Encounters Of The Civil Kind

Encounters of the Civil Kind

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

I’m a big proponent of standing firm for what I believe, including important issues that we as followers of Christ are facing today. What I’d caution is that we don’t throw too many “rocks” at each other in the process, by being strident or intolerant or intentionally sowing seeds of discord. It’s easy to get caught up in an attempt to prove we’re right and someone else is completely wrong.

It’s clear that Jesus didn’t bend on the essential truths He instructed us to live by. But when others disagree with us on those points, do we automatically put up walls or instead try to find common ground for discussion, without compromising the essentials?

When we dig in and become immovable in our views, even belittling another person’s belief in order to win the argument, aren’t we really undermining Christ’s Kingdom?

I’ve heard it said this way: conflict is unavoidable, but combat is a choice. Are we choosing combat? Are we dealing with conflict in a constructive manner? Conflict can illuminate differences and in the process actually help us. But pushing it to the next level of combat is rarely, if ever, productive.

And sometimes it seems like our response is more strident if it’s a Christian who takes a position contrary to ours. Or if the church takes a position we believe to be wrong. Rather than striving for peace, we automatically wage war, moving into combat before we have provided an opportunity to understand the differences.

God wants us to bring people together, to build bridges, not walls, wherever possible. Especially within His church.

Uncommon Key > Without compromising what you believe, the next time you face a conflict, instead of heading into combat and throwing “rocks,” find a way to build bridges with them. That gesture of civility will change you and possibly the entire direction of the discussion.