When You Disagree

Please read Leviticus 7-9 and Acts 15 if you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year.

This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. -Acts 15:2 (NIV)

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve God as a pastor. I enjoy what I do. But there are parts of the job that are still troubling to me even after 15 years of doing what I do. One of the more troubling parts is disagreement in the church. It breaks my heart when people within the body of Christ get upset at one another and are unable to reconcile.

In the assigned reading this morning, there is disagreement in the early church: whether Gentile Christians were required to adhere to the law of Moses. Gentile Christians were believers in Jesus who had not previously been Jewish. There were Jewish Christians who believed that the law, especially circumcision, was still necessary for salvation.

Paul and Barnabas (along with some other believers) were sent to Jerusalem to discuss and debate this issue in the hopes of resolving the disagreement. They listened to the wisdom of respected leaders. They also examined scripture to see what it might say to the issue. Once they made a decision, they wrote a letter and sent it with it some of the leaders who could present the letter and help interpret it. This particular portion of the story ends well as those who read the letter were encouraged and strengthened.

Unfortunately, some time later Paul and Barnabas (two of the leaders entrusted to resolve the issue of adhering to Mosaic Law) have a disagreement of their own. Unfortunately, the disagreement was so sharp that they parted company over it. I'm sure that was painful. I've seen things like that happen all too frequently in my own life and ministry.

Yet as I read the scripture this morning, it occurred to me that good still came from this disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Yes, they ended up going separate ways with different people but the separation increased the territory of their influence and further strengthened the churches.

May God grant you the grace, when disagreement arises, to come together in Christian love to prayerfully and thoughtfully discuss the issue. Listen to leaders you trust and respect. Examine scripture to see what it might say to the issue you're discussing. And may there be resolution to your disagreement that encourages and strengthens all parties. If the disagreement leads to a parting of ways, may God still strengthen you and the Kingdom.