Church leaders have a responsibility not only to effectively manage conflict when it arises, but to promote peace and good congregational health. Stated one way, church leaders seek to prevent conflict.
Stated more positively and forcefully, however, church leaders need to be about the business of making peace.
This is the third part of a Leadership Link series on preventing conflict. In the first installment, we considered Christ’s character traits of humility and sacrifice that made peace. In the second, we looked at his ability to balance kingdom needs with the needs of the people around him, a trait we called assertiveness, and at his nonviolent approach. In those articles, we asked what about Jesus made him a peacemaker? Logically, the leaders of Christ’s church would seek to embody those same characteristics.
With this article we shift our focus from Jesus’ own traits to those of the early church. The example of Christ provides a model for us to use as individual peacemakers. The example of the early church provides a model showing how a church prevents destructive conflict and manages conflict when it does arise. Like churches in our era, the early church faced challenges both from within and without. This article looks at the Jerusalem church (Acts 6), and the next will examine the Jerusalem council (Acts 15).
The example of early church leaders
Deacons usually trace their scriptural roots to Acts 6:1-7. Although the seven who were chosen to serve were not called deacons at that point, it is likely that the practice of electing a team of servants, first instituted here in the Jerusalem church, became common in other churches as well. Even in that age, when something worked in one church others tried it, too. Gradually, these groups of “servants” (deacons) came to be called “servants” (deacons). Obviously, catchy names were not important to them.
The church in Jerusalem had grown rapidly. After Pentecost, when about 3,000 new Christians were added (Acts 2:41), the church continued to reach new people. As Acts 6 opens, the church is growing, but conflict looms on the horizon. “The Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” How these church leaders reacted to this potentially disruptive situation can provide guidelines for present-day church leaders who face conflict.
Listen to the people
The leaders of the early church were in touch with the feelings of the other members. When complaining started, they listened. An old adage says, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Usually major conflicts do not simply erupt; they start small and escalate.
In our churches, people sometimes do not think their voices are heard. In fact, occasionally I will hear a disgruntled church member say, “They start all these programs and just assume we will support them and volunteer to serve in them without ever asking us how we feel or if we have a better idea!” By listening to the complaining the early church leaders avoided having a little problem become a big one.
Notice that the apostles were not threatened by voices raised in protest. They did not assume that grumbling indicated a lack of confidence in their leadership or a lack of spiritual maturity on the part of the grumblers. They listened to what the people were saying.
Take people and their needs seriously. Nothing discounts people more than treating them as if their opinions did not matter. Granted, some people are simply chronic complainers who are unhappy about almost everything, but to dismiss complainers generally is to invite trouble. A sign above a church ministry assistant’s desk illustrated this attitude. It read, “KWICHURBELLYACKEN.” The attitude some church leaders seem to have is “quit your bellyaching” whenever a complaint is made.
Apparently the apostles listened, evaluated the complaint and agreed that the Greek widows had, in fact, been neglected. But I wonder what would have happened if their evaluation had indicated that the Greek widows were being cared for just as well as their native Hebrew counterparts.
A business management principle cites, “Perception is reality.” Whether the church leaders agreed or not did not change the fact that the Greek widows believed they were being neglected. If the people believe there is a problem, there is a problem. Church leaders who make peace in their congregations take the people and their needs seriously.
The apostles knew that as important as reaching unbelievers was, that could happen only if there was peace in the fellowship. A demoralized, fractured, contentious church is hardly able to evangelize effectively.
Build flexibility into your practices
The apostles did not say, “If the Lord had wanted more leaders than 12 he would have appointed them.” They were open to finding new solutions to new problems. They were willing to put into practice a need that Jesus had already identified: “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins” (Mark 2:22). Clearly, he was saying that old ways of doing things are sometimes inadequate to handle new developments.
Early church leaders were willing to be flexible and change the way they did things. In this case, they shared their leadership with others for the good of the church. They suggested that seven others be brought into the circle of service to help them meet the growing demands of a growing church.
From this example a principle may be drawn. Church life is dynamic and ever changing. As the needs of people change, so must the way the church does things.
What resulted from their listening, taking the people seriously and flexibility? Destructive and disruptive conflict was avoided and the church continued to grow.
Jim White is executive editor of the Religious Herald.
Related stories:
• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 4
• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 2
• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 1