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Secular View versus Faith View IV - in Trouble ...

Thursday, Oct 9, 2014. When we read the biblical New Testament letters, we are typically faced with sentences like “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 1: 3) But what about this peace, when you are in the middle of a conflict?

Problems need to be addressed …

We have to acknowledge that conflicts cannot be avoided. Jesus had them all the time. And also today, where ever you look, there are quite severe conflicts on all levels of life. They exist between the political parties, but also within the parties. They are there between the media, but also within each of the corporations. They exist between companies, but also on all levels of their processes and hierarchies. Let us note first that conflicts are universal. Conflicts are bound to come.

In the middle of our conflicts we hear the word of peace, which the Apostles and and angels, but also Jesus himself tells us. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14, 27)

Our first main conclusion is that this peace does not mean that we will not face conflicts. We will get into trouble, at least occasionally. Sometimes it seems to us that trouble will never end. But that is not true - trouble will end. The biblical statement is that it will not end until God has fully established his kingdom. And we are in the middle of this process, not yet at its end.

But now: what? …

How do we act when we are in trouble. I was in a meeting yesterday, where the leader of the meeting was in trouble. He felt attacked by other people in the meeting and felt under pressure when facing the central managment board. So he started the whole meeting in some kind of “attack mode”, using his words to heavily shoot around in all directions, speaking figuratively. During the meeting we were able to smoothen out some of the difficulties, and I think that he was quite happy about a constructive three hours. I had a word with him when we left - he still felt hurt. Unfortunately he did not see that he also contributed to this by his own words and behavior.

We are called to peace. Jesus is quite strong with his demand that we should love our enemies, that we should not fight back. On the other hand, he demostrates very clear ability to address problems and to get into discussions himself. Following his example is a balancing act, between giving in, letting injustice happen, and between addressing the problems and fighting for the better.

I am not sure how you do your things. For me it is quite difficult to find this balance. I feel bad when I speak up. On the other hand I cannot remain completely silent - it is just impossible to me. I am willing to do whatever it takes to help the others, but I cannot completely compromise my ideas of quality and progress. How are you handling these things? (Roland Potthast) ... more texts