Conflict in a Local Church and the Importance of Leadership

Certainly we’re all familiar with sinful conflict in a local church and how the scriptures instruct us to deal with that, but how about non sinful conduct in a local church and how that is handled?

Things like children running and playing and endangering the older folks. How about babies screaming in the assembly so that you can’t listen to a prayer? Or a message board with a questionable message? How about kids who break a window with a ball?

What about visitors who wear shorts to services on Wednesday nights? How about cell phones that go off during the assembly? What about those who are chronically late to services? What about the teacher who leaves town without finding a substitute teacher to take their place? What about the songleader who leads songs that the congregation cannot sing, either because the congregation does not know the song or it is led in such a way that it is difficult to sing along with? What about the person who trims his nails during the assembly?

In the Veterinary business we deal with a parasite called a “Hookworm”. Left untreated Hookworms can cause death. We sometimes get the question, “How can I eliminate hookworms from my yard?” The answer is, “Spread rock salt over your yard”. The trouble is that even though you destroy all the hookworms, you destroy everything else in the process and end up with a dead yard.

Here’s the deal… conflict in a church is good and is to be expected. It means that people are interacting with each other and annoying each other. Members need to learn how to deal with each other. Sometimes Elders interfere in that process and become so repressive that the congregation becomes like the yard treated with rock salt… a dead place.

There are ways to deal with hookworms and there are ways to deal with conflicts in a local church so that the culture of the church is preserved. Effective leadership finds a way.