When I thought about the idea to try and write daily, I knew I had a few things in my mind that I would want to share about being a leader in a ministry setting. I didn’t realize how many things would just happen giving me things to CONTINUE to write about.

Ms. Suzy comes ask you to talk and you sit down with her and she tells you that she doesn’t like the way Ms. Debbie is handling things and doesn’t appreciate the way she talked to her in last week’s rehearsal. She came to you because she didn’t want to make it a big thing, but this has been going on for awhile and she feels belittled by Ms. Debbie. It’s getting to the point where she feels as if she wants to leave the group. Everyone loves Ms. Debbie’s voice, but it is also well documented that Ms. Debbie tends to hold this over people….

I know that there are some of us who have dealt with our share of Ms. Debbies (the names were changed to protect the fact that I made this story up). Do you ever find it hard to stay neutral and not pick a side within the conflict? Have you ever found yourself getting a hard heart towards people as a conflict seems to never really go away? How do you handle that drama queen that always seems to be at the brink of a breakdown whenever something happens?

If nothing else, the Word is always right. It’s amazing how well that has worked for me. I have dealt with some interesting situations as a worship leader, and even ministry group director, but I’ve found that at the end of the day, it all comes back to the Word. I’m a rather emotional person and sometimes I can lead with my heart in a situation and as a result I jump to a place that I shouldn’t be when I’m dealing with conflict. I tend to do a LOT better when I stick close to what God is telling me to do and how he wants me to respond.

So, to wrap this one up, I’ve created a little grading system. Read the statement and give yourself a grade on a scale of 1-5; 5 being ‘I got this’ and 1 being ‘I need some major help’.

1. Staying a partial mediator within a conflict is no problem for me.

2. It doesn’t take much before I’m adding in my opinions about how to ‘handle’ someone I get riled up and ready to fight.

3. I bring in help when a situation gets bigger than I can handle.

4. When someone comes to me with a problem, Facebook and Twitter usually know about it before the person gets out of the room good.

5. I listen more than I talk when someone comes to me looking for help and guidance.

5-10 Stop telling people they can come to you with problems. Fix your own first!

11-15 You know enough to be dangerous. Not necessarily a good thing…

16-20 You are probably helpful more often than not. A little rough around the edges

21-25 You’re a conflict resolution guru. When’s the next conference?

Where did you end up? Are you a master of conflict resolution? Did I miss something?