Healthy Communities and Healthy Conflict

On the way out to the OC for Christmas, I have been reading Reading Lolita in Tehran. I first I was amazed that I was brave enough to read it, because when one reads the pages upon pages of acolades for the book, one does not find a single identified male reader (Those who know me know how I avoid girly stuff in both movies and books-though I make exceptions for things like When Harry Met Sally and Ursala Hegi books). But, after picking up the book, I see I have made a wise choice. It is an excellent book that has really made me think.

One of the things that has come to mind is the American quest for a conflict-free church. This fall in our church in Colorado Springs, our budget was approved unanimously. In the middle of the meeting someone seemed to question the wisdom of some of the budgeting. People were visibly unnerved that someone might spoil their unity through questioning the work of the 3-4 people who put the budget together.

I say this not to badmouth my church, but because I think it is typical in churches across America. And there is good reason at times to really press for a lack of dissent when the people of God are moving forward on something. It seems to me though that even in those times people should be able to say, "I trust where we are going in this and I am onboard with all of you but I am really concerned about...."

Unlike fundamentalist Islam,which violently enforces uniformity of thought, dress and culture, we should respect that God works through and speaks through each of us. Whats more, even in the early church we see that God works through honest conflict.

Really we cannot escape diversity of thought in an honest community. That can sometimes lead to conflict. Isn't it better in those conflicts to empower people to ask questions and to be heard with love and respect than to have a Christian community full of people repressing their opinions in deference to a local church's power elite? This does not seem to be the way of Jesus or how the Holy Spirit worked in the early church.
Jesus challenged religious authority and the early church learned through their many disagreements.

Furthermore, I think that there are a large group of people out there that want to see a Christian community that can passionately argue with one another and passionately love one another at the same time (within certain boundaries). Where in the world are people going to go to talk about and learn about the most important things in life if they cannot come to a church to do it? And how can you learn and grow and in your understanding of spiritual concerns without an environment that is open to vigorous discussion and debate at times?

Certainly as we look at the world around us we don't see this. We see ideological ghettos closed to questions that threaten the political and economic power. Then these groups, because they will not allow creative open dialogue within their groups, are poised to never resolve issues. As Jon Stewart so deftly pointed out on CNN in the 2004 election, this is not the honest conflict that our country needs. It builds enmity instead of dialogue.

Under the authority of Scripture and leadership of the Spirit the church should be different. We should be about healthy communities that have healthy conflict. We should be about openness and looking to the other while be honest about ourselves, our thoughts and our needs. Maybe then the church would actually be more of the church.