Dealing with conflict and disagreement are some of the
hardest things that we do in life. I hate conflict and my default Conflict
management style is avoidance. A bit like this Banksy painting, If I
can sweep it under the mat I will. The only problem with that course of action
is that eventually you will trip up over the large lump in the middle of the
room. And important things can’t be dealt with in that way.
The Internet was supposed to be a place where information
was shared and people could cooperate to solve conflict and difference. At the
same time it has become infected with mystical beasts who used to wait under
bridges in children’s fairy tales or threateningly lumber along in fantasy
epics, but now lurk in virtual anonymity behind keyboards, to pounce and attack
anyone they don’t agree with or like. These trolls don’t want to enter meaningful
debate and search for truth rather they just type out vitriol and venom.
Even in the church we find it hard to deal with conflict… It
is hard to deal with people who have differing views, on small matters like the
colour of church carpet and worship styles and peoples likes and dislikes, let
alone when it comes to matters of greater importance like doctrine and
teaching, matters that really matter.
In one book on pastoral leadership I read there was a
chapter that was labelled ‘learning to fight like Christians’ it maintained
that there were rules of engagement for wars, that boxing has rules, and if it
had been more recent it probably would have even pointed out that MMA (mixed
Marshal Arts) which had been described as ‘organised prison violence’ has rules
and so Christian’s also needed to know the rules when it came to fighting, or
dealing with disagreement and conflict.
In the passage we are looking at today Paul turns to help Timothy
in the task that he has been given of dealing with false teachers in the church
at Ephesus. And that is helpful for us as it gives us some insights and
practical advice for dealing with similar issues today and the wider issue of
dealing with conflict and difference in the Church. In the section from the start of chapter
three, Paul tells Timothy that the end times, that long section of history
between Christ’s incarnation and his return, would be marked by such
difficulties. You can see the truth of that prophecy in church history. For us
today as we participate in God’s mission and grow into maturity and ministry we
will face conflict and falsehood as well, so Paul’s teaching is as relevant to
us as it was to Timothy.
Last year I was involved in a commission to another Church
in Auckland. It was a church where the minister was in deep conflict with his
elders. We were called by the Presbytery to sort it out. It was one of the most
draining situations, physically, emotionally and spiritually, I’ve ever dealt
with, as we listened to both sides and had to discern a way forwards. Timothy
had found the same thing with dealing with the difficult pastoral situation in
Ephesus, he was burned out. As we’ve seen over the past few weeks in the
opening section of 2 Timothy Paul encourages Timothy to fan into flames the
gift of God within you. He encourages Timothy to work on his Spiritual
vitality. To remember the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life and whatChrist has done for him, and to put into place spiritual disciplines that will
help him to continue in the ministry and mission God had called him to: To kiakaha or stand strong in Jesus Christ. Conflict and strife and struggle and
opposition and wrestling with falsehood can sap us spiritually and Paul’s best
advise is the importance of keeping that relationship with Christ healthy.
Now Paul turns to Timothy to give him the material he needs
to work against the false teachers. He
talks of content, strategy, motive and in the midst of that he gives Timothy
hope.
He gives Timothy the content he is to use in the conflict
against the false teachers…
Paul tells timothy to “Keep reminding God’s people of these
things.” These things, refers back to what has gone before, and it may mean the
teaching in the section of the letter before this which was as you may remember
from last week contained in a song, and talked of the fact that if we die with
Christ we will live with Christ and if we endure we will also reign with him,
and that God is faithful. That dying to self and enduring may have needed to be
reinforced to people because of the false teaching that we are told of in verse
18 who say that the resurrection has already happened, that it was a spiritual
resurrection and we’ve all ready made it. But Paul is saying that instead of it
being about having already made it, and enjoying heaven now, that the Christian
life is about identifying with Christ’s
death and sacrificial love, and enduring till he returns.
But it also applies to the rest of what Paul has been
telling Timothy, which could be summed up as Solid teaching that leads to holy
living, and faith that has its outworking in love. The gospel in its entirety,
in saying the resurrection has already come in some way part of the problem at
Corinth as well as Ephesus, and in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul takes some time to
reaffirm the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, if the resurrection was
simply a spiritual one, then there people can deny the physical resurrection of
Jesus and Paul also points them forward to our own resurrection when Christ
returns, it is bodily resurrection. Saying the resurrection has already
happened and is a spiritual thing had impacted on how people lived primarily
that what we do with our bodies does not matter. This had lead to two extremes
in Corinth and there is evidence of it in Ephesus. One was an extreme
aestheticism, where you’ll remember people had done away with marriage, there
was no longer the need for romantic and sexual love, and also focused on food
laws as well, our bodies don’t matter anymore. The other extreme was that we
could do what we liked with our bodies and it lead to all sorts of practices
that did not reflect the gospel teaching.
When dealing with false teaching and in the midst of
differing understandings and doctrines
it is important to be reminded again and again of the gospel. The
central truth of Jesus Christ, who came and died and rose again. In the face of false teaching it is as we
tell the truth of the good news that the fake news is exposed and loses its
attraction and glow in the true light of Jesus Christ. When we differ on
matters that are not of so great importance it draws us back to what is really
important and central and enables us to see common ground and common good and
the basis for love for each other in which we can work through those minor
differences.
