Unresolved Conflict

As we prepare for Easter, I am challenging our Hope Church family in these weekly emails to do a little “soul spring cleaning.” I intend to help all of us prepare for what God wants to do in and through us this special Easter season. Jesus made a provocative statement in His Sermon on the Mount. He said, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24 ESV) 

What Jesus is saying here is quite profound. The key is that Jesus is not “preaching to the choir.” He is preaching to the one who has messed up. In His example, the sermon hearer caused another person's anger. Therefore, Jesus is saying if someone else feels wronged by you, if you have hurt them, or they believe that you have treated them poorly…then immediately leave the synagogue, drop your offering, and go find that person and work through the offense with them. Listen to their hurts, discover the pain you have caused them, and humble yourself enough to care. Then after making it right with them, then and only then, can you enter into right worship with Jesus. 

So a prerequisite for God-honoring worship is working through conflict to the best of your ability. Of course there are limits to this, and sometimes it is impossible to do. But the essence of this is, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18) That is more important to Jesus than what you put in the offering basket, how emotional you are when you sing, how well you study your Bible, and how well you serve. He wants us to make things right so we can worship appropriately. 

This spring, as you do some soul spring cleaning, one step is to carefully consider if there is anyone out there who needs you to pursue them because there is unresolved conflict. Is there someone out there who believes, “_________ has something against me,” and that something can get in the way of your worship of God? Jesus reminds us that if we truly want to worship Him appropriately, we need to carefully examine how we are doing in our relationships. 

Expectantly, 

Shawn