It’s difficult to balance a desire for unity within the body of Christ and yet fight for correct doctrine from scripture.  There are some academic Christians, for which arguing over nuances of Theology is a great joy.  It’s not for me.  I always look forward to the Day when all believers will be together in Heaven with a full knowledge of Christ, worshipping in Spirit and truth with great joy.  So what do you do?  How do you handle situations in which those you love, who bear fruit for the Lord, disagree with you?  What should win out?  Your doctrine or unity within the Church?  My hope today is to give you some guidance on how you should prepare for these times, because as someone active in ministry, I can tell you, these times will come.

Ephesians 4:12-16 – “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

My first encouragement is to form a Biblical conviction about the essential truths of the gospel.  Personally, I could care less about how and when Jesus comes back (I hope he comes back today).  I don’t really care if someone is baptized as an infant and later believes, or is baptized only after a profession of faith.  Do I have opinions?  Of course, but neither of those things are essential truths of the gospel.  We are not saved by our works, but by the finished work of Christ alone.  Christ bore the wrath of God in our place, died for our sins, and physically rose again.  I get this from Paul’s message to the church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

Are there other things in the Bible I would deem important?  Of course.  Here though, we must determine where to make our stand.  Do we break fellowship with someone?  I would say yes, if they reject any of the essential truths the gospel.  We should love them and evangelize to them, but we should not have a partnership or intimate fellowship with an unbeliever.  2 Corinthians 6:14 – “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

So when you find yourself in a disagreement with someone over theology, the first question to ask is:  Is this disagreement over an essential truth of the gospel?

Second, I would ask myself (and them), what are the implications of their belief?  A classical disagreement that occurs over and over again usually surrounds God’s sovereignty – do we choose God or does God choose us?  The answer to that question is actually less important than what an individual believes are the implications of that answer.  If God is not sovereign over your coming to Christ, is He sovereign afterwards?  ie, can you lose your salvation?  is God sovereign over suffering to be able to promise comfort to hurting people? what happens to people who don’t hear the gospel?  is man truly fallen? is there good in you apart from the grace of God that chooses god, that is not good in someone who rejects him?

Sometimes you may find that what you thought was a large disagreement, was in fact not much of a disagreement at all.  I know people who are saved, who believe they chose God, yet still hold that they are saved by grace alone, cannot lose their salvation, God does answer prayer, and God does actively comfort those who are suffering.  While I may personally see some inconsistency in holding those beliefs together, I am quick to put my sword away, and praise God for the beliefs we share.  Other times you may find that what you thought was a legitimate disagreement was only semantics.  Does God allow evil (choosing not to intervene) for His good purposes and glory or does God use the evil of man for His good purposes and glory?  Neither person is making the claim that God Himself is evil.  Both would claim that evil was foreordained as a part of God’s plan for his glory.

Lastly, I would ask myself; based on what I know of this individual, would they be edified by my challenging them.  Obviously if someone disagrees on the essentials of the gospel, I would lovingly challenge them.  If someone disagrees on another point of theology, however, I should weigh the benefits of challenging them.  An example of this would be, I would not get into a conversation about the depths of God’s purposes in evil for His glorification in Jesus Christ with someone who was a new believer, or who had just endured the loss of a loved one tragically.  There are points in time when that would be helpful, but seek always to encourage and edify the person.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 – “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.  I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”

Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

My exhortation to you all, is the same as Paul was to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 – “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry”

but also 1 Corinthians 16:14 – “Let all that you do be done in love.”

May the grace of God in which was lavished upon us in Jesus Christ, be quickly extended to one another as we look to the Day when there will be no more discussions about God, we will all see Him with our own eyes.

Grace and Peace,
Adam