The medium of video games has certainly grown and evolved over the years, but one of the most consistent and appreciated aspects of playing games is the agency that it gives the player to do some of the things we wish we could do in the real world. And I’m not talking about possessing the ability to fly or to heal ourselves from serious damage just by picking up a leaf or eating some food (although those would be pretty nice options in the real world)… video games grant us the ability to solve complex problems in simple and oftentimes binary ways. Don’t like the look of that mushroom walking towards you? Let’s jump on his head and change his attitude. Giant, indestructible monster standing in your way? Shoot something glowing on it… that usually does the trick. Most complicated problems are resolved in the games we play by a quick bop on the head or a little good ol’ fashioned “pew-pew”, granting us the catharsis we are searching for in our real-world adventures that are rarely solved quite as easily. As a matter of fact, I have often found that the more challenging and frustrating my real-life situations become, the more I tend to seek out the comfort of resolving conflicts in the “game world” because they are so much easier to bring to a point of satisfactory resolution.

Finding a balance between following the Lord’s command to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:38-48) without becoming doormats isn’t easy, and it may seem like the only solution is to avoid all potential conflict situations altogether… but as we see in John 16:33 that doesn’t appear to be a practical option, either. No matter how much we may prefer to avoid conflict in our real world, it will always find a way to reach us… so it looks like we won’t be going over or around this mountain… we are going THROUGH it. Fortunately, as followers of Christ we have some incredible examples of how the Lord dealt with the conflicts that He faced from those who were outside of the faith, and if we look to how He handled these moments then they will guide us through His version of “Conflict Resolution 101”. First and foremost, as His followers we are given very specific directions to live as peaceably as possible with others who oppose us, as demonstrated in Romans 12…

Romans 12:17-21 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

But even when we are seeking the path of least conflict, these moments will still become part of our journey… and how we choose to both engage in them and defuse them will provide a far longer-lasting and meaningful testimony than any sermon we could ever preach. So let’s take a look at a few of the times that Christ was presented with a conflict situation and masterfully resolved them without all of the goomba head-stomping action that it is so easy to default to… by recognizing the true intent behind the conflict and addressing them as the spiritual opportunity they represented instead of the physical obstacle they are masquerading as.

Mark 11:27-33 Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

In Mark 11, Jesus was confronted with a question by those who opposed Him and were seeking to entrap Him with His words so they could have a reason to accuse Him and crucify Him. And while that was the path He was intended to walk down, it would be at the Father’s time and choosing… and this was not that moment. Sure, he could’ve bopped them on their heads, Mario-style… but this was not a battle He was meant to fight. So when His enemies laid out their verbal trap, Christ didn’t merely sidestep it… he redirected it in a manner that forced them to answer first so their true motivations as well as their hypocrisy would be exposed. The first lesson of resolving conflicts “Christ’s way”? Not every question that is asked is one we have to answer… if we aren’t given something by His Spirit to share (Luke 12:11-12), then the wisest response is not to provide one at all (Proverbs 26:4-5).

Proverbs 26:4-5 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

In Matthew 22 we find a similarly constructed situation as the enemies of Christ attempted to engineer a trap that would place Jesus in a position of either open insurrection against the Roman government or giving them a soundbite that they could take out of context and use to sabotage His ministry. On the surface they thought they had built the perfect “Kobayashi Maru” scenario to destroy Christ’s following one way or another, but the Lord looked beyond the question to the true intent behind it before He chose to answer them.

Matthew 22:15-22 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

In this circumstance, the Lord saw the opportunity that had been given to Him by the Father in this particular conflict to do more than simply bypass their trap… He was given the wisdom to answer it in a way that challenged them to reconsider the question they were asking in the first place. He turned a simple question about taxation into a far deeper question that forced them to reconcile their own views on both God and money… once again, He asked a question before uttering an answer, and the only people who stepped into the trap were those who set it in the first place (Psalm 7:14-16).

Psalm 7:14-16 Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.

For our final step in the sandal prints of Christ, we come to one of the most infamous “conflict traps” that were laid at the Lord’s feet… the woman caught in the act of adultery. In both of the previous conflicts, the challenges were primarily verbal and represented a matter of doctrine or politics… but this time an actual life was on the line. And when presented with yet another seemingly unwinnable scenario designed to entrap Him, Christ did the one thing we should ALL do when presented with a conflict situation… He pressed pause and waited. The Son of God Himself, the same Person who flipped over tables in the temple and boldly preached without fear to thousands, bent over and started drawing on the ground and IGNORED THEM. Let’s really let what is happening here sink in… all of the people Jesus had just been speaking to were still present, an entourage of priests interrupted Him in the midst of His lesson and dropped this adulterous woman right in the middle of “circle time”, and Jesus decided this was a good time to bend down and start doodling in the dirt.

John 8:2-11 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

I wish I could say that I knew what Jesus wrote in the sand… many theologians believe He started writing down the sins of those accusing the woman or perhaps Scriptures that condemned the sins they were guilty of. The truth is only those present know for sure… for all we know, He could’ve just bent down to pray and gain guidance from the Spirit while drawing pictures in the dirt. Maybe He was simply allowing time for the Spirit to soften their hearts and truly look at the woman they were prepared to condemn to death and convict them of their own sins before responding. But here is what matters the most… He did not engage those who were seeking conflict with Him on their terms or at the moment they were demanding it. He waited until the time was perfect and He was ready to deliver a sentence that would send every single one of them walking away without another word.

Unlike our gaming adventures, we cannot simply rush through these conflicts and simply hope for the best… and as we have all learned the hard way in life, we don’t get to reload a checkpoint or restart our game save when we get it wrong. And as we consider the path to conflict resolution in the manner of Christ, we will rarely find that our situations are going to be solved identically… but in each scenario we can find a few critical commonalties that will help us with our own daily challenges. Before addressing any of these conflicts, Jesus waited until He had the answer He felt led to share… and if He didn’t feel directed to give an answer, then He simply didn’t give one. And the Lord didn’t allow the demands of others to force Him to react to what was being presented emotionally, but instead He allowed the Father to reveal the true intent behind the trap… and in each of these scenarios He challenged His accusers to take the first stand on the questions before offering any answer of His own. Christ’s words were few, but what He chose to say has reverberated for thousands of years. And if we will remember His wisdom in the moments of conflict that each of us face, we will find that the Father will use these situations to do more than simply resolve them… He will use these moments to change hearts and save souls.

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