Tuesday, March 10th

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March 10
 
Unity amid Discord

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. 
—Acts 15:39

In the early 1970s, a cult called Heaven’s Gate was formed. The members were convinced that the earth was going to be “recycled,” and the only chance to survive and make it to the next level was to get rid of everything that connected them to this planet. They were forced to give up everything that made them unique: their family, their friends, their jobs, their possessions, and their personalities. The ultimate goal was to erase their “personal histories.”

On March 26, 1997, the bodies of thirty-nine members of Heaven’s Gate were found dead after the group members committed mass suicide. They were allegedly trying to reach an alien spaceship headed for the Comet Hale-Bopp. Sadly, the brainwashing they experienced prevented them from thinking for themselves and being able to distinguish truth from deception.

It’s a sign of a healthy, functioning church to have members who have minds of their own and personalities of their own, and who offer contrasting opinions. As tempting as it may sound to worship in a place where no one ever rocks the boat or disagrees with one another, that’s not healthy or desirable. Only cults experience that kind of monolithic agreement.

Since disagreement is inevitable in a functioning church body, we need to figure out how to deal with differences of opinion in a healthy way. Paul and Barnabas reached an impasse when it came to John Mark and if he should join them on their journey (Acts 15:26-39). But they weren’t the only people in the early church to experience significant disagreement.

In the closing of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he addresses a conflict between two women who were apparently vibrant members of the church there: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel” (Philippians 4:2-3).

Paul also addresses conflict in his letter to the Corinthian church with this plea: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

We have much to learn from the early church about the importance of unity and the way we handle conflict. If conflict is left unchecked, it will cause deep fractures under the surface until the church splinters in devastating ways. But if conflict is addressed in love and honesty, the body can grow even closer together as a result.

Challenge: Thank God for the Christians in your life who see things differently from you. Ask God to bring peace and respect to your relationships, even when you disagree.

—Stephanie Rische