Horizons — On conflict

United through Christ, Bound to Each Other: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
Rhonda Mawhood Lee’s Horizons Bible Study
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians, Chapters 3 and 4

Conflict. Where two or three are gathered, there will be disagreement and conflict. We disagree on which sports teams are the best and what we want for dinner. Sometimes, though, conflict can get out of hand.

Among other things, the community of the faithful in Corinth is arguing over leadership. Paul and Apollos have both been important to the young church, and people are fighting over who is the best. 

I serve on the Commission on Ministry for the Presbytery of the James, specifically the committee that addresses church conflicts. In my experience, all the church conflicts have dealt with expectations around leadership. A power struggle between the pastor and a few elders rocks a church, or political beliefs influence topics deemed acceptable. Another example: The beloved pastor of many years leaves, and the new pastor does things “the wrong way.” In each instance, the church was infected by the world’s standards (for Paul, “the flesh”) that concern competition, power struggles and dominance. 

Paul writes the Corinthian church and tells them that when he lived among them, he fed them spiritual baby food — milk. Paul asserts that if they were mature, they would not be dividing into factions. (See 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.) 

As Richard B. Hayes characterizes it in his book First Corinthians, Christian leaders are like farm workers and construction contractors. Among the gathered believers, Paul planted the seeds, and Apollos watered them. It is not that one leader is better than the other; rather, both have distinctive jobs. The goal is for a crop of spiritual seeds to sprout, grow, bear fruit and mature into plants. Paul reminds us that it is God, not Paul, Apollos or us, who causes the seeds of faith to grow. 

Christian leaders are also like construction contractors. The first job is to lay a solid, even foundation, or the building will sag and crack. The foundation for the Christian church is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the rock and anchor in stormy seas in the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.” Anything less than Christ can lead to conflicts, cracks and sometimes breakdown in the cohesion of a Christian community. We “dare not trust the sweetest frame” of worldly values but are to wholly lean on Christ. 

After the foundation is well built, the subcontractors come in to do the next phase of construction. The materials had better be substantial and of high quality. In Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnbook, the hymn “Let Us Build a House,” speaks of a house made of healing, forgiveness, justice, peace and … “a rock of faith and vault of grace as one we claim the faith of Jesus.” Instead of being made of wood, steel or concrete, the structure of the Christian community is built of Christ-enabled attitudes and actions. 

I love the image of the community of faith beneath a vault of grace. When a church is in conflict within our presbytery, and the session asks for assistance, the Commission on Ministry sends a “listening team” to listen objectively to members of the congregation. By the time a session asks for help, people have generally divided into camps, as the Corinthian church did. Such listening teams focus on who we are in Jesus Christ and establish a vault of respect in which it is safe for individuals to speak in private conversations with team members. After prayerful consideration, recommendations are made to the session, which then considers whether to adopt them. Even while making difficult decisions, congregations have affirmed that the process has lessened hostility and made them more centered in the grace of God.

As Paul affirms in Philippians 2, we are to have the mind of Christ, who did not hold onto power. Rather, Christ emptied himself and became human. The attitude of Christian leaders, and indeed all of us, is humility. It is a radical belief for our time.

You can purchase the PW/Horizons Bible study book through the PC(USA) Church Store.