A Culture of Making Peace

By Scott Nice, Pastor Christ Reformed Church at Indian Creek, Telford, PA

Has a conflict ever gone unaddressed in your church? Would you know how to address the sin of gossip if you were made aware of its presence in your congregation? Or, what if a present ministry or “great idea” became an idol to a certain population in your church, or those in leadership for that matter? Would you be able to identify an idol… even in your own heart? Is there any hope for the conflicted marriages, families or members/leaders in my church when reconciliation seems impossible? The answer is YES! There is always hope, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (I Tim. 1:15)

In 2008 our Senior Pastor left for another call. He left under duress. For over 18 months (or longer) an unresolved conflict had been going unaddressed. People were hurt, scared and uncertain about what to do! With no fault or blame being leveled at anyone, our church (the leadership as well as the laity) simply did not know how to address conflict in a healthy, sound and Biblical manner. There were those who addressed it through escape responses: denial, avoidance or even flight, i.e., leaving the church. Others went into an attack mode: giving the cold shoulder, judging others motives, gossiping and even murder, not physically taking someone’s life, but by murdering others in their heart— Mark 7:21.

We began a process of Biblical peacemaking and reconciliation. Our leadership recognized their deficiencies. We knew that we had failed others, and especially our Lord and Savior in not living out the Gospel in the ministry entrusted to our care (I Peter 5:1-11). We worked with CCCC leaders and Peacemakers Ministries of Colorado Springs, CO to begin to understand what a God-centered response to conflict looked like. We learned to view conflict from a different perspective, not as something to be avoided, but to be embraced as an opportunity to glorify God. We learned about taking responsibility for our own sins, and lovingly and gently restoring someone who has sinned against us, as well as seeking reconciliation by extending forgiveness and encouraging reasonable solutions.

In early 2009 Dr. John Kimball came and presented a one-day seminar, “The Peacemaking Church.” This was the kick-off to our multifaceted approach to teaching the entire congregation that real peace is a priority to God, so much so that He sent His one and only Son to secure that peace for His children (Col. 1:20, John 3:16, Phil. 2:34). After the workshop, we adjusted our Sunday school hour and Worship service to accommodate the Peacemaker small group study. We spent eight weeks in hour and a half class sessions examining the scriptural basis and principles for living as the blessed “peacemakers” of the Beatitudes. In conjunction with that, I preached an eight-week series based on the model sermons provided by Dr. Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries. A real effort was made to impress the importance of these classes and the sermon series on the entire congregation. Participation was very high! Lastly, two men and two women and I went on for further in-house training in “conflict coaching” and we embedded a “Peacemaking Team” in our church to help coach people who found themselves in an opportunity to glorify God through a conflict.

To the glory of God I am happy to report that many had break-through moments and discovered that they had apologies to make, forgiveness to ask for, as well as to extend. Our church is not conflict free, and will not be until our glorification. However, we now know that when God allows conflict to come our way, it is for our good. It is an opportunity to examine oneself, to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit and to learn how to live out the implications of the Gospel (Luke 6:27-31 and Rom. 12:20-21).
Since Biblical Peacemaking is a priority to God, it is a priority to our conference! It is one of our Seven Guiding Values— A Culture of Peacemaking and Reconciliation, as well as a facet of our Conference Care Ministry. If this is an area you would like to learn more about, or need to seek help with, please feel free to contact myself, or Pastor Lenn Zeller, Director of Conference Care.

Peace and love in Christ.
Pastor Scott L. Nice
Christ Reformed Church at Indian Creek
171 Church Road, Telford PA 18969
Email: slnice1@yahoo.com