Conflict in the Church: The Uncomfortable Reality
We live in a day, at least in the West, when people are not especially fond of doctrinal instruction or systematic theology. Many churches no longer offer Sunday school classes and from what I have seen a good portion of the preaching on Sunday morning is not expositional. I think that these are unfortunate turns of events. Many of the problems in our churches today could be averted, or remedied, if people knew their Bibles well. We need leaders who will follow Paul’s example and give their churches clear and well-reasoned presentation of truth. I realize that in some parts of the world Christians do not have Bibles or have limited access to them. This also holds true of good study materials. But where these resources are available they need to be used. This being said, I know that this course of action in and of itself will not fix everything, because people have free will and they can choose to obey or disobey the clear teachings of Scripture. Paul loved the people in the Corinthian church enough to confront the errors in their congregation. The spiritual health and growth of the church depended on it.
In the ministry there will frequently be people in conflict with each other. Even if you are not directly involved in it as a leader, you have a responsibility to attempt to bring things back into biblical order. This is part of the job description for apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11-13). It is best not to let unbiblical beliefs and practices continue, they only tend to get worse. It is better to deal with the issues when they are small; deal with them directly and decisively. This is Paul’s model. It may not always be easy, but it is part of the calling of a Christian leader.
Conflict Between a Church Leader and a Congregation
As we finish up our brief survey of the various kinds of conflict that one may encounter in ministry, we will once again look at the experience of the apostle Paul. And here too we will focus on his experience with the church at Corinth; although this time we will look at the book of 2 Corinthians. The type of conflict that we will look at in this section is the conflict between a spiritual leader and a congregation. This type of conflict is quite common in ministry. This too can happen for various reasons; sometimes it is due to the sins or errors of the minister, at other times it is due to the sins or errors of the congregation. Sometimes it is due to misunderstandings of either or both parties. However, the case that we will be looking at is one in which the minister is not at fault.
As was stated earlier the apostle Paul founded the church at Corinth (Acts 18); he was its spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15). He spent a significant amount of time in the city and invested himself in the lives of the people by teaching them (Acts 18:11). However, his spiritual children did not always give him the respect that he deserved. On the contrary, there were times when they were quite contemptuous toward him. More specifically, they did not respect his authority and even resorted to maligning his public speaking (2 Cor. 11:5; 10:10). As we read the book of 2 Corinthians we can see that the attacks against Paul were very personal in nature. This teaches us a very sobering truth: proper respect is not always given to the person who is called, anointed, and given authority by God. This is perhaps especially true if the leader has offered correction to the church, as Paul had done in his earlier letter, the one that we know as 1 Corinthians. It is part of our sinful human nature to resist or resent teaching that tells us that we must change.
Now, Paul had earlier written to the Corinthian church and admitted to them that his preaching was not very impressive by human standards. Later they took issue with him over his public speaking, they said that his letters were forceful but that his personal presentations were not (2 Cor. 10:10). However, they were forgetting something. It is true that Paul’s message was very simple and direct; it focused on Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:2), but he had the power of God attending it (1 Cor. 2:4). Paul had the power of God, the blessing of God upon his public speaking; the existence of the Corinthian church was proof of that! He was blessed in this way because he was declaring the truth. Content is the most important thing in preaching. People often attack the minister’s preaching and teaching (because it is done in public). Some are also known to be very taken by a charismatic speaker, one who can move a crowd by their delivery or emotion. This is the wrong measuring stick to use on Christian preaching and teaching.
The Corinthians also took issue with Paul’s authority. That may have threatened another minister but Paul never budges on this issue. He is unwavering in saying that he has authority (2 Cor.10:8; 13:10) and he states plainly that it has been given to him for a redemptive purpose, to build them up, not to tear them down. He is very secure in his authority because it is linked to his apostleship, which he is quite confident of (1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1). This probably explains how he could stand strong in the face of the opposition that he encountered from the Corinthian church. Not many of us have experienced as powerful a call to ministry as Paul did (Acts 9; 22; 26), but that does not mean that it is any less divine. God is the one who calls apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11) and we need to take confidence in that truth, especially when we encounter conflict in our ministry.
Category: Ministry, Winter 2016
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