It happens.  Those who believe in the Fatherhood of God, the saving power of Jesus, the authority of the Bible, still have differences.  Most of the time, these differences are not critical to fellowship and mission.  Disagreement does not necessarily end in division.  Every Sunday as believers study God’s Word, people have different opinions as to how the scriptures should be applied.  What happens to turn disagreement into dissention?

We have several New Testament examples.  Paul and Barnabas disagreed over the inclusion of Mark on a missionary journey.  It is recorded in Acts 15:36-41.  In this instance it was Barnabas’s commitment to a young Mark and the opinion of Paul that the mission was too important to risk interruption by an immature missionary.  Neither were willing to give ground on their opinion and it led to their going their separate ways.  They were later reconciled and Paul came to see Mark as a valuable companion.

(2 Timothy4:11)

It seems God used this incident to send Paul and Barnabas in separate directions and to give Mark valuable training under the encouraging eye of Barnabas.  Here is an example of disagreement that lead to dissention because of strong opinions that had nothing to do with doctrine.

In Galatians 2, Paul confronts Peter with inconsistent actions and wrong teaching.  Verse 11 says that when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Why such a confrontation?  The direction of the church was in the balance.  If Christians had to become Jews first the gospel would be changed.  Paul drew a line in the sand and everyone had to choose where they stood.  It was clearly a disagreement that ended in dissention.  By the way Peter realized his mistake and changed his actions and his teaching.  (2 Peter 3:15-16)

What do we learn from these dissentions in scripture?

1. God can use it.  God used both of these incidents to further the kingdom.  I would imagine that these times produced anxiety and maybe even a few sleepless nights.  It wasn’t a pleasant thing to disagree so strongly.  The end result of each of these accounts is that more people heard the gospel in clear and unadulterated ways.
2. Disagreement is better when it is done without anger.  Many people burn bridges when they disagree.  Just think of our loss if Paul, Barnabas, Mark, and Peter would have attacked each other viciously and destroyed all hope of future friendship?  The application is clear.  Stay calm.  Don’t loose your cool.  You can disagree in an agreeable way.  If the disagreement leads to division, we still need to respect the personhood of those we disagree with.  When lines are drawn in the sand we need to take our stand with humility, grace, and respect.
3. Stay true to the truth God has revealed to you.  Paul did not back down from the prestigious leader of the church.  Peter would have been a very intimidating opponent.  Paul realized he was on the side of truth and it was a very important point.  He stayed his ground.  We should do the same unless God shows us a different way.

When disagreements happen, don’t let them rob you of your focus on the purposes of God.  We can get caught up in personalities.  We can loose our peace and get discouraged because we have a false idea that Christians should always agree.  The scriptures tell us otherwise.  When it happens look for God’s purpose.  Stay faithful.