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How Leaders Should Handle Conflict

Upward Peace Creates Inward Peace That Produces Outward Peace

Peace with God creates peace in myself which produces peace with others. So how does this happen? How do we experience this peace with God, peace inside ourselves, and peace with others? James articulates a clear process:

  • SUBMIT – James 4:7 begins, “Submit yourselves, then, to God…” The word “submit” is a military reference and implies putting in order of rank. To submit to God is to yield to his authority and to walk in obedience to Him. And what’s the hardest thing for us to submit to God? You got it…our desires. But when our desires come into submission to Christ, His peace is able to rule in our lives. We’re no longer fighting against God. Instead, we’re walking with God.
  • RESIST – James 4:7 continues, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 1 John 4:4 reminds us, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
  • COME NEAR – James 4:8a says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” When we make it a habit to come near to God, Scripture says that God responds by coming near to us. Why? Because that’s what happens in relationships.
  • REPENT – James 4:8b-10 says, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Notice that James dealt with the external and the internal. He says, “Wash your hands…” That represents repentance of the external behaviors. But then he says, “purify your hearts.” That represents repentance of the internal attitudes. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence. Why? Because James started the chapter by talking about external conflict with others, and then he shifted to the internal conflict inside of us. In James mind, repentance had to affect both areas—internal and external. There must be repentance for actions, and there must be repentance for the attitudes that drive those actions. James continues: Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:9-10). This represents a thorough repentance where there is true brokenness for sin and a willingness to humble ourselves before God.
  • DON’T JUDGE – James concludes his thoughts be returning to the issue of external conflict. “Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12) When we Judge others, we minimize the authority of the law (God’s Word) to judge. To remove the law’s aurthority to judge is to remove the authority of the Lawgiver (God) to judge. In other words, if you judge others, then you deem God and His Word as inadequate to judge. Ultimately you’re questioning God’s authority as you set yourself up as the judge of others.

So James comes full circle. He starts by talking about quarreling and fighting and he ends by talking about judging and slandering. And right in the middle he says, “Look, if you’re going to deal with this, you must deal with your upward conflict and your inward conflict.” Again, his point is clear: Upward Peace Creates Inward Peace That Produces Outward Peace.

Question: What other observations can you make from this passage?