Conflict in the church, is that even possible? If we have our sights on Christ and all he can do and is doing and will do, would we even have time to recognize issues among believers? Sadly, the answer is yes.
I have been in just as much conflict in the church as I have been out of the church. In any church. I've been accused of not giving enough in my tithe and threatened to be "kicked of the membership list", I've been in conflict with other believers about certain behaviors, as well as disagreements about "the word". I'm neither right nor wrong in any of these issues, and I won't go into any of them, but conflict is easy to come and feelings can be hurt worse in believer's lives than in non believers. It's also easy to pick sides, especially if you only know one side of the story.
Does that give you a reason to bash Christianity and Christians? If I can't behave any better as a Christian than as a non believer, should I stay out of the church? The last thing anyone wants to do is cause conflict in the church walls and the last thing anyone wants is to jeopardize the safe environment of God's House.
First, let me explain where God lives when you ask Christ into your heart...oh I got ahead of myself. Well now that the cat is out of the bag, and you know that he lives in your heart and that YOU are the church, it wouldn't matter where you went to hide, you would always be a part of the church walls. We all come to Christ with different pasts, different issues, different frustrations and different reactions. It would make sense that we will come up against things that will challenge us, but they will not challenge God. Each conflict is an opportunity to test out your God training wheels. Sometimes we fall. But it's ok, God's there to pick up back up and help us try again. The best thing to do is focus on God and ask him to work on your own heart.
1 Corinthians 1:10-12 The Message (MSG)
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”
I have been in just as much conflict in the church as I have been out of the church. In any church. I've been accused of not giving enough in my tithe and threatened to be "kicked of the membership list", I've been in conflict with other believers about certain behaviors, as well as disagreements about "the word". I'm neither right nor wrong in any of these issues, and I won't go into any of them, but conflict is easy to come and feelings can be hurt worse in believer's lives than in non believers. It's also easy to pick sides, especially if you only know one side of the story.
Does that give you a reason to bash Christianity and Christians? If I can't behave any better as a Christian than as a non believer, should I stay out of the church? The last thing anyone wants to do is cause conflict in the church walls and the last thing anyone wants is to jeopardize the safe environment of God's House.
First, let me explain where God lives when you ask Christ into your heart...oh I got ahead of myself. Well now that the cat is out of the bag, and you know that he lives in your heart and that YOU are the church, it wouldn't matter where you went to hide, you would always be a part of the church walls. We all come to Christ with different pasts, different issues, different frustrations and different reactions. It would make sense that we will come up against things that will challenge us, but they will not challenge God. Each conflict is an opportunity to test out your God training wheels. Sometimes we fall. But it's ok, God's there to pick up back up and help us try again. The best thing to do is focus on God and ask him to work on your own heart.
1 Corinthians 1:10-12 The Message (MSG)
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”
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