Sometimes conflict is unavoidable in pastoral life.
But having a passion for conflict is not helpful. To put it mildly.
Winn Collier’s fictional pastor, Jonas McAnn:
I’ve known a few pastors always licking their chops for a fight. I once heard a pastor recount to a group of other pastors how he had delivered an ultimatum to his church board, and how three-fourths of them had resigned en masse. “And you know what?” he said. I remember his wide, white eyes, as though he would come unglued if he couldn’t deliver the punch line. “That night, I slept like a baby.” He sat back in his chair, satisfied, like a cat after a pounce. There are a hundred reasons why this story disturbs me, but needless to say I don’t have such a disposition. I would not sleep like a baby.
Winn Collier, Love Big. Be Well. Eerdmans, 2017, pg 59.
