Go The Right Way

CONFLICT is neither easy nor fun to deal with, especially when it deals with friends, family or fellow believers in the church. Yet, because we are all different people with differing views and personalities, we will all have to deal with sometime throughout our lifetime. In today’s Next Level reading, Jesus addresses the difficult issue of dealing with conflict with each other and gives us the “RIGHT WAY” strategy to deal with it.

¹⁵“If another believer sins against you,go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. ¹⁶But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. (Matt. 18:15-17)

Step #1 Go to the person who has offended you, in a humble and loving manner (Matt. 7:12- In the way you would want to be treated.) and have a private discussion about how that person’s actions or words have hurt you. Way too often, the person who has offended us is the last person to find out about the offense. This is wrong! If we care about the relationship, then we need to “care enough to confront.” If the person responds in a positive way, the relationship is renewed and can even be strengthened.

Step #2 If the first meeting is unsuccessful, go back to that person again, in a humble and loving manner (Matt. 7:12- In the way you would want to be treated.) with 1 or 2 other people to help resolve the conflict and to confirm what was said in the conversation. Often times, just by bringing other’s into the discussion, they are able to objectively add insights that maybe both parties are not able to see.

Step #3 If the previous two meetings do not bring about a reconciliation, then you are to bring the issue to the Leadership of the Church and allow them to help you resolve the conflict.

Step #4 If after all of these steps have been taken in the right manner, and one party still refuses to reconcile the conflict, then the problem is probably much bigger than the issue at hand. At this point, the person who is seeking reconciliation needs to surrender the issue and relationship into God’s hands, but continue to pray earnestly for the other person.

As we go to the Next Level as a church, there will most certainly be conflict and disagreements with each other because we all have our different views and opinions of what this looks like. When conflict shows it’s ugly head, let me encourage you to “GO THE RIGHT WAY”. And remember this, God’s Way is not always the easiest way, but for the benefit of our relationships it’s the BEST WAY!

Join NLCF as we go to the Next Level in our journey with Christ by reading through the New Testament in 2008. Go to this website http://www.gbcsanmarcos.org/Handouts/NT%20Study%20Plan/NT%2052-week%20study%20plan.pdf to download a New Testament reading guide.