By Pastor Stephen Hess –
Every single one of us at some point in our lives will experience conflict in our relationships. No one enjoys relational conflict, but occasionally it seems to rear its ugly head in virtually every sphere of life. You see it take place in families, in friendships, in churches, in workplaces, and in virtually every other subset of our communities. The reason we experience conflict is simple: Human beings are sinners living in a fallen world, and our fallenness causes us to sin against one another and create brokenness in our relationships.
When you read through the Bible you will quickly find that Scripture is full of examples of relational conflict. For example, we see relational conflict among families in the story of Jacob and Esau, whose relationship was so broken that they spent years living estranged from one another (see Gen. 25-33). We see relational conflict in friendships in the story of Paul and Barnabas, who agreed to go their separate ways because of a conflict about another colleague in ministry (see Acts 15:36-41). We also see relational conflict in churches in the account of the Corinthian church, where the people were divided over loyalties to different leaders (see 1 Cor. 3).
The Bible makes clear that relational conflict is unavoidable in our fallen world. Yet at the same time Scripture also calls us to seek peace in our relationships. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). This brings up a couple of questions: How can we seek peace in our relationships, and how can we faithfully seek to 
navigate personal conflict when it arises in our relationships?
A number of years ago an author named Ken Sande wrote a book called “The Peacemaker,” which is an excellent exploration of Biblical principles for resolving personal conflict. In his book, Sande points out that although most of us don’t enjoy it, conflict actually presents us with an opportunity to grow spiritually. He writes, “God’s highest purpose for you is not to make you comfortable, wealthy, or happy. If you have put your faith in him, he has something far more wonderful in mind—he plans to conform you to the likeness of his own Son! He began to change you the day you put your trust in him, and he will continue this process throughout your life. Conflict is one of the many tools that God will use to help you develop a more Christ-like character.”
On June 13th we are going to start a new 4-week sermon series called “Blessed are the Peacemakers” which will explore how we can Biblically navigate conflict in our lives. These sermons will be structured around the four basic Biblical principles to navigate conflict that Ken Sande identifies in his book, which he summarizes as the “Four G’s.” They are as follows: 1) Glorify God – How can I please and honor God in the midst of conflict? 2) Get the log out of your eye – How can I show Jesus’ work in me by taking responsibility for my contribution to conflict? 3) Gently Restore – How can I lovingly serve others by helping them take responsibility for their contribution to conflict? 4) Go and be reconciled – How can I demonstrate the forgiveness of God and encourage a reasonable solution to conflict?
Each week during this sermon series we will explore these Biblical principles for navigating conflict, with the hope that we can live out Jesus’ call to be “peacemakers.” I hope you can join us as we begin a new journey together this summer.