Theology Blog

What happens when we disagree? What if we disagree about important things? What if we even have Biblical and theological arguments for our positions and still disagree? What if we disagree on small things?

That is a lot of ‘what ifs,’ but the reality is disagreement is a matter of when and not if. It is in fact natural, normal, healthy and good. Somehow we have lost sight of that. We have lost sight of that in the world. We have lost sight of it in our culture. We have lost sight of it in our country. We have lost sight of that in the church. I am not sure when, where or exactly how this happened (though I have some ideas), but over the past decade or two we have lost our ability to disagree with one another and still show love and respect to one another. We have walked away from the notion that we could disagree and still function together in community and function well in fact. Long gone seem the days when we celebrated disagreement as a healthy aspect of community.

The church, sadly, has been no different even though it should be. We have lost our example and witness in so many ways. We have bought into the divisive mindset of our world, walking away from love, grace and the hard work of community. That said, there is hope and we can choose to live differently. The beauty of the church, the community of believers is the diversity that God has created in us. Disagreement is not only ok, it can be fruitful. Perhaps, now more than ever, Christians have an incredible opportunity to be a light to the world around them by being living examples of what it means to love and live together in community in the midst of deep disagreement.