Do Christians Really Need To Agree On Everything?

Hello blessed child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace and getting ready to enjoy a wonderful week in His grace.
In general, as Christians, we think that since we all belong to The Lord Jesus Christ, we should agree with each other, be okay with each other, never fight, never argue, never have conflicts. That we should just be nice to each other since we’re all Christians and that our relationship should be all flowers, butterflies and rainbows.
Unfortunately, this is not what we see in practice. We’re human beings we have our good and bad moments, and we also have moments where we just don’t agree and we just don’t see things the same way. I usually feel bad when I have a conflict with a brother or sister in Christ, I feel really guilty like “we’re Christians, we shouldn’t fight/argue, we should agree on everything”
What’s interesting is this week I’ve been reading through the book of Acts of The Apostles and I came across something I had never really noticed. It challenged my own perception of relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ.
What I love about The Bible is that it’s real. It gives you real facts about people who served God, it doesn’t hide what was on their minds, in their hearts, and how they behaved in their relationships. What’s even more interesting for me is to look at how the early believers in Acts of The Apostles, full of The Holy Spirit behaved towards each other even when they didn’t agree. You’re going to love what’s next.
Acts 15:36‭-‬41 NIV

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached The Word of The Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Wait is this really written in The Bible ? Two Spirit-filled Christians who did not agree on something and who decided to stop hanging with each other and to keep doing their work each on their own path ?
Yes it’s written in The Bible. God approved that it would be written in The Bible probably to teach us all a lesson through this, and I picked out three things from this passage.

1. Yes Christians Have The Right To Disagree

There are things on which there’s no need to start a debate. Things which have been clearly written in The Bible and we don’t need to debate on those. As Christians we all know that God hates sin, that He’s against lying, envying, living in sexual immorality, murder, theft, covetousness etc. We also know that Jesus Christ is The Son of God and that He died on The Cross for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. There’s no need to debate on this since we know it and it’s written in The Bible.
However, there are other things which aren’t discussed of in The Bible and which aren’t sinful in themselves. For example playing football, playing golf, etc. For such things I have the right to have my own opinion and you have the right to have your own opinion.
To a certain extent it’s same for some friendships. For example in this case Barnabas and Paul were travelling together to preach the Gospel, but Barnabas wanted to add Mark to the equation. Because Paul had already seen Mark act as a coward, he didn’t want him with them, but Barnabas probably just wanted to give Mark a second chance. They didn’t agree on this and Barnabas went away with Mark.
Just please keep in mind here that Mark too is a Christian. It can happen in our friendships with other Christians, in our Bible study groups, in our volunteer groups in Church etc. It can happen not to agree with other Christians and it’s not a sin not to see agree.

2. Yes Christian Friends Can Go Separate Ways

We usually think that if you’ve had a conflict with someone else, a brother or sister in Christ, you have to reconcile with them and maintain the same intimacy in your relationship.
Paul had been disappointed by Mark and he wasn’t ready to go through the same thing. He probably forgave him but forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. You also have to be wise enough to create sufficient distance with the person to protect yourself from being hurt at the same level. That’s why to Paul it was okay not to want to go with Mark.
Barnabas made his choice and decided to keep traveling with Mark. This made Barnabas and Paul go separate ways but it doesn’t make “separation” a sin in this case. They each had to go their own way.
It’s the same thing with our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to forgive them, but we have the right to choose not to hang out with them for good reasons.

3. Disagreements Should Not Stop Your Ministry

In this story, the most interesting part is that they all continued preaching The Gospel. They didn’t agree, they went separate ways but they kept preaching The Gospel and strengthening Christians where they went to.
Our ministry should not stop due to conflicts with other Christians. I recently read somewhere that we shouldn’t mix our feelings with the call that God has placed on our lives.
It may not have worked with your friend, but it doesn’t mean that you should stop serving God and that you should stop preaching The Gospel.

• If it didn’t work in your Bible study group, you can just join another one and keep serving God. Don’t stop studying The Bible because you didn’t agree with someone in your group
• If you didn’t agree with some concepts in your church, don’t stop going to church. You can still find another Bible-centered church where you keep serving God
• If you were disappointed in the group you joined to volunteer at church, join another group. Keep walking in God’s purpose for your life. Don’t give up on your calling because of conflict with others

Conclusion

God called us to belong to Him, not to other Christians. Just because they’re Christians doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything. We have to be humble, we have to forgive, but we also have the right to part, and when we part we have to keep in mind that it’s not to stop serving God or to stop preaching The Gospel. We will keep serving God and preaching The Gospel, just that we’ll do it somewhere else.
“The ministry must go on”
NB: Of course all what I wrote in this blogposts is valid for friendships. I’m not talking about marriage here. When you’re married it’s totally different. You vowed to God to be with each other for your whole life. You have to learn to forgive and to keep walking with each other. You have to let God change your hearts, and even if you don’t agree on everything, you have to keep loving and forgiving each other in The Lord, you have to keep growing deeper and deeper in intimacy with each other and to keep serving God together. With Christ Jesus it’s not impossible.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, King of Glory, Please Lord I need Your Holy Spirit to give me wisdom every day in my relationships so that Your Name will be glorified in my life. Help me forgive all those who hurt me, help me work in harmony with my brothers and sisters in Christ, direct my decisions, and help me remember that my life is to serve You and that my ministry is a priority and I shouldn’t give up on it no matter the conflicts I have with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Bless all marriages with the grace of Your love, glue married couples together, so that they can serve You together, even when they don’t agree on everything , in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

It’s Now Your Turn

How do you deal with conflicts with your brothers and sisters in Christ? Please let us know
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Thank you so much for reading
God bless you
Victoria Eyog