One of the many mistakes I’ve made as a leader is to ignore a problem hoping it will go away. But I’ve learned the hard way that if you see a problem within the church (i.e. problem people or situations) you need to run to conflict. Things only get worse, not better – and problems NEVER solve themselves. Let me illustrate what I mean…
I remember not shoveling my driveway one time after a snow storm. Well, after a couple days of driving over that snow, combined with freezing temperatures, my driveway turned into an iceskating rink. Having a wife and young kids, and being concerned for their safety, I finally got around to shoveling the driveway. Let me tell you, it would’ve been way easier to just deal with the snow the same day it fell. But I put it off, creating a bigger and more difficult problem to deal with in the long run.
This is exactly what happens when we ignore problem people or situations within the church. By putting off a crucial conversation, we create bigger and more difficult problems for ourselves. Wishing the problem will go away on its own is liking hearing your car making a funny noise and thinking it will go away on its own (vs getting worse). That’s just not how the world operates, unfortunately.
So even though it’s uncomfortable, we need to run to conflict. Because problems never solve themselves and only get worse with time.