Have you ever been to a church where there is more war than worship, more hatchets that harmony? Well maybe not, you go to an ideal church. Church conflicts can be a pain and can stand in the way of Kingdom building.
We can become distracted by personality clashes, power struggles, doctrinal differences and moral fingerpointing. Whatever the cause, if these conflicts are not managed then they can affect the public witness of the church and cause it to detour from its mission. I do not wish to give a dissertation on conflict resolution but permit me to share a few thoughts on how leaders can best create an atmosphere where conflicts are managed in a healthy way.
I believe that leaders must be clear about the mission and purpose of the church. When the church can concentrate its energies on placing first things first there is hardly any room for conflicts to thrive. Can you imagine a church where worship, evangelism, stewardship, ministry, fellowship and discipleship are at the center? The leader who keeps the church foccussed on the essentials will not spend time putting out fires. The absence of a clear mission and purpose will allow all kinds of factions to emerge and the church will turn on itself instead of being externally focussed and Jesus driven.
The leader would do well if he or she is equipped with good judgement, sound character, competence and confidence. This kind of leader creates an atmosphere of trust and security. A rounded leader gives confidence to the congregation. When people are confident about being led in the right direction they will feel more comfortable to voice their concerns because they sense these will be handled in a fair and just way. If the leader is deceitful, jittery, wavering and partial in judgement it creates the atmostphere for the breeding of conflicts.
My last word is that the leader must be clothed with a spirit of humility. A confident, humble leader will be approachable and will diffuse many potentially explosive situations. A leader must not take himself or herself too seriously. One has to learn to ignore many negative criticisms and attempts to embroil one in "cass, cass" (quarrels). Our case must not become bigger than the cause of Christ. When the leader removes herself from the center of focus and places Christ at the center attention will be rightly shifted. When as leaders however we crave the attention of others, we thrive on hero worship and gaining followers with blind loyalty the ground becomes ripe for conflict.
The leader can be a peacemaker or a creator of strife. We need to decide the kind of leader we want to be becuae certainly how we lead will affect how conflicts are managed in our churches and organizations
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