For sermons and a testimony related to Biblical Peacemaking click title below:
Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of love // Ephesians 4:1-6
The Redemptive Power of Forgiveness // Colossians 3:12-14
Love one another as I have loved you // John 15:12-13
A testimony of God’s deliverance and total forgiveness
Resources on Biblical Peacemaking:
The following pages provide a brief summary of the biblical wisdom we can apply to restore broken relationships.
The Four G’s – The biblical system for resolving conflict is captured by “The Four G’s”: Glorify God, Get the log out of your own eye, Gently Restore, and Go and be reconciled.
Transformed by the Gospel – Describes twelve ways that the gospel can fundamentally change the way we respond to conflict.
The Slippery Slope – A visual tool for understanding the ways people tend to and ought to respond to conflict.
Getting to the Heart of Conflict – A key step in resolving conflict is to understand the desires and agendas that are fueling our differences with others.
The Seven A’s of Confession – A guide to making a sincere and complete confession.
The Four Promises of Forgiveness – A great way to remember what you are really saying (and committing to) when you say “I forgive you.”
The PAUSE Principle – A biblical approach to negotiation.
The Peacemaker’s Pledge – A concise summary of biblical peacemaking, which churches and organizations may use as a corporate commitment to gospel-based peacemaking.
The Young Peacemaker – An introduction to how you can teach biblical peacemaking to children.
Guiding People Through Conflict – is a 70-page ebooklet that provides detailed guidance on how you can serve as a conflict coach or mediator to help other people resolve conflict.
Christian Conciliation – Information on how to request coaching or mediation assistance for conflicts you are unable to resolve personally.
Conciliation Providers – Individuals who provide Christian conciliation services.
Frequently Asked Questions about Peacemaking
For a more detailed discussion we recommend The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande. Download Chapter 1 for free at this link.
What do we do when the leader over us or any person in a position of authority is wrong, either in their attitude or actions? By Floyd McClung
(1) Make sure the facts are correct. Don’t judge a person wrongly, and don’t accept a charge against a person on the word of just one other person (Romans 2:12; Deuteronomy 13:12-14; and I Timothy 5:19). It is very important to hear all sides of a conflict before a judgment is made.
(2) Pray for the leader and make sure that you have no critical spirit or root of bitterness in your heart toward them. If you’ve been hurt or disappointed, make sure that you keep on forgiving until your heart is free of hurt. Make sure you maintain a heart of love since love covers a multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8). It is possible to lose objectivity about a situation through taking on the hurts of others. If you counsel with people who have been hurt by an authority figure and you take on their pain you can take sides in the conflict and lose the opportunity to both offer sound biblical counsel to the one hurt (e.g. to forgive and pray for the ones who hurt them) and be a minister of reconciliation and healing in the broken relationship.
(3) Pray for the leader that he will have a revelation from the Lord about the wrong that he’s done or that he will know the right thing to do if he needs wisdom in the situation. It’s extremely important that we intercede for him as an indication of our genuine commitment to the person and for God’s best in the situation.
(4) If a leader has done something wrong and there is no change, seek God in humility if you are to speak to them. If it is an obvious wrong, such as stealing, being involved in a sexual sin, being dishonest etc., and you’ve gone to them and they do not repent, then go to another godly person in the Body of Christ and ask them to go with you to talk to the person again (Matthew 18:15-18; Luke 17:4).
(5) If there is no response and it is not a matter of serious disobedience to obvious moral principles, then do not go to others in the Body of Christ criticizing and slandering the person concerned. The Bible does speak very strongly about the importance of unity and forgiveness in the Body of Christ. To go to others when you disagree with a decision could put you in a position of causing a greater sin than the one that you are concerned about in the life of the leader. There are strong warnings in the scriptures about taking matters into our own hands and trying to correct them. Even David would not attack Saul in spite of his great sin because God had put him in that position of leadership. David trusted God to bring an answer in the situation (I Samuel 24:6; Numbers 14; Ephesians 4:26, 29, 30-32).
(6) If the leader is authoritarian or immature or very unwise, you have one of two options: you can stay under his authority and continue to pray for him after you’ve gone to him to share your concern, or you could leave the group. It is important that you do not stay and become critical and bitter. You have the freedom before God to leave at any time that you feel the pressure is too great on you, but do not stay and become a source of division. If you do stay you should have the faith that God is going to bring a change in the situation and that He wants you there to be a blessing to others and for your own personal growth. God will vindicate you if you keep your heart right and continue to pray and believe the Lord. If it is a matter of moral impurity or compromise on orthodox doctrines such as the inspiration of the scriptures, the divinity of Christ, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, his atonement on the cross – then after bringing a warning to the person and they will not change, then you should also leave the group. To stay where there is moral impurity or doctrinal heresy could lead to compromise in your own life.
(7) If you are unsure as to what to do, seek counsel of godly people outside of the group. Go to a mature pastor or a leader in another organization, even if your leaders tell you not to do so! Every believer has that right.
At the same time that we point out some of the abuses of authority, it is important to affirm the great need for godly leaders. To become a wise leader means years of experience, which of course includes making mistakes and failing. The scripture gives many examples of failure on the part of those who went on to be greatly used by God, this includes Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, Peter, Paul and many others.
There is a great need for wise fathers in the Lord who will take Timothys under their wings and encourage them and train them in godliness and wisdom. Where there is abuse of authority obviously there needs to be correction, but even more important there needs to be restoration and the kind of counsel and commitment that redeems one who has failed. The leader who does that is indeed a rare and blessed person. May their kind greatly increase!
II Timothy 2:24, 25a
I Peter 5:1-3
I Corinthians 4:15,17
I Thessalonians 2:7, 11-12