Dr Paul Allen

Church history teaches us that conflict in church life is a reality. The disciples of Jesus disagreed with each other; the early church was fraught with division, and disunity has continued to be a recurring issue ever since. From petty controversies to serious errors, conflict is a regular feature of church life. While moral failings and heresy require church discipline (Matt. 18:15–17), how are we to tolerate differences over minor matters that do not warrant church discipline? We can learn a great deal from Paul in his letter to the Philippians on this issue. Rather than exposing the specifics of the controversy between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul winsomely reminds them of who they are before helping them resolve their disagreement. Remember That You Are Beloved of God Paul’s language in Philippians 4:1 is striking. He addresses the church at Philippi as “my brothers,” “whom I love” and “long for” and are “my joy and crown” who are “my beloved.” With candour, he reveals his heartfelt ...

I recently watched as a young mother acted quickly and decisively to end a squabble among two preschool boys. She acted righteously and quite effectively, and then she turned to her two charges and set down the law: "It is never right to fight." Sorry, Mom, I understand what you were trying to do, but that moral instruction will not serve those boys well as they grow into maturity. Their challenge will be to learn when it is right to fight, and how, as the Bible commands, to fight the good fight of faith. What about the church? Is it ever right for Christians and churches to engage in controversy? Of course, the answer is yes—there are times when believers are divided over serious and consequential questions, and controversy is an inevitable result. The only way to avoid all controversy would be to consider nothing we believe important enough to defend and no truth too costly to compromise. We know that Christ cares deeply about the peace of His church. In His prayer for...

If I ask you — What causes fights and quarrels in our lives? — you might promptly turn in your Bible to the opening lines of James 4 for the answer: What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1–3) There it is. What  causes  our fights and quarrels? We want. We are want-ers. We are driven by desires. And want-ers, driven by unchecked desires, find themselves in a lot of fights — some bloody fights, but mostly unseen fights, non-physical fights, the kind of internal loathing towards others, a pot of boiling acid that simmers under the surface and only rarely bubbles up and bursts out in verbal disdain. Under the surface is where we nurse this insidious porridge of...