Conflict

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Thanks for joining us on the weekday podcast with Pastor Chuck Allen. Today, Chuck is breaking down the simple but profound truth about dealing with conflict, how we deal with it, and what the Bible has to say about it. Here's Pastor Chuck. [00:00:20] Speaker A: Hi, everyone, and welcome to the weekday podcast. My name is Chuck Allen, and today I want to talk about why we resist conflict and what the Bible says about navigating our way through it. So welcome, settle in, grab a cup of encouragement, and let's talk about conflict. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Today's episode is brought to you today by clearpath Counseling. The team of professional therapists at clearpath have a simple but powerful mission to make mental health care accessible and affordable for the residents of Georgia. If you are looking for help, simply visit clearpathcounseling.org and complete the free assessment. Now back to Chuck and today's weekday podcast. [00:01:04] Speaker A: Okay, so there's a lot of places we could start, but today, as we talk about conflict, I want to make sure that we're recognizing not the big, dramatic, world ending kind, but the everyday, ordinary, quietly simmering kind. The kind that kind of jumps out at us in our family, our friendships, our workplace, and our church. Why do we resist it? Why do we run from it? Why do we dance around it? And why do we pretend it's not there? So maybe today we start right here. We resist conflict because it feels dangerous. It threatens our very sense of belonging. It pokes at our need to always be right, to be safe and to be accepted. Sometimes it's just easier to keep the peace on the surface, even when there's a war going on underneath the surface. We avoid conflict because, well, we're afraid of what it might cost us. Our relationships, our reputation, maybe even our own sense of self. But here's the thing. The Bible is not afraid of conflict. In fact, the Bible is full of it. Brothers fighting brothers, nations at war, friends falling out, even Jesus flipping tables in the temple. Conflict isn't something to be feared or ignored. It's something to be navigated with wisdom and with courage. So let's look at what the Bible actually says about approaching conflicting conflict. The Bible's approach is face it, don't flee it. In Matthew 18, Jesus lays it out perfectly. If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you've won that person back. Simple, right? Not really. Here's the order. Go privately. Don't gossip. Don't rally a team to your side. Don't post about it online. Go directly. Be honest. Be ridiculously human. Why? Because the goal isn't to win the argument, is it? I mean, the goal is to win the relationship back. When you think about conflict, stop thinking about revenge and start thinking about restoration. If that doesn't work, Jesus says, bring in a couple of other folks. Not to gang up, but to simply help, to mediate, to seek understanding. It's kind of like when I do my best counseling, it's not that I'm giving an opinion. It's that I'm making a room that's safe, a place for conversation to actually thrive, not be attacked. I think maybe we need to start looking at something that in the Christian world is something we're not good at becoming peacemaking, not peace faking. Jesus also says in Matthew 5, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they're going to be called children of God. Not peacekeepers, not peace fakers, peacemakers. People who step into the mess, who do the hard work of reconciliation. That's what he's asking us to be. Do the work. Be a follower of Jesus. Take him at his word. Now, Paul over in the book of Ephesians, he gets even more practical. In Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 26, he says, don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. In other words, don't let conflict sit there and fester. Don't let it rot. Deal with it and deal with it right away. There's some wisdom that we should find in the Proverbs. Proverbs. One of the things I love reading it every day is just how blunt it can be. In Proverbs 13:10, the Bible says, pride leads to conflict, and those who take advice are wise. And it goes on. In Proverbs 17:14, it says, Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate. So stop before a dispute breaks out. Pride fuels conflict. Humility, listening, taking advice. These are the ways through it. And this from Proverbs 17:9. Love prospers when a fault is given. No. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven. Did you hear it? I want to say it again. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Forgiveness is the glue that holds a really good relationship together. So you say, well, Chuck, what do I do? Well, let me give you five. We's real quick. We face conflict not to win, but to restore. We speak honestly, privately and with humility. We forgive even when it's hard. We seek wisdom, not just validation. And we remember God is a peacemaker and we're called to be like Him. So maybe the next time conflict comes knocking on your door, you won't run, you won't hide. You step in with courage and love, knowing the goal isn't just to end the fight, but to heal the relationship, because that's what peacemakers do. Thanks for listening today. God bless you. And thanks for joining me on today's weekday podcast. [00:06:02] Speaker B: Thanks again for joining Chuck on today's weekday podcast. Have the best weekend.