What to do with conflict    

  "Ministry would be so much easier -- so much more efficient -- if we could just cancel conflict!" Do you agree? Well, agree or not, the fact is conflict is not going away. So we're left with options:

Hide 

  A guy was telling his friend that he and his wife had a serious argument the night before. "But it ended," he said, "when she came crawling to me on her hands and knees." "What did she say?" asked the friend. The husband replied, "She said, 'Come out from under that bed, you coward!" As a Christian leader, we can't afford to hide from issues. (See Gideon in hiding) 

Deny

  <Yelling> "Conflict? What conflict? I don't hear hovering helicopters, machine gun fire, or bunker busting bombs!! Would you pass me a dinner mint?" (See the unbelieving in denial on the Day of the Lord)    

Attack

  On the flip side of the hiders and deniers are the attackers. They've sharpened their fighting skills; they're primed to take on all comers. If they have to hunt conflict down, all the better, because their adrenaline will be flowing and their veins bulging. (See Samson dealing with the Philistines)    

Address

  Scripture makes it clear that we will have conflict, that we must address it, and that learning to deal with it appropriately is even part of our discipleship and leadership training. (See Eph. 4:20--5:2)  

  Addressing conflict requires faith, courage... and skill! That's why we are offering the Making Conflict Constructive training for church leaders on November 12. See details below or online. Don't miss this opportunity to be trained and to train ministry teams from your church!                                 ~ David Yetter