Fire as a Metaphor for Conflict
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:55AM The image and concept of fire presents a useful frame in which to view conflict. Initially fire presents an obvious representation of conflict’s undesirable side: frustration, war, annoyance, fight, pain, difficulty, fear, heat, and loss. At the very least, through the process of exploring our immediate associations with conflict, we discover that we have all experienced conflict in our lives and that it is inevitable, just like fire. However, if we explore the metaphor further, we find that like conflict, fire has the potential for destruction but also for opportunity.
The most crucial aspect of dealing with conflict, and with fire, is one's attitude. If we see conflict as something bad, when it surfaces we run or fight. When we allow the view of conflict as inevitable with the potential for destruction and growth, then we discover that we have choices.
We learn about the dynamics of fire and what is needed to sustain and extinguish a fire. Some fires benefit from water (electrical) while others die when doused with water. Sometimes smothering a fire is advisable. At other times, an exterior substance must be applied, such as spraying with chemicals. As we discover the dynamics of conflict we also discover the different ways that we can engage in conflict. Sometimes we need a decision made that will provide direction for the community. At other times, allowing disputants with long standing relationships to work things out on their own is important. Moreover, at other times an immediate response is necessary.
In forests where fire is left to occur naturally it keeps the forest floor free of materials that cause destructive forest fires. When we overprotect our forests and prevent fire from doing its job, our forests burn to the ground. In addition, burning leaves behind the ability for new growth to occur unhindered by tangled undergrowth. It has been said that the hottest fire makes the strongest steel. In the same way, a healthy experience of conflict can be the means by which unhealthy factors in a relationship or project can be removed. Then new and stronger ideas and characteristics can emerge.
Uncontrolled fire is undesirable fire that benefits no one and endangers everyone. Uncontrolled conflict is undesirable conflict that benefits no one and damages everyone involved. As with using controlled fire as a tool, great care must be exercised to control conflict. Emotions must be held under strict control and the interaction must not become personal. Like fire, the conflict must remain focused on the proper object (the situation needing change) and not the people involved in the change process. Burning underbrush is desirable; burning the person using the fire is not. By knowing how to extinguish the fire, and the conflict, and by building strict barriers to guide the fire, and the conflict, the greatest benefit can be achieved by both.
Developing the ability to deal with conflict is crucial. If one's attitude allows for the possibility of constructive conflict, then the prospect of conflict can be anticipated and not loathed. We must remember that conflict is similar to fire. It is inevitable but possesses the potential for positive and negative results. Only you can prevent (uncontrolled) forest fires!
Fire, conflict, control, damage, help, resolution, tool in Discipleship, General
BSFL Sunday School commentary for the week of January 17, 2010
Wrestling with Injustice Ecclesiastes 3,4,8
As I write this I am keeping up with news reports from Haiti, where a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the tiny island on Tuesday afternoon. President Barak Obama said, "For a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible." (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake/index.html) In Ecclesiastes 8:6-8, Solomon proclaims, "For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man’s troubles are heavy on him. Yet no one knows what will happen, because who can tell him what will happen? No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape." (HCSB)
The Bible says in numerous places that God loves justice (see Psalm 11:7; 33:5; 99:4). Simply put, justice is when everyone receives exactly what they deserve, good or bad. But a cursory look around our world reveals that justice does not prevail. Further, this seems to be the norm, and it appears for the most part that no one is doing anything about it. Perhaps more unsettling, injustice is seen all through the pages of Scripture. In Genesis 12 Abram lied to Pharaoh concerning his wife Sarai, so Pharaoh took her into his harem. God struck Pharaoh for taking Abram's wife, and he returned her to her husband. But there is no record of God punishing Abram for lying. In Genesis 2 God clearly states that the punishment for sin is death. In Genesis 3 Adam sinned and he didn't die immediately. However, in Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead by God for their sin. According to human reasoning God is anything but just.
"I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness." Ecclesiastes 3:16 (HCSB)
"Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them." Ecclesiastes 4:1 (HCSB)
Is it hopeless to battle against injustice? Is God unjust? Is He truly perfect, or does He show favoritism to some and harshness to others? While we cannot begin to adequately explain God or His actions, we can go to the Scriptures for help with these questions.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 (HCSB)
Read the words of R. Kent Hughes in his commentary on Romans: "In Christ's death the demands of God for justice against a sinful race are fully met, leaving Him free to be merciful to those who formerly merited only judgment."
"Simply put, in the past God did not pour out his full wrath on men for their sins. He was patient and merciful. Some might question His righteousness in doing this. However, in Jesus' death He demonstrated His wrath against sin. It is here - in Christ being the mercy seat - that we see the miraculous love and creativity of God. God found a way to forgive us and yet maintain His moral integrity. He forgave us without condoning our sin. How? By directing toward Himself, in the person of His Son, the full weight of the wrath we deserved. Thus God's holy character is not compromised" (page 85).
There is hope in standing against injustice. God has demonstrated His justice in the cross. He will ultimately judge the world in perfect justice and righteousness. "I said to myself, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work." Ecclesiastes 3:17 (HCSB). Until that time yet in the future, Solomon gives us some guidelines for how we are to strive for justice in our world. Ecclesiastes 8:2-9 teaches us to:
In Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 Solomon declares that we need not despair. There is hope for change, in our world, and in the future judgment before God. Our efforts to promote justice are not in vain. The God who personifies justice will use us as His instruments to bring about hope and justice to the oppressed. We cannot remedy all injustice, but we can each do something.
Give to SBC Baptist Global Response to assist with Haiti Relief efforts
Follow this link to a YouTube Video Playlist of 19 videos related to the themes of this month's Bible Studies for Life study in Ecclesiastes.