RESOLVING CONFLICT
As I write today, thousands of people in many cities around the world are staging a protest. So far it appears to be a fairly unorganized grass-roots movement that is venting frustration about the careless extravagance of the wealthy especially in a time of world-wide economic crisis. It is an example of societal conflict on a larger scale. War of course is the ultimate conflict.
Sometimes it seems that life is all about resolving conflict. It seems to meet us at every turn -- from the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to bed at night. And even then conflict is often still with us as the subject of our dreams. Seems we're always fighting for something or someone - especially most often for ourselves or what we consider our rights.
Progress in any endeavour we conclude has a lot to do with figuring out how to "win" against some kind of opposition. Many of us face conflict at work or at home. All human relationships sooner or later seem to involve conflict. Generally, conflict is seen as a negative factor in our lives and often we will do whatever we can to avoid it. But most of us have come to realize that if we try too hard to avoid conflict we may have to face worse forms of it later.
From a Christian perspective, conflict, though certainly undesirable, is an inevitable part of human existence because of the existence of good and evil. Based on the Bible, Christians believe that the reality of conflict in our world is rooted in the rebellion of Satan against God (poetically described in Isaiah 14:12-15). And conflict in human experience began when Satan tempted our first parents to sin against God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).
So we have this problem that St. Paul describes as the war within (Romans 7:14-25). But in the same passage he also makes clear that the solution to inner conflict is the Good News about Jesus who overcame Satan on our behalf through his own death and resurrection. So, we find, it is by opening our lives to Jesus that inner conflict can be assuaged.
But that doesn't mean that those who are followers of Jesus won't experience relational conflict. This is because the final resolution of conflict will only be achieved when Jesus comes back to earth. In the mean time, the existence of conflict need not be a bad thing.
Properly considered, differences between us can be the means to personal growth in understanding and maturity. This happens when we are able to step back from the conflict situation and take an honest look at our own attitudes and motivations. It would be wonderful if all conflict could always be resolved toward peaceful ends. And we should definitely try. But sometimes, we may have to wait for the final day of resolution.