Paul gives Timothy the strategy for dealing with conflict…
Paul tells Timothy not to get involved in the squabbling
about words and godless chatter of the false teachers. Rather says Paul Timothy
was to be like a reliable workman who built a straight path, divided correctly
the word of truth. The way Timothy handled the truth was as important as the
truth itself. The false teacher wove
these wonderful whirls of words, threads of thought that wound round each other
and seemed to go no where. Kind of like the comments section on an internet
news feed, where people nit pick about what is said or simply see it as a
chance to respond with what they think, not search for the truth or solve the
issue, and of course it is often hijacked by those lurking trolls. But the
metaphor Paul uses talks of Timothy making a straight way in the truth,
focusing on it but showing its reality by how it is lived out.
Paul says the false teachers seem to seek out the vulnerable
and persuade them in secret, but Timothy is to be open and to teach in public.
So all can hear and decide what is right. Paul tells timothy to flee youthful
ambitions, here you get the idea of things like wanting to be right and win,
and rather to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. In the later verses
of chapter 2 Paul talks of teaching with kindness, and with gentleness. That we
show Christian love in how we deal with error and conflict. We still care for
those who we disagree with. Gentleness is not weak or wishy washy but rather
says that we focus on the common good and the truth and are not waylaid or
distracted from it by personal insult and slight.
In the book on pastoral leadership I mentioned before, the
author suggests real practical ways of doing that. Like leaving a gap after
someone has spoken to think of what they have said, rather than taking the fct
they have stopped as a chance to say what we think. Taking the time to
reflect back to the other person their
position, so they know we have heard and understand before we respond. In his
book Soulsalsa Leonard Sweet adds
such things as not critiquing someone’s position before we find something to
celebrate about them.
That leads on to Paul telling Timothy the Motive for dealing
with the false teachers.
That is to see people
come to know the truth in Jesus Christ. To repent and change. It’s not about
writing people off or destroying their position and them rather its about them
responding again to the love of Christ in the gospel. That God will grant them
repentance leading to knowledge of the truth. The content is the gospel, the
way we approach conflict reflects Christ so they will again meet with Jesus
Christ.
I use the Bible in One Year programme for my devotions and
the day I sat down to write this message the New Testament reading was the
second half of Acts 8 and the whole of Acts 9.. It starts with the death of
Stephen the churches first martyr, and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who we
know as Paul. Saul looked after the coats of the people who stoned Stephen to
death, he agreed with the killing and he went on to persecute the church. On
his way to Damascus to arrest Christians there he encounters Jesus Christ. In
Damascus he is blind, and God sends Ananias to go and pray for him to receive
his sight, Ananias is scared as he has heard of Saul’s hatred of followers of
Jesus, But he goes and ministers kindness to Paul and he receives his sight and
starts preaching that Jesus is the messiah. Paul knows that God can change
people’s hearts, he knows that the person who is wrong about Jesus can met
Christ and have their lives transformed. H knows God’s desire for all to come
to know Jesus Christ. That has always got to be the motive that we bring to a
conflict and wrestling with false hood that the other person may encounter
Christ, and if we are in the wrong that we would encounter Christ and know the
truth. It is the right attitude to come with, when we have differences Jesus
show me your truth, it is the right attitude we should have for those we
disagree with, may they encounter Christ and know the truth.
In the middle of all that Paul gives Timothy hope. In
typical Jewish thought Paul’s teaching is in two halves. Verse 14-18 and 22-26 the
focus is on how Timothy is to deal with
the false teachers, but in the two paragraphs is the important thing that give
him hope in the midst of the task.
Paul uses the image of God’s household, full of different
vessels used for different purposes. The house is built on a solid foundation.
Building in the ancient world had a corner stone that the whole place was built
of, and often on that stone would be an inscription that denoted whose building
it was. We know from 1 peter and also from 1 Corinthians that that solid
foundation that corner stone is Jesus Christ, or Christ and Christ crucified.
The inscriptions on this stone are that “the Lord knows who are his.” And “that
those who confess the name of the Lord will turn from wickedness”. That the
vessels in the house depending on what they are made of will be used to
everyday mundane things, and other of precious metals will be used in public
for special events, important things.
The hope is that in God’s household founded on Christ and
Christ crucified, God knows who are his… he is not fooled, and those who truly
confess Jesus will turn and live a life that reflects him, they will always
follow the truth. There will always be a mix of people in the household of God,
just like Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds. It is only when
the harvest comes that they will be separated. The hope in the midst of
Conflict and wrestling with what is right and wrong belief is that in the end
it is God who knows those who are his. It’s not up to us to judge, yes we need
to be good workers and build by staying faithful to the gospel and do the
things that please God to the best of our ability. But in the end during
conflict and as we work through different teachings and understandings the hope
is that God knows his own, and if we face conflict holding on to the gospel and
treat others with a Christ like love desiring that we all come to Christ, not
simply that we win, God knows who are his, and is able to build his Church on
his truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment