Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Good Conflict, Bad Conflict

As churchofthecustomer.com blogs about, Communication is good but hearing incorrect communication is not always easy to deal with. Depending on your perspective though, conflict is not all bad.

I think there are two general types of conflict: Moral and Immoral.

Immoral = Deceit, lies, ½ truths, manipulations, Self-centeredness, Pride, Superiority, Anger, Envy, Coveting, Resentment, Bitterness, etc…

Moral = Misunderstanding, Miscommunication, Lack of communication
Lack of experience, False assumption, Jumping to conclusions, Lack of info, Different moral goals, Different expectations, Immaturity, etc…

The question is, what kind of conflict are you experiencing? Welcome conflict that is moral or ‘good’. This kind of conflict presents an opportunity to grow, learn and be a better person. But be very cautious to continue with one you are experiencing immoral or ‘bad’ conflict with. Run away! Run Away! (Which in classic digression reminds me of the old holiness classic, The Holy Grail).

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I pray for discernment on this issue. Being a new Christian the conflict I am experiencing now seems to be with other Christians...which I agree with you John can be good conflict. Someone who is very warm and passionate with God can put many Christian believers who are a little stagnate with their faith in a convicted state. I've experienced some coldness and distance from fellow Christians because of my enthusiasm for the Lord. Are they cold or distant because I am coming across as being too self-righteouss or their feeling convicted? As long as we pray for discernment on this issue it becomes an opportunity for us to grow closer to the Lord.

Jonathan Foster said...

Yeah, some of my most difficult relationships have been with other believers. Combination of reasons that deserve a few posts in and of themselves but the main thing is for you to keep your eyes on 'The Relationship'. As you do that the other stuff will sort out. One other thing - You might feel lonely in this thing at times. But, you're never alone.