Peacemaking #1

Silver Hills is joining with First Baptist Church on Mountain Street to work through the seminar Peacemaking with Ken Sande. 13 from Silver Hills showed up the first week. Ken Sande was interviewed on KNIS radio this past week by the Albert Mohler show. The first week they heard some of the following:

Conflict is part of everyone's life. You are the cause of it or you are on the recieving end of it. It does not matter if it is your family, school, work or your church, conflict can take joy from you. There are three phases of conflict:

1. Escape Responses - denial is one way to escape from conflict. You pretend that it does not exist. This response brings temporary relief and usually makes matter worse. Flight is another way to respond to conflict. You simply run away. You might leave the house, leave a friendship, quit a job or change chuches. Flight is a harmful way to deal with conflict. Suicide is also an escape response. When people lose all hope of resolving conflict, they may seek to escape the situation by taking their own life.

2. Attack Responses - these responses are used by people who are interested in winning a conflict rather than perserving a relationship. This attitude is seen in people who view conflict as a chance to assert their rights. Attack responses are generally used by people who are strong and self confident. These responses can lead a person to assault a person, bring litigation against a person and even murder someone.

3. Peacemaking Responses - the vast majority of conflicts in life for a believer should and can be resolved in the following ways:

* Overlook an offense. Overlooking an offense is a form of forgiveness and involves a deliberate decision not to talk about it, dwell on it, or let is grow into pent-up bitterness or anger.

*Reconciliation is peacemaking that may involved confession, loving correction, and forgiveness.

Ken Sande says that when a person pursues the peacemaking responses to conflict, there is a greater likelihood that he or she will eventually see reconciliation. Escape and attack responses to conflict inevitably result in kiss your relationship goodbye.