“I’m not ready to make nice, I’m not ready to back down” – Dixie Chicks

I was in a store somewhere this weekend and heard the latest offering from the Dixie Chicks on the in-store Musak. I’m not sure why, but I can’t get it out of my head. I even downloaded it from iTunes today.

I think I am intrigued by the lyric above because I have been placing in the context of “what would Jesus do”? When conflict arose, what did our Rabbi and teacher do? What are we called to do when conflict meets us at home, at work, with friends and people we don’t even know? Should we “make nice” or be honest and say “you know what…I’m gonna be honest and say I’m not ready to make nice”. It reminded me of a question John Eldredge asked in the “Wild at Heart” series:

“Was Jesus more like Mother Theresa or William Wallace”?

If you’re wondering, Eldredge said that it depended who you were. If you were “the least of these”, he had the compassion of Mother Theresa. But if you were his enemy…”look out”. Interesting when you place it in the context of the Corporate Ladder. As Christians in business, are we called to “make nice” even though our position, or the situation calls us to be bold, strong and honest? Particularly in positions of leadership and influence.

What about with friendships? Are we called to say “you know what, this isn’t right and I’m not ready to make nice about it. I need some time”. I wonder if the honesty is more important then “smoothing things over” just to revisit again at a later date. Don’t get me wrong, This isn’t directed at anyone or anything in particular. It’s just the way I’m wired I guess. Questions like this intrigue me.

I don’t have the answers. I guess I’m posing the question to the blogging community. Are Christians called to always “make nice”? In my mind, this is a LOADED question.

Your thoughts?

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