Meditation for 3 June 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

2 Corinthians 7:5-13

5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. ⁶But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it, for I see that I grieved you with that letter, though only briefly). ⁹Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death. ¹¹For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter. ¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God. ¹³In this we find comfort.  In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.

Working Through Trials in the Church

If you spend any time at all reading 1 or 2 Corinthians, one of the things that you discover is that there have been conflicts in the Christian church - almost from the moment that the church was started!  It is an understatement to say that Paul had a rather up-and-down relationship with the church he established at Corinth.  At times it was downright stormy.  Many Biblical scholars believe that 1 and 2 Corinthians are just two of the four letters Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, with 1 Corinthians being the second of the four letters, and 2 Corinthians being the fourth.  (That would mean we have lost the first and third letters that Paul wrote to Corinth.)  You'll recall that in 1 Corinthians the church was quarreling among themselves about who they "belonged" to, either to Paul or to Apollos or to Cephas (Peter).  Paul had to remind them who they really belonged to?  "Has Christ been divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?" (1 Cor. 1:11-13)  There were also divisions in the church in Corinth related to who had received which spiritual gifts, i.e., some thought they were "super-spiritual" because they had received some gifts (e.g., tongues or the interpretation of tongues) that others had not.  In 2 Corinthians, Paul makes reference to writing what would have been the third letter to the Christians in Corinth, what has become known as the "letter of tears" (See 2 Corinthians 2:4)  This letter evidently was written soon after Paul's second visit to Corinth, during which some individual there (never identified) wronged him.  This is what he is referring to in verse 12 above, when he writes "...it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged [Paul]..."

I take some comfort in the fact that there were these conflicts in the early Church.  People had hot arguments over whether Gentile converts to Christianity had to follow Jewish dietary laws, or if the male Gentile converts had to be circumcised.  They got into arguments about who had "the gospel truth", if you will, and who didn't.  They aligned themselves with certain teachers and evangelists, and lost sight of the fact that they were all following Jesus.  I take comfort in these early Church stories, on one level, because we have been having conflicts in the church ever since.  To name just a few examples, we have argued and split over the "filioque clause" in the Nicene Creed (that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son"), we have argued and killed each other over how Jesus is made present in the Holy Eucharist, we have argued and split over infant baptism, we have argued and split over slavery, we have argued and split over women's ordination, we have argued and split (in the Episcopal Church) over new versions of the Prayer Book, we are arguing and splitting over the ordination of gay, non-celibate clergy, we continue to argue (and maybe have split in the past) over church music, there has been plenty of Catholic vs. Protestant conflict, and there have been splits within churches over building projects.

As I say to couples in pre-marital counseling, conflict is inevitable.  The issue is whether or not you develop the skills and have the resources to work through conflicts.  Most of us realize, I think, that when we successfully work through trials and conflicts, it often enhances and deepens the relationship.  When we do this often enough (think of couples who have been married for 40+ years), we develop a mindset that we can and will work through any conflict that comes our way.

It seems to me that several things are needed for us to successfully work through conflict.  First, we need to listen and be respectful of each other, and not assume that "I alone have the truth"!  There is a reason that the complicated issues are complicated.  Reasonable minds can disagree.  Second, we need to adopt a posture of humility.  We follow a Lord who adopted this posture, over and over again.  In fact, his taking on human form was an example of that great humility.  (See Philippians 2:5-11)  With this example from our Lord, who are we to think that we are always right?  Third, we must seek to become more self-aware.  We must ask questions like:  What might be my part in this?  Could I be mistaken?  Am I trying to take a speck out of someone else's eye when I have a log in my own?  (cf. Matthew 7:3-5) Am I making assumptions here that are not based in fact?  Is fear or anxiety getting in they way, or is some old childhood wound getting triggered by this person that I am in conflict with?  I wonder what I might learn in this situation, and how this conflict might ultimately be a gift that helps me grow and be changed more into the likeness of Christ?

We don't have all the details about how Paul and the Christians in Corinth worked out their conflicts.  But we know a few things.  They kept the dialogue going; they continued to speak honestly with each other, AND they did some good listening, too.  They realized they were following the same Lord.  Probably everyone involved took some time to cool down, and looked at their own part in the drama, and each person was willing, once they realized they had offended the other, to apologize and ask for forgiveness.  And those who had been offended and hurt were willing to offer forgiveness, without holding onto a grudge.  They experienced their own "godly grief", as Paul expresses it in verses 9-11 above, and that godly grief led them to repentance and salvation (verse 10).  The salvation, in this case, was a deeper relationship with God, a deeper relationship with each other, and a saving of the relationship.  They did not have to split and go their separate ways, with lots of hurt feelings and both sides.  Thanks be to God!

May we be able to do the hard - but rewarding - work that is required of all of us when we encounter conflicts in the Church.  For it is not if we will encounter conflicts, it is when.  May we commit and keep recommitting ourselves to working through the conflicts that come up, for our Lord prays for our unity and our ever-deepening maturity, and He prays that we will be able to be witnesses to the reconciliation and salvation that are possible through Christ, and through the love that we have for one another.  For in Christ we are reminded that love can triumph over any struggle, any conflict, any hurt, anything - period.