickly traversed. 

We have all met someone who can cause a riot in a monastery and we may also know someone who runs at the first sign of disagreement. I want to make the case that both ends of the spectrum are unhelpful and even unbiblical. I am suggesting that conflict is a sign of progress and, when properly approached, results in Kingdom advance. 

Recently, I was speaking with a man who told me about conflict in his place of work. He related that it seemed that the game du jour at the office was to find a way around processes because the processes were broken, antiquated, and prohibitive to progress. This worker had decided to take on the establishment and call out the real issue, a bureaucratic system that, while effective at creating multiple levels of safeguard reviews, created unnecessary security risks due to its restrictive effect on innovation. In a similar fashion, I read about a new breakthrough technology in treating a debilitating disease. The news report ended with a disclaimer that it would take a decade to get the treatment through the government agency’s oversight and approval process for safe treatment regimens. To simply accept the status quo is to cause harm to countless individuals under the auspices of protecting people from harm. 

In both cases, what is needed, is CONFLICT. There, I said it. I do not mean that there should be flipping of tables and chasing people around with whips…though there is a time for such things (See John 2:14-16, Matthew 21:12-13, Luke 19:45-46, Mark 11:15-17). I am suggesting that conflict is not always bad, or sinful. In fact, it is one of God’s chosen means for sanctification and sharpening. It is, when God initiates it, a pathway to His glory. 

Conflict cannot be categorically resisted or rejected as counter to God’s purpose. A man once told me that he was a peacemaker. This man may have had intentions to make peace; however, his actions were more akin to what Alfred Poirier calls “peace faking.” The win for this man was to squelch what he saw as conflict so that peace and unity were all that people saw. In reality, this man created more long-term suffering because he refused to examine the cause of conflict before closing the door on it. 

One of the biblical responsibilities of leadership is to create conflict. If you were in a car with someone driving toward the edge of a cliff unaware of his circumstances, the only “right” move is to challenge his course of action and even to grab the wheel to avoid the destructive consequences ahead. If organizational culture were destructive, the only proper response is to confront it. 

Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord himself calls out both people and priesthood for this very thing and even identifies their errant motives: 

Jeremiah 6:13–14 (NASB95) 

¹³“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. 

¹⁴“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. 

Superficial solutions to conflict are not good stewardship but ghastly subversions. 

So, what is the answer? 

• Seek to Understand the Context. Squelching conflict without searching it out is like placing a piece of tape over your illuminated “Check Engine” light so you won’t worry about the mechanical condition of your car. As the wisdom writer reminds us: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2, NASB95).
• Seek the Lord’s Counsel. It is foolish to set a plan without seeking the Lord. Proverbs reminds us, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand (Proverbs 19:21, NASB95). 
• Submit to the Lord. The life of faith is one of choosing to place the Lord’s agenda above our own. It is accepting His wisdom over our own. Oftentimes for me, the sign that a course of action is proper is that it is incredibly difficult. 
• Strive for Peace. Peace is still the goal. The Apostle Paul admonishes us to seek peace with all men (Romans 12:18. See also Hebrews 12:14, Galatians 6:1-2). This objective is glorious and fulfills the purpose for which Christ came (Luke 2:14).

We do well to consider that nothing surprises the Lord who sovereignly and actively reigns in the world today. God has not abandoned His people to their own wisdom or to chart their own paths. He is a Counselor, our loving and good Father, and a constant Companion. It takes courage to follow the Lord. Courage. So today, ask the Lord for wisdom and respond with courageous faith, trusting Him to work sovereignly. Peace.