This book provides information on proven biblical principles for defusing and resolving emerging and unresolved conflicts among Christians within the local church setting.
A timely response is of essence in firefighting as well as in matters of mediation and conflict resolution. Therefore, it should not be surprising that one of the enemies to the peace process and conflict resolution is delay. The longer a conflict remains unmediated or without intervention, the longer it would also take to defuse and resolve it. Providing a timely response to conflicts is the first step towards preventing it from spreading. It is what I refer to as the firefighter's response. A firefighter's prayer is that he gets to the fire before it has spread out of control. And delay is the enemy to successful firefighting. Wild fires are the most difficult fires to fight for the fact that they spread quickly with a vengeance. And that is the picture the New Testament writer James is painting in James 3: 5 – 6. A conflict that is not quickly resolved will also not be easily contained as it would spread out of control just like a wild fire. And most attempts to mediate such conflicts often fail as the churches involved have often reached the point of no return.