What causes conflict among God's people?

What would the church of Jesus Christ be like without conflict?  What if there were no problems and everyone got along fine?  A story is told of a man who was lamenting his problems to the late Norman Vincent Peale.  His earnest desire was that he would not have any problems.  Mr. Peale pointed him toward a cemetary and quipped, “Look over there son, those people are the only ones who have no problems!”  While we might earnestly wish for conflict to go away, the practical matter is that it will always exist in the church and, at times, can be quite beneficial.

A cursory look at the causes of conflict reveals reasons that are as varied as the individuals involved.  Conflict arises in the church over money and missions, personalities and power, spirituality and service, decorations and doctrine.  The list is seemingly endless.  A deeper look at conflict would show that many of these issues are simply triggers for conflict.  In and of themselves, they are not the cause of the conflict.  They merely set off a chain of events which were already stirring.  Consider how your car starts.  You put the key in the ignition and turn it thus cranking the car engine.  But the mere turn of the key is not the real “cause” of the car starting.  The key turn merely triggered the electrical flow from the battery to the starter and other electrical components.  Likewise, a fight in the hall of a church between two members of the personnel committee may have erupted when one member bumped into another.  The “bump” only triggered emotions between the two who had already disagreed over qualifications for the next pastor.  This not an insgnificant distinction to make.  As a consultant, I have found the issues on the surface of a problem are often quite different than the underlying causes.  In order to identify the causes of conflict,  one must carefully analyze the facts and avoid the tendency to treat the “symptoms” rather than the underlying cause.

Instead of merely reviewing the things which manifest conflict, consider some examples of conflict and the underlying causes of that conflict.
 

Conflicting Wants and Needs

Conflict usually begins in the Church when someone makes a motion, proposal, or request of someone else.  If this request involves some substantative change to “the way we’ve always done it” conflict ensues.  Looking toward the underlying cause of this conflict one finds conflicting wants or conflicting needs.  A “want” can be defined as a desire for a particular thing that may or may not benefit the person but is not a requirement of their life.  A “need” would then be defined as a desire for something that is required for their life.  A good example of these two definitions would be the choice of a Sunday School class room.  After completing a new Church building for educational uses, everyone wanted to move their class to the new building.  I was teaching a young married couples class and desired a room that we could personalize.  The new facility had the attraction of white boards, comfortable seats, in addition to being “new”.  The Minister to Adults concluded the area we were in was better for our class because it was close to the nursery.  I “wanted” a new classroom but the “need” to be close to the infants was far more important.

This type of conflict over differing wants or needs is very common.  Left on its own, it can escalate to the point of dividing the Church over seemingly insignificant issues such as “should the seats in the sanctuary be padded or not?.”
 

Differing Priorities

Many conflicts in the church that embitter members toward one another can be traced to differing priorities.  A battle may be waged over the church budget.  The pastor reveals plans to expand the Church building.  Some Church members disagree with this approach to ministry and war breaks out.  A schism develops between the “dissidents” and the “godly” members who support the pastor no matter what his position may be.  This unfortunate labeling of believers seems to only add fuel to the fire of conflict.  The “dissidents” decide the pastor is paid too much money.  The “godly” group decides to oust the dissidents from the Church altogether.  This is how church battles over finances can develop.

What is the underlying cause of this conflict?  Is it that the “dissident” group doesn’t want to spend money?  Or could there be another agenda that has failed to surface because of the heated exchanges between the membership?  Actually, the outspoken group in this case is really more interested in missions activity than local church growth.  The “godly” crowd is more interested in local church growth than missions.  Neither side is right or wrong in their conviction concerning these matters.  The underlying cause of this conflict concerns the differing priorities of the members.  The differences in priorities or focus of the church ministry is not sin and in many cases is the result of how the Lord is leading a particular believer.  The church needs to understand this and manage the church ministries accordingly.  No believer should be mistreated, ostracized, or even expelled because of different ministry priorities.
 

Processes Withing the Church

Members of a given church fellowship have many gifts to use in the ministry to their fellowship and their community.  These gifts have been given by our Lord Jesus Christ according to His will:

It was He (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV)

So each believer is guided by the Holy Spirit toward particular areas of ministry where the gifts He provides can be used most effectively.  This provides each church fellowship with a distinctiveness in ministry which the Lord intended all along.

