Nurtures loving, accountable, and reconciling relationships within the community and intentionally working toward oneness in Christ to remove division.
Today we will be discussing Healthy Community Dynamics that nurtures loving, accountable, and reconciling relationships within the community and intentionally working toward oneness in Christ to remove division.
An incident happened in my country recently that I found parallel to what we will be studying today.
A gentleman named Gorge Floyd lost his life in a “conflict” with police. The officer and his abuse of authority fueled the rage and anger of a nation, dividing and challenging our understanding of “justice”.
Conflict is a part of life my brothers and sister. I’m sure we all have experience that in the past and unavoidably will experience it in the future. But as much as conflict may be part of life, “Division” should not be. That’s what we will focus on today.
I don’t know of a leadership model that will totally eliminate disagreements or personality clashes in any community, any organization or ministry. But I know that we have an amazing model of how to address “division” and reconcile relationships within ourselves, our ministry and ultimately our community. We find that model in Jesus.
What an amazing teacher Jesus is and what a great handbook the Bible is. And such comfort it is to know that every time in doubt, we can open Gods’ book and find the answers we need.
Managing conflict and division is no exception, and Jesus delivers one of my favorite examples on the Sermon on the Mount:
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
Oh, how hard it is at times, to see the plank in our own eye’s friends, isn’t it? We just witnessed a shameful example of that in our own backyard, regardless of the color of our skin, our race or social status. That is what Jesus challenges us to do. To create an environment that encourages community members working through their relational differences. A Christlike leader has to devote himself or herself to learning how to do just that. In other words, to remove division, we must love our way through conflict
I get it friends, it is often emotionally and mentally challenging to reconcile relationships, keep the community accountable and be loving at the same time. That is why we need to relay on the Holy Spirit and focus on keeping an eye toward positive closure instead of magnifying the guilt or the judgment.
Through ILF, each one of us will have many opportunities to minister to our community, to work with others through relational, spiritual and even personal differences. Especially the ones who do not share the same faith and spiritual value as we do. Remembering what Brother Roland mentioned a couple of weeks ago, our role is not to be the Hero in the community but to be the Friend of the community.
Jesus continued the Sermon on the Mount saying
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:43-45
One of the most well-known Christian ministers in America was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He delivered a sermon in 1956 based on this very passage of Scripture. The sermon’s title was “Loving Your Enemy.” Through the course of his sermon, Dr. King suggested three ways by which we can do just that.
First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. Such forgiveness doesn’t mean that we ignore the wrong committed against us. Rather, it means that we will no longer allow the wrong to be a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness, according to Dr. King, “is to create the environment necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning.”
Second, we must recognize that the wrong we’ve suffered doesn’t entirely represent the other person’s identity. We need to acknowledge that we all, possess both bad and good qualities. We must choose to find the good and focus on it.
Third, we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the wrong, but to win his or her friendship and understanding. Such attitude flows not from ourselves, but from God as his unconditional love works through us.
As followers of Christ and as members in ILF ministry who seek to lead as Jesus led, we must remember that the more freely we forgive, the more clearly, we reveal the nature of our heavenly Father.
