church planters. It is always an eye opening experience and I learn
much more than I give. I learn about myself, people and the Lord.
One of the areas we assess is conflict management. Conflict is a
part of life and a big part of leadership. Somehow in the Christian
culture we have come to an understanding that we must be door mats,
allowing everyone and anyone to walk on us. On the surface it smacks
of love and kindness. We may even have scripture to back it up in
that Jesus went like a sheep to the slaughter without a word. That
is a word from Isaiah 53:7 and it is true. But what if we have
misunderstood it? What if Jesus did actually speak in the moments of
the lies being told about him? What if he non-violently turned the
light on to the darkness that was working to destroy him? John
18:19-23 is a different story. When Jesus is struck by one of the
officials he challenged the one who struck him. That challenge
turned the light on in the darkness. That challenge revealed the
heart of the one who hit him.
What if we could find a non-violent way to call out evil? What if we
were not called to be doormats? What do we do with Jesus words that
those entering the Kingdom of God take it by violence? Could it be
that we should re-think how to live in conflict? This I do know, if
we are always living as doormats we may one day rise up and unleash a
furry of negative energy. No one is made to "take it" all of the time.
One of the gifts we hope to give those moving toward spiritual
leadership is the gift of standing in conflict and knowing that they
are following Jesus when they stand up for themselves. We are called
to lay down our lives but we are not called to be doormats. No we
are not!
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