Philippians 4:1-3 • Joy in Conflict

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What do you do when two of your Christian sisters are bickering with each other? Do you ignore it hoping the problem will go away? Would you like to know how to help heal the conflict? In the last article in this series, we looked at the joy of reaching for the prize that Jesus has for us. This is post #10 in the Philippians blog series. In this post, we will see how to properly deal with conflict and still have joy.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament. (10 lessons)

Conflict Is Normal

Conflict. That word has a distasteful overtone. But we are human, sin still dwells within us, and we still live in this fallen world. So conflict is an everyday part of life. Conflict is normal. Having conflict or not having conflict isn’t the issue. For believers, it’s what we do when we are faced with conflict. That’s the issue.

Dealing with outside pressures

In his letters, Paul referred to those outside pressures that affect us individually and our church—persecutions, enemies, false teachers, and the government authorities. He addressed those pressures.

Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. (Philippians 1:27-28)

Stand firm in one spirit. Do not be afraid of those who oppose you.

But those outside pressures often cause friction to develop within us. If you are married, you know that pressure on your husband from his job will affect your relationship as a couple. Soon you have your own interpersonal conflict. That’s what appears to be happening in Philippi.

Serving can bring internal conflict

In our previous study of Philippians chapter 2, we saw Jesus, fully God and fully man, as the ultimate servant and our example for service. We are to live as Christ through serving one another as He did. I shared with you four aspects of being a joyful servant:

Thinking of others before yourself

Serving out of love and worship of God

Willingly sacrifice as you serve

Serve without grumbling or arguing

Glorify God more than yourself as you serve

We serve Jesus together, and we serve one another individually. Part of living as Christ through serving one another is resolving interpersonal conflict within the Body.

Conflict wounds the Body

Conflict wounds His body and minimizes the effectiveness of the church to advance the gospel. It’s hard to preach Christ and make disciples when we’re spending emotional energy on internal conflict. Right?

Interpersonal conflict can take many forms from simple behavior clashes (two women who just don’t blend well together) to open defiance of one another. Regardless of the form, a conflict presents opportunity for growth. In fact, some people don’t pay attention to their needs for growth in an area of their lives until conflict occurs. That might describe you.

The key is in learning how to resolve interpersonal conflict God’s way.

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict God’s Way

In today’s passage, we read about two women in conflict.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:1-3)

Euodia and Syntyche were in some kind of conflict.

We don’t know anything about these women. Perhaps they were two of the women at the river who first received the gospel from Paul. Maybe they were deaconesses in the church. It is sad that these two women have become the brunt of jokes. Paul calls them fellow workers for the gospel. They weren’t bimbos. They weren’t insignificant troublemakers. They were laborers in the spread of the gospel at Philippi. These were probably mature women, well known by the recipients of the letter.

We don’t know what their conflict was. It may have been accidental friction between two energetic Christian women. Whatever happened affected the unity of the congregation. It was brought to Paul’s attention. This was a wound in the Philippians body. Apparently ineffective means had been used to heal the wound. Paul speaks directly to this situation in his letter, and from his wise advice, we can draw three principles regarding conflict resolution.

Principle #1: “In the Lord”

Both are believers

Paul emphasizes that both of these women are “in the Lord.” The church is a living organism, not an organization. It is an organism made of individual parts.

Wound repair

Just as our human bodies respond immediately to repair a wound whether minor or major, so should the body of Christ. Suppose you cut your finger. What happens? The body does whatever it takes to enable the healing process to take place. The closest cells start working to clot the blood, close the wound with a scab, and fight invading germs. It is the responsibility of those cells closest to the wound to get there first and stop the bleeding. Then, others step in to help repair the damage and make the body stronger.

So it should be within the body of Christ. The cells within our physical body know what to do. But the members of Christ’s body don’t always know what to do. Yet, the Word gives us direction and guidance so that we can be obedient in helping to resolve a conflict.

Don’t ignore the conflict

I don’t seek opportunities to resolve conflicts. Most of the time, my response is to ignore the seeds of conflict, hoping that by ignoring it, the tension will be smoothed over and just go away. I want everyone to be part of a team and to get along as a team.

Another excuse of mine: I don’t think quickly on my feet. So how can the Lord use me to manage any kind of crisis between two people when I can’t think straight? Actually, He doesn’t want me to manage it at all. He wants me to allow Him to do His work through me. I have to be weak so He can be strong through me. He wants my obedience.

Be ready to help the healing

The cells in the elbow have to be just as ready to repair a wound as the cells in the finger or the heart. Ready to function as designed, dependent on the lifeblood to bring the ingredients necessary to heal the wound. The purpose of the action is to promote healing.

In the Lord, we can help to heal.

Principle #2: Agree with Each Other

Pursue harmony

Paul says to be of the same mind, to live in harmony with each other. This is one-on-one. As soon as you recognize that you are in a conflict with a sister, then you are responsible to do something. Agree to work on it. That’s obedience. Give up your rights to be right. That’s humility. The reason you do that is for the good of the relationship and for the church family. This is another aspect of serving one another as Jesus did.

Jesus’ teaching

What did Jesus teach about resolving conflict?

From Matthew chapter 5, we learn that if you know your sister has something against you, then you are to go to her and be reconciled to her. Take that first step. (Matthew 5:23-24)

From Matthew chapter 18, we learn that if your sister has offended you, you are to go to her alone and tell her what she has done. If she listens, you will be reconciled. (Matthew 18:15-17)

Did you notice Jesus’ emphasis on confidentiality and trust? First, go alone. Go directly to the person with whom you are in conflict. Then, just a few carefully selected individuals, then the authority over that person. Sometimes you can seek counsel from a trusted friend on how to proceed. But Jesus did not say to talk about it to anyone who’ll listen.

