Every relationship will have some sort of conflict at one time or another. How u respond to it will determine how deep the relationship can get. If u won't engage, it'll remain surface. If u engage to "win" or hurt the other person, it won't grow.
Mastering conflict means that u recognize it and work to resolution and do ur best find the "win win". If there doesn't seem to be a solution that everyone can agree on then u have to make the tough call for the good of the goal.
We had a person in a church service that had children being very loud and distracting. I was receiving texts and people trying to get my attention to deal with it.
I quietly and kindly asked her to bring the children out into the foyer so I could talk to her and explain our childcare options. I wanted to let her know we video and record the audio of our services so there are multiple reasons we ask children to go to their designated environments. This person decided they would just leave instead of cooperating. I guess there was no win win to them so I had to do what was best for everyone.
My point: sometimes you have to make a tough decision. Sometimes people get offended or hurt. Conflict will happen but we can't avoid it. We must master it.
One of my favorite communicators said "as a church, we will sacrifice one for all but never all for one".
Think about that statement. If the noisy children weren't asked to come out where they wouldn't distract others, we would've sacrificed all for one.
I hated to be the one to have to talk to them but I believe it was the best thing for the other couple hundred people who were in that service and who did cooperate by taking their kids to the age appropriate environments.
FYI: we publicly ask at the beginning of every service for families to take kids to their rooms. This family ignored that request...
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