Today's Scripture Reading (June 5, 2023): Daniel 2
I will admit something here that I am not sure I am
allowed to disclose, but here it goes. I have been in conflict with some
people. That is probably true for all of us. For various reasons, we find
ourselves in conflict with some of the people around us. After one period of
conflict with a church leader who happened to also be from a visible minority
group, I went and gave my resignation to my boss. He didn't accept it, which
might have been a good thing, but at that point, I didn't think I could
continue if this person were going to continue to be in my orbit. This person
caused me a lot of grief over the time I knew him, often spreading stories that
were not true, or even telling me untrue things. One of the things that really
irked me was how he left the church. I had caught wind of the fact that he was departing
from the church, and I phoned him to talk to him about it. He said the decision
hadn't been made but promised to sit down with me over coffee before he made
the decision. The following Sunday, without speaking to me, he announced his
resignation from his leadership positions in the church just before I got up to
preach. And I was in shock. He did precisely as he promised he wouldn't do. I must
admit that, years later, just his name is enough to send me spiraling toward
depression. Even just the process of remembering the story to retell here, my
stomach is turning a bit, and I can feel my stress level on the rise.
But, we will be in conflict with people. I prefer to be
at least able to work through the conflict, but that can only happen if both
people in the relationship are willing to work at it. I have even gone through
conflict counseling because of people who have had a problem with me.
Unfortunately, that counseling didn't work out well either.
When we are in conflict, a few things can happen to
us. The first is that we are tempted to leave the relationship. Again, this is
not how I think we should handle conflict, but I know of several people in my
life who have left relationships because they had a problematic relationship
with someone. It is probably one of the main reasons that we have so many
church shoppers in our society. People go to a church until conflict arises, then
decide to go to a different church. The problem is that the conflict never gets
resolved, and we lengthen our list of people we don't like.
But the next level reaction is even more problematic.
It is the decision to generalize our conflicts. All (fill in the blank) are
that way. It has been a problem with antisemitism historically. We have a list
of traits of which we think all Jews are guilty. And so, we blame a whole race
of people for our problems. It is not valid, but we react as if it is. I have a
friend who has had conflicts with various Christians. And in his mind, all
Christians act in the same way. And often, the traits he places on Christians
are very anti-Christian, but for my friend, it is not just some Christians misbehaving.
He is convinced that all Christians misbehave.
Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. He asks his magicians,
enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to not only interpret the dream but to
describe the dream without it being revealed. The King's wise men tell
Nebuchadnezzar that what he asks is impossible, and their inability to do what
the King desires angers the King. And so, he orders the execution, not just of
the wise men who have been called into the King's presence, but all wise men in
the Empire. The King has a conflict with a few but generalizes that conflict
and orders the execution of all.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 24
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