“Why can’t we all just get along?”
Most people want everyone to agree. Especially in church. Disagreements are seen as a bad thing.
People think that if we disagree, we won’t get along.
They say that to have unity in the church we must have agreement.
Well, I disagree. (👈 See what I did there?)
Disagreement in the church gives us a chance to practice how to truly love our church family
We need practice to learn how to disagree well, in a respectful and agape-love-filled way.
COVID has handed the church a great opportunity. There’s so much division about mask wearing, vaccines, and how to do online church gatherings that it has proven to be a great chance to practice getting along with people we disagree with.
It turns out, the Bible has a playbook for this moment
Read the New Testament with fresh eyes. In Paul’s day, the big, divisive, inflammatory questions were about things like eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Today, the questions are different, but the answers are the same:
- “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Matthew 7:12
- “Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies (builds up).” 1 Corinthians 8:1
- “With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
Practicing these things is good and healthy for the church!
We Christians really should be a shining example of how to disagree well. Let’s do it!
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