The Voice Of Hope Ministries

The following are times in the life of the church when conflict is liable to surface. If you are dealing with unhealthy conflict, this may be expecially critical:

Many of the phone calls I receive as a Pastoral Ministry Specialist sound like this, “I have just discovered we are in a conflict in our church, what should I do?”

Conflict is an inevitable part of church life. As long as people care about one another and are committed to various beliefs and issues, conflict will emerge. Such conflict in itself is not sinful; the mismanagement of conflict is what causes hurt among people. These hurts, if unresolved, will produce broken relationships and divisions within the church fellowship. Such brokenness requires forgiveness if the fellowship is to heal.

Whether a church has 10 or 10,000 members, there will be conflict that must be dealt with appropriately for God\’s will to be accomplished. Whether the conflict is over who will lead a Sunday School class or how the church parking lot should be paved, disagreement is inevitable. One of the pastor\’s toughest jobs is making sure the conflict doesn\’t prevent the church from achieving its ultimate job of carrying out the Great Commission.

Unity is not uniformity. Uniformity comes from without. Unity is not unanimity. We will never agree on everything. In fact sometimes, we must agree to disagree agreeably. Unity comes from within; it is a matter of the heart.