Vive la Différence
“Suppose two persons have a dispute…”
Disagreements and conflicts between Christians are neither pretty nor necessary, but sometimes they are inevitable. Even though we are children of the same Father and brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not always in complete agreement. We should always love each other at all times, but we don’t.
These conflicts, if kept within the limits of decency and Christian love, can be healthy sometimes. If every believer would agree in everything, all the time, then life would be boring and monotonous.
I thank God for making us different! We are not robots or cult followers, but human beings saved by grace. Each one of us has our own culture, world view and philosophy. We don’t have the same spiritual gifts and we even differ in our manner of worship. But in spite of all these differences, we are united by one faith, into one body: The body of Christ.
As Christians we need to learn to live with our conflicts and to solve them in Christ’s name. Most of the church divisions stem from personal preferences in music, the length of the service, and other trivial matters unrelated to doctrine.
Conflicts can be very beneficial, when mature believers work together in spite of their different opinions. From different colors, God can make one beautiful rainbow and from many varied opinions, we can reach better agreement or solutions under divine guidance.
We may be different, but in Christ we will always be one.