Churches have traditionally been organized to run a certain way and have a certain ministry focus primarily because of the individuals in leadership positions or the denominational directives.  Conflict arises when the strategies and processes of the church require gifts not found in the membership.  For example, if a church gains a new pastor who has an unbridled passion for missions but a congregation that is primarily elderly, the church may experience undue conflict as a result of the processess geared toward missions.  The pastor may organize programs and resulting activities focused on missions that the congregation is unable to carry out.  The members may lack the spiritual gifts for pioneer evangelism or ministry in dangerous areas.  So the organization of processes in and of themselves may create conflict because they are inappropriate for the specific membership which provides the resources to carry them out.
 

Organization of the Church

How many time has a pastor been accused of exercising too much authority in the church?  From the cult leaders such as Charles Manson and David Koresh to the mainstream “mega” church leaders, many individuals have been exposed to and damaged by pastors who overstepped the bounds of their role.  Of course, many church members have, likewise, overstepped their own roles in the church by trying to unduly influence the pastor to do things their way.  The way in which a church is organized can be the root cause of much conflict.  Should the congregation be accountable to the pastor or should the pastor be accountable to the congregation?  Or should a committee of long-standing members, elders or trustees, make all the major decisions regarding the ministry of the church?  The way a church organizes to answer these questions can cause conflict between the leadership and the members.

Clearly, our Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 5:23), its chief conerstone (Ephesians 2:19-21), its foundation (1 Corinthians 3:9-11), and the One who will build it (Matthew 16:18).  The twelve Apostles (the disciples from Matthew 10:2-4 excluding Judas Iscariot who was not a true believer; and Paul from Acts 9:5-6,15-16) chosen by Christ and witnesses of His resurrection carried out the initial evangelization and organization of churches.  Elders (Acts 14:23) were appointed by the Apostles to lead the local churches.  Deacons (1 Timothy 3:12) were appointed by the elders in the church to minister in various ways.  Overall, the organization of the local church appears to be flexible with few Scripturally mandated roles.  So the organization of the local church today should also be flexible in attempting to meet the needs of the membership and community in which it exists.

Conflict over roles and the extent of authority in those roles is a prime source of conflict.  Put a control-oriented pastor into a congregation of strong-willed, mature believers and you will find much conflict.  A congregation attempting to exercise control over a pastor with a strong management style will find conflict at every meeting.  Similarly, put a consensus-driven amiable pastor into a relatively passive, immature group of believers and conflict will ensue as nothing gets done well or on time.  So conflict can be caused by the organization of the church if it fails to appropriately address the styles and maturity levels of the members involved.
 

Inadequate communications

A largely unnoticed but significant cause of conflict in the church is inadequate communications.  The ability to communicate the appropriate amount of information to the correct group of people within the church is a very delicate and ambiguous job.  Who in the church should know the intricate details of the budget such as the pastor’s salary and benefits?  What is the best way to let people know of ministry opportunities and encourage their participation?  How are needs of the individual church members made known to the church body (this is of particular criticality in a small church setting)?  When a church fails to recognize the large number of cross-segments of members, their particular or peculiar sensitivities, and the history of how information has been communicated, that church can find its every word questioned.  The pastor who fails to deal with a significant conflict in the church can face opposition in prayer meetings, business meetings, and in general leadership duties.
 

Conclusion

The causes of conflict in the church stem as much from the individual members of the congregation as it does from the organization of the church body as a whole.  It is important for a church to recognize the need to determine the root causes of conflict.  If only symptoms of conflict are treated, the deep rooted causes will fester, just like an infection in a body, until a greater schizm occurs.  This requires honest and sober assessment of the situation and the individuals involved.  It demands the commitment of the members to one another as well as to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15).  Our obedience to His commands for love, compassion, forgiveness, and even-handedness in our dealings with one another, particularly within the body of Christ, can result in a church body that thrives and grows even in the midst of conflict.
 

Our Creator God loves you and wants you to know Him! If you would like to contact this ministry for further information or questions, please send your e-mail to:
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Copyright 5/23/2001, Randy Lariscy.