1.
Pastor Poirier, three hundred and seventeen pages on conflict ... Is there
that much pastors need to know about this issue?
Great question. I recently
asked a group of graduating seminarians how much of the Bible is about
conflict and one young man lifted his right hand and showed me his four
fingers and said: "Gen 1-2 and Rev 21-22. Everything in between is about
conflict." As I say in my book, the Bible is all about conflict and about
Christ the great Peacemaker." So, yes, there is a lot to say about conflict
and 314 pages is probably just scratching the surface
2. What does the title of your book tell us
about your perspective on the pastor's role before-during-after a conflict?
That's a big question,
let me simply address the most important part—the pastor's role before a
conflict.
If sinful conflict
arises out of indwelling sin, then peacemaking must be more than a skill
set. It must become a habit of being.
The Peacemaking Pastor
isn't about the odd plumber's wrench that we are to take out once a year
to fix a leaky faucet (conflict). True biblical peace is the fruit of the
gospel of reconciliation. Hence, the call to peacemaking is more than just a
call to develop a skill set—it is is a "habit of being." Peacemaking is as
much about who we are as something we do. Jesus says this in
his seventh beatitude, Matt 5.9 "Blessed are the peacemakers for they
will be called the sons of God."
Peacemaking Pastors must
recover that sense of awesome gratitude for the work of Christ our
Peacemaker. Our souls first must be saturated with Christ's message and
ministry of reconciliation before we can be peacemakers. Prayerful
reflection on the gospel of reconciliation (see for example Rom 3-5, 8; Eph
1-3; Col 1-2) alone will renew our hearts and our calling to recover the
message and ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5.18-21).
Biblical peacemaking is
about building a culture of peace in our congregations. By "culture" I mean
ingraining godly habits that flow out of having been embraced by the gospel.
Those habits are regular thanksgiving and praise to the God who saves us
(Eph 1.3-14), confession of sin, granting of true forgiveness (Col 3.12-17),
walking in humility and truth before one another, looking out for each
other's interests (Phil 2.1-5).
As pastors we are
culture-makers. Through preaching, teaching, and counseling the message of
reconciliation –that is coupled with joyful, strategic, and Spirit-relying
prayer—we feed, direct and lead our people to be the peacemaking children of
God in the family of God.
3. How
should a peace-minded pastor incorporate prayer into conflict?
One of my favorite
definitions of prayer is taken from an ancient catechism. It asks: What is
prayer? And answers…"Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God for
things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our
sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies." (Shorter Catechism. Q.
98).
Prayer couple with God's
word directs me rightly in a conflict. My default desire is not to
experience conflict, trial or tribulation, yet James calls it pure joy (Jas
1.2-5). So true biblical prayer must be our desires for things agreeable to
God's will. God purposes conflict as opportunities to display his glory, his
wisdom (Jas 1.5) his goodness, mercy, grace, holiness, justice and truth.
Conflict drives me to prayer—to trust on God. In the confusion of conflict,
I pray for God's wisdom. Conflict highlights our weakness, our bondage to
sin, our immaturity, so it affords me the opportunity to pray for God's
power and might and not my own. Paul saw this most vividly when faced with
his own weakness and then experiencing God's resurrection power (2 Cor
12.9-10).
Paul says God has given us
the ministry of reconciliation and that we are Christ's ambassadors. As
ambassadors, we are not here to serve and advance our own agenda, but rather
that of God's We are not to speak our own words, but to ask: Lord, help me
to speak your word (the gospel) to my brother sand sisters who are at war
with each other. A great example of this is again the apostle Paul. He calls
two women in the Philippian church to come to agreement. He then calls upon
the rest of the church to help them. And then, beginning in v.4-9, he gives
specific commands as to how to do this and one of these is
prayer—"Rejoicing…petitioning God, praying instead of getting anxious
(anxiety and fear frequently enflame our hearts in conflict). [I flesh this
out much more in Chapter 6 of my book).
4.
You make it clear that biblical forgiveness is essential - What role does
prayer play in forgiving and what is the difference between forgiving as an
individual and forgiving as a corporate body (congregation?
Again, let me address the
first part of you question—the role that prayer plays in forgiveness.
If our heavenly Father
delights most when we forgive those who have offended us, then prayer and
forgiveness are intimately related. God's Spirit reshapes my heart and helps
me to forgive others when through prayer I am drawn back to the great ground
of prayer—Christ's death and resurrection for me.
In Matthew 18.21-35,
Peter's struggle to forgive is answered by Jesus' parable that points Peter
to the great forgiveness he has received. I can't strangle my sister for 100
denarii debt and at the same time truly rejoice at the 10,000 talents God
has forgiven me.
Jesus reiterates this truth
in Matthew 6.9-15 where we find he teaches us to pray and then of all the
petitions he emphasizes, the one he emphasizes is our own petition to be
forgiven. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your
Father will not forgive your sins. I do not understand Jesus to mean
that we earn God's forgiveness by first forgiving, but rather that the true
evidence that we are forgiven and saved by grace is that we are forgivers
and givers of grace.
5. One of your chapters, Toward Becoming A
Peacemaking Church, talks about confession and celebration. How do they
relate to the peacemaking process and how can prayer serve the pastor in
each case?
Peacemaking Pastors lead their people to regular confession of sin and
praise over God's rich and bountiful forgiveness through Christ.
Sinful conflict is
self-blinding. We will never confess our sin if first we do not pray for the
convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Like David, we must pray:
"Search my heart, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious
thoughts; See if there is any offensive way in me…" Ps 139.23-24. As
pastors, leaders, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and as the body of
Christ, this must be our first prayer. With conviction of sin can come true
confession. I remember how I had mistreated my secretary. My Ps 139.23-24
prayers didn't make me aware of my offenses, but they did prepare me to
listen when my church administrator approached me to gently restore me and
help me be reconciled to my secretary. This in turn lead to my public
confession of sin before my congregation which was received with joy by my
people as they rejoiced to see God work in the heart of their pastor.
6. Pastor, please write a prayer for praying
pastors who desire to become peacemaking pastors who lead peacemaking
congregations...
Heavenly Father, the God of
mercies, even as you have given us the message and ministry of
reconciliation, and called us to be ambassadors of Christ, your Son, we ask
you to give what you command. We offer to you our prayers that you may begin
with us first. Reveal to us, the pastors of your church, the ways we offend
you and grant us the grace to confess and renounce our sins that we may once
again experience the riches of your grace and forgiveness for us. Then, O
Lord, send us out anew as ministers of reconciliation, that we may lead your
people to be the peacemaking sons of God, calling to each other and to the
world: "Be reconciled to God." Amen.