Prayer: Be with us in conflict, Lord, and help us to speak love in truth. May we learn to speak more honestly, more opening, and more transparent with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.
Reading: Matthew 18: 15-20 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: A few years ago, I took a week-long course on conflict resolution from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Institute. We looked at this verse and used it as a framework for our work of learning to better handle the disputes that come up in the life of church. At camp, we’ve been practicing what we call HOT Communication for a long time now. It started as “Clean Communication” and has morphed int “HOT Communication” standing for honest, open, and transparent communication. When we have an issue with someone, we go talk to them. We try to resolve the problem face-to-face, not talking behind others’ backs. If we need help, we engage a mediator to help us talk through the problem. The staff and I had conversations this summer about how our world needs more HOT Communication. We need to have the difficult conversations and come to win-win agreements. We need to be open to listening and understanding another point of view. And we need to find common ground. How might you practice HOT Communications in your life? How might those changes make your life better? --Chad Hershberger
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