Avoid gossiping

Avoid crossing the line to complaining and gossiping. I call it sharing sensitive information in inappropriate settings. It’s sensitive because anything negative said about a person or a ministry plants seeds of doubt in the other woman’s mind about that person or the ministry as a whole. That is not beneficial to the Body. Someone always gets hurt. It’s an inappropriate setting when that person you are telling has no oversight or authority to do something about the situation.

Go your ministry authority for help

For a ministry, go to the person involved in the decision-making process for that ministry. Chances are she is fully aware of the challenge. Your solution may have already been tried. Or the timing isn’t right yet. Whatever, the hardest part is leaving it there. Isn’t it? Trust. That’s what is involved in being humble. That’s how we live as Christ to serve one another in love, not hurting anyone or the Body as a whole.

Paul gives us more information on how to be reconciled. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul tells us to speak truth in love for the building up and growing of the body, out of love for her and the Body. Love is your motivation. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The goal is to help those in conflict be of the same mind again.

Principle #3: Help Them through Intervention.

A body works to repair itself so it can function effectively so Paul urges others around the two women to help them come together. That kind of intervention is our responsibility.

What do you do when two of your Christian sisters are bickering with each other? For our purposes, let’s talk about two stages of conflict: 1) Developing and 2) Situational.

Two stages of conflict

Developing conflict means that over a period of time, the relationship between two women is gradually creating more friction. Friends may recognize clues that this is happening, and someone who cares speaks the truth in love to both parties in hopes of heading off an explosion perhaps by way of a phone call or a chat over lunch. Ideally, this is the most fruitful stage to help two women become reconciled. It’s like a paper cut that hurts but heals quickly.

Situational conflict is an emotional crisis situation that usually occurs if the developing conflict has been ignored. What has built up is now brought to a head by a wrong word, look, or a sudden change of plans. A crisis exists. Something has to be done to help them immediately. Women in crisis conflict have suddenly lost perspective. They feel like they have been turned upside down. That’s why it presents a tremendous opportunity for personal growth. But they need an unbiased third party who loves them enough to intercede and help them talk it out. This is the intervention.

When do you intervene?

You intervene when the two women have not been able to resolve their differences on their own. Jesus said, “You are responsible to go to the one who offended you or the one you offended and be reconciled to her.” If that hasn’t been tried, suggest it. If it has been tried but hasn’t worked, then outside help is needed.

You intervene when the conflict endangers the safety or welfare of the body of Christ. You can give them perspective and help them to focus on the greater good. That’s what Paul did.

You intervene when there is an emotional explosion. Help immediately.

Use the A-B-Cs of Conflict Resolution

I learned these ABCs of conflict resolution from my husband Ron who has used them many times to bring about conflict resolution. They are pretty simple. Do these in order:

A = Achieve trusting contact with each conflicting party

Talk to them separately. First, talk to the one most agitated then talk to the calmest. Get them to agree to meet.

Get them together in a setting that is private and undisturbed where confidentiality can be preserved.

Don’t let them vent on each other or on you. You are the unbiased party.

Be relaxed and genuinely kind and concerned.

B = Boil down what the presenting problems are (simplify the issue)

Listen carefully but objectively as you use reflective listening skills.

Feed back each woman’s own words in the form of clarifying questions such as “Are you telling me…?”, “Did I hear you say…?”, “What I am hearing you say is…?” This guarantees to the person that you understand.

Help the women see the real presenting problems that they face. Collect the facts related to this crisis only. Not every problem she has experienced over the past year. Separate the issues. What actually caused the conflict—THIS TIME. One or two actual things that are causing the immediate conflict.

Let the pauses come. It’s not your time to talk. Listen carefully.

C = Cope actively by making a way out of the conflict

This is your part to help them by providing a way out of the conflict, some kind of a plan.

Establish goals that are possible, measurable, and short-term. Tactfully suggest some non-threatening options:

What do you want to see happen?

What can I do to help you out?

How would you see the plan carried out? “What will you do? How will you do it? By when will you do this? How are we going to evaluate this later on?

Be willing to follow-up and ask, “How is it working?” What do you need to change in the plan if anything?”

You might have them pray for each other’s needs. Perhaps arrange short, periodic meetings between them for sharing. If they are co-workers, develop clear job descriptions so that each will know what she is to do and not do. Talk about how to warn each other about possible conflict in a non-explosive way.

Conclusion

We are one in the Lord who has one Body. Any cut, tear, or break causes the Body pain and negatively affects the advance of the gospel. We are Christ’s people. We do not belong to the world. We are to behave differently because we think differently about one another. We are to be obedient. God’s ways are not our ways. They are tons better.

In her commentary on Philippians, Elizabeth George said this:

Oh, beloved, pray! Pray that you may not be the cause of any disruptions in your church, that you may not be a part of hindering the work of the church for the cause of Christ! And pray to follow in Paul’s wise footsteps if you must ever be a part of helping to solve a dispute between others. (Elizabeth George, Experiencing God’s Peace, page 111)

That is good advice to manage conflict and maintain joy.

In the next post, we will see how to live joyfully while trusting God to meet your needs.

Want to have joy in your life?

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with the fullness of His joy. Then, live in that joy!

All of the above information is covered in the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament.

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