What Freddy the Frog and Jesus Taught Me About Conflict Resolution

I remember my first few days in seventh grade biology class. I wondered, as a kid moving into this new venture of long crowded hallways, a sea of students, and a plethora of teachers, called “junior high”, what in the world was happening in my life! It was a new day that offered a whole new culture of learning for me. Then came the frogs in biology class. Dead frogs! Yep! Right there in front of me, on a slab, lay what I named, “Freddy the Frog”. Next to lifeless Freddy was a surgical type knife, tweezers and some push pins. By the time I left class I had learned to stomach the insides of poor Freddy. I had just finished an amateur autopsy on Freddy. What a day! Many of you can remember the same type experience and the memory tattoo it left in your young mind.

I was reminded of this “dissection” class when I read a passage of scripture this week (don’t ask me why the class came to mind):
“The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”” (John 2:13-16, NASB)

Here is a simple break down of what Jesus did.

1. He discovered a problem.
   Upon entering the temple He found “money changers” and “small business” personnel selling animals for sacrifice. Jesus discovered the presence of an issue that was a negative for temple function. It was anti-policy. This was a problem for Jesus because this was His Father’s house, which was intended to be a house of prayer. They had turned into a type of McDonalds fast food drive through for animal purchases and money exchange for use in the temple. They cheapened the process.
2. He dissected the problem.
   A definition of dissect would indicate to separate and expose the several parts of something. While most dissection definitions lean to a scientific study, I’m going to use the word for what Jesus did. He dissected or separated out the issues at hand. “He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables” (John 2.14). His discovery lead to a dissection of what was troubling him, what was breaking the spiritual mores of Jewish faith and history. He carried a burden for His fathers house (2:17).
3. He determined a course of action to resolve the issue.
   He took the time to determine what he should do about the wrong that was occurring. Verse fifteen states “he made a scourge of small cords”. He thought the thing through. He took the time to gather his thoughts and make a cat of nine tails! He braided the whip pieces together. He knew what he was going to do about the situation. He determined before entering the second time (first time he discovered what was wrong). He not only produced the means, the tools, to use to deal with the issue, he created the confidence to act. Maybe he took the time to calm down, think the thing through, count to ten. I am merely speculating since I wasn’t there. What I do see is the fact that Jesus didn’t react to what he discovered. Sometimes we have to immediately respond to an issue of conflict while other times we can and should follow Jesus’ plan to solve a conflict issue. Take the time to manage not only the conflict but your thoughts as to how to solve the problem.
4. He defined the end goal.
   Jesus didn’t just create chaos on top of a problem that was already manifest. He defined his action for resolve. Verse sixteen reads, “He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business”” (John 2:16).
   He didn’t give a speech. He didn’t have to. When the dust settled everyone knew who He was and why He did what he did. Sometimes we have to create a little dust to define our actions. Jesus didn’t prolong the issue. He explained why He chose his mode of action. Done. Simple. Move on!

In simplified form…

Jesus went in and discovered an issue. He left and dissected the issue at hand. He took it apart in his mind. He analyzed the problem. Then he determined a course of action. He managed his thoughts toward resolve. Last but not least he defined his reason for action. No one was left in the dark. He acted. He did what had to be done. He moved on. He didn’t linger. He didn’t wallow in the wrong of what occurred. He didn’t celebrate at length what had happened. He progressed to the next stage of his story and life journey.

Sometimes it will take a lengthy amount of time to dissect and issue at hand. In this particular case it wasn’t a massive amount of time. I have had to deal with conflict that could be dissected in a few hours. And other times I had to dissect the issue for days or even weeks. Dissection may be the most uncomfortable part of dealing with conflict. Laying the “frog” open isn’t without difficult and wearisome choices. But once we dissect the issue we can better make a determined response to it.

I had to write a paper about my experience after dissecting a Freddy the Frog in my seventh grade bio class! Poor Freddy the Frog had to be sacrificed for me to be to define what all just happened to challenge my education journey. My “definition paper” was a short debrief of Freddy’s biology cause demise. Defining an issue must involve solid and Word based truths. It is imperative we look to the Word to solve our world/business/church issues of conflict. It’s rather simple when we lean into His word!