Wednesday July 31
Sow a discord and everything falls apart. When sin came into this world, arguments, disputes & fighting began. Adam blamed Eve. Cain murdered his brother. The history of the world ever since has been one of conflict of all kinds. Daily news updates are even sweetened by conflicts between people & nations.
When people turn away from God, they start fighting one another. Sadly, the church is not left out. Right from Pentecost, there have been disputes. How then do we handle disagreements & conflicts?
1. Avoid arguments
Proverbs 18 & 19
How?
– Avoid the danger of a single story. Listen to both sides before making judgment. First to speak is always convincing until the cross-examination begins.
– Let the Holy Spirit help. Ask for it.
– Avoid unnecessary conflict. Don’t get it wrong. Sometimes, there’s a need to confront a wrong action in someone, but let the overall purpose be to make peace reign. It’s easier to tear down a relationship than to build one.
– Edit your words before letting them out of your mouth.
– Choose carefully whom you roll with.
Some friends are fight-ready, avoid them like the Egypt plague. If you roll with the dogs, you’ll soon learn to bark & bite.
2. Deal with Disputes; Pick your Battles
Romans 14
There are certain matters over which Paul was willing to fight to death – the truth about the Gospel (vz. 9,15). However there are other issues such as vegetarianism & the sacredness of one day than another that Paul considers secondary issues and shouldn’t cause disagreements at all.
Today, there are many issues that seek to divide the church: whether Christians should take alcohol or not; whether Christians should fight in wars or not; whether or not we should pay tithe, etc. How do we deal with these?
i. Welcome & accept believers who don’t see things the way you do. Eventually, we’re all subject to God’s judgement. (vz.1,10)
ii. Don’t be quick to shut them up or judge them. (vz. 1,4,10,13)
iii. Don’t look down on others. People who have differing views are still people.
iv. Do what you think is right. Accepting others should not necessarily make you change your own point of view. If you do what you feel is wrong in the bid to accept someone else, then you’ve sinned.
v. Give others the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are seeking to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
vi. Be sensitive about other people’s consciences. For example, if someone regards drinking alcohol as wrong, it would be insensitive to drink alcohol in front of them. We do not want to cause them distress (v.15).
vii. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault’ (v.19).
viii. Always act in love
‘If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love’ (v.15).
https://my.bible.com/bible/1849/ROM.14.15.tpt
These issues are important, but what unites us is more important: righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Let’s focus on that.
3. Stop Fighting
I Chronicles 9 & 10
Saul sought hard to destroy David in spite several attempts by David to be in good terms with him. This internal conflict opened him up to external conflicts that eventually destroyed his kingdom. It’s important to know when to sheath our swords.
