EMQ » July – Oct 2024 » Volume 60 Issue 3
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Conflict Competence
Summary: As mission organizations, how do we move “from me to we to the world?” The knowledge, skills, and attitudes of conflict competence are the foundation of an authentically inclusive culture in which diversity is welcomed and “all peoples” (panta ta ethne) experience both full belonging and high value on their uniqueness.
By Rocky Tyler
I once worked together with K-12 teachers to create authentically inclusive learning communities in their classrooms. The curriculum that guided us in this challenging task introduced the topic of human development with a novel metaphor, calling it a journey “from me to we to the world.”[i]
The missionary endeavor is a similar journey. As I consider the future of missions, I wonder how we are thinking about the we of our work. Our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission have traditionally focused on preparing me to carry the gospel to the world. Mission agencies have worked diligently to accomplish this with maximum efficiency.
On my second day of employment as the staff development manager at Wycliffe Bible Translators USA in 2016, the President/CEO at that time, Bob Creson, stood in front of his assembled staff and said, with great emphasis, “Work always flows from relationship.”
This brief, powerful, exceptionally wise observation highlights the critical significance of we in the work. And how we do we is becoming ever more significant as the society we seek to mobilize is increasingly composed of the world, or panta ta ethne.[ii]
We must give our full attention to each element of the missionary experience “from me to we to the world.” The success of our attempts to empower me to carry the gospel to the panta ta ethne literally depends on how we do we. And if we’re serious about inviting more of the panta ta ethne to our work, we must reflect deeply on our approach to we.
