CONFLICT - A VINTNER'S ASSESSMENT
(No "Whine" Before Its Time...?)

Words of encouragement and support for those ministering "in the fields."

Conflict. Discord. Hostility. Antagonism. Strife. A congregation at odds with one another, or with its pastor, rather than being "of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." [Phillipians 2:2]

I spend a lot of time with churches who are in conflict. And throughout my time with them, while I'm offering ways to clarify communications, elucidate expectations, and come to conclusions, I'm usually assessing the situation in vintner's terms. Is this a church intent upon pouring new wine into old wineskins? Are old grudges and resentments hoarded and aged into bitter wine and served up on every occasion? Where is the cup of blessing? Where is the new covenant that is not engraved in bylaws but flows into the hearts of those who drink of the cup that Jesus drank?

The "wine" in question is, of course, not the alcoholic beverage of varying quality, often replete with sulfides and anti-fungal agents, capable of impairing judgement and inducing addiction. Rather we are considering the wine of the spirit, pressed from the fruit of the Creator's vineyard, delightful, heart-warming and health-giving, and, yes, risky and dizzying.

There are times when conflict is necessary and life-giving. There are times when those old wineskins need to explode and be replaced. Times when the wine cellar needs to be purged of its toxic contents. Times when the cup of blessing is too easily given, for the sake of appearances or surface goodwill, only to be received in contempt and tossed aside. Times when the question needs to be raised, "Are you really ready-or willing, or able-to drink of the cup of commitment and self-sacrifice as Jesus did? To take the Gospel into your heart?"

Wineskins, cellars, cups, and hearts. Maybe conflict is about the clash between contents and containers, spirit and vessel.

At the first church I served as pastor the members of the various women's circles were getting on in years. They longed for younger members. One day two young women came to me and said, "We'd really like to start a new Circle. We'd like to have Bible study at night and work on some community mission projects together on weekends. With our jobs and our children we don't want to go to a lot of business meetings, and we can't do stuff during the day." I was excited and urged them to go ahead. When I mentioned their plans to the president of the Women's Fellowship she did not react as I had expected. She met with the rapidly expanding group of younger women, to explain to them what would be required of them as a women's circle: participation in the Women's Fellowship meetings the third Thursday afternoon of every month, sewing layettes for Church World Service, establishing a regular rotation of responsibility for midweek meals and special events at the church, representation on the Women's Fellowship Executive Board, and on and on until the younger women were totally discouraged, ready to abandon their lively vision. But we made it through the conflict. A new wineskin was designed and produced so that the younger women's energy was not lost, nor poured into an old wineskin and forced to battle its way out of a fixed form.

There is conflict when injuries, bruises, shattered dreams and rifts in relationships live on unmended. When justified anger has blazed and then frozen, coating hearts with ice and allowing for no moving beyond that rigidity.

There is conflict when church leaders must say to a member who is consistently undermining the pastor's leadership or stirring up animosities among the members that such behavior sours the cup of blessing.

There is conflict when some members of a congregation believe they have "hired" a minister to serve them and others regard the calling of a pastor as a commitment more covenantal than contractural, more fluid and growing than static and limiting.

There is conflict when a minister is more enamored of ordination than called to serve as pastor and teacher; so eager to be loved and indulged that s/he denies the responsibilities of vocation and leadership.

There is conflict as the wineskins and wine cellars, the cups and the hearts are challenged to contain and preserve, share and live out the bold and ever-changing spirit of the Most High. But there is hope that sees us through the conflict.

Paul's words encourage us as they encouraged the church at Phillipi, "Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel." [1:27]

                                                                  ~ Mary Susan

For previous editions of "Pacific Currents", click here.

Home

[Home] [Who We Are] [Churches] [Worship and Prayer] [Calendar]
[Documents & Resources] [Mission and Action] [Help Us] [Search]

this page last updated on March 26, 2001