Title: Conflict: Causes and Cures
Author: Dr. Mike Smith
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1948779449
Genre: Religion and Spirituality
Pages: 246
Reviewed by: Liz Konkel
Pacific Book Review
Dr. Mike Smith addresses the common causes of conflict along with ways to resolve it and how to be an avid peacemaker. Conflict: Causes and Cures gives an inside look at dealing with conflict within the church and how conflict has aiding in church statistics like how a pastor loses his job every eight hours and over a thousand churches break up every year. Smith divides Conflict: Causes and Cures into three sections, beginning with signs of conflict going into the various types of conflicts, and ending with ways to address conflict.
Conflict is defined as “an act of striking together” and is explored thoroughly in Smith’s well-organized style, with an in-depth knowledge of examples and approaches. Smith uses real-life experiences as examples along with Bible verses to explore resolves to conflict. The real life issues presented are easily related to and form an easy connection to where Smith is speaking from. Smith highlights several instances which range from improper actions caused by the pastor to simple miscommunications. This self-help guide also includes learning activities which give techniques and work sheets to do as a group or individually to address personal conflicts and ways to face conflicts together.
Conflict: Causes and Cures uses charts and graphs as concrete background pulling apart the idea of conflict with facts and figures supporting every aspect covered, even including a breakdown of communication. Smith takes an intellectual approach to understanding how conflict works and where it comes from, diving into different elements of personality as well as generational that effects how people relate to each other. All of these factors play a part in how Smith explains conflict and the ways in which it arise. The facts given within the book range from the four personality types discovered by Hippocrates, to a generational chart extending from ancient builders all the way to generation Z. While it is aimed at the church, the guide is not solely for pastors and churchgoers. Anyone can find something in here about dealing with conflict, because everyone has experience dealing with issues on communicating and working as a team.
A great deal of humor is seen through cartoons with jokes aimed at conflict within a church as well as some lighthearted church humor. Smith also shares anecdotes about his grandchildren through adorable and funny stories of misunderstandings which balance out the cartoons and help set up each chapter. Smith maintains a friendly tone throughout which gives certain parts a conversation feeling as he incorporates moments of personal thought and history. His style is smart and laid back, always maintaining the guise of someone you’d want to get advice from. The suggestions “Conflicts” provides are helpful and sincere, with advice such as listening to one another, praying, being sensitive to one another, communicating, and many others. The guide succeeds by never judging what others are doing, yet showing how easy conflicts can happen between two or more perspectives and sometimes without anyone realizing it. Conflict: Causes and Cures is a guide to resolving the conflict in the church, but can be easily followed as ways to deal when disagreeing with others and how to rise above conflict by communicating.
