I don’t like it when Christians treat each other as the enemy. Most will say they don’t do that. But—if we’re honest—we often expend more emotional energy thinking about a disagreement with a fellow believer than we do thinking about how to reach one more person for Jesus. I really don’t like that.[1] Actually, it makes me sad. Here’s why:
We’re on the same team. Followers of Jesus want the same thing: more Jesus. We want more Jesus for ourselves. More Jesus for our marriage. More Jesus for our church. More Jesus for our neighbors and our neighbors’ neighbors, for the mailman, the President, the President’s mailman, etc. We all want more Jesus. You know what? There’s plenty of Jesus to go around. I know. He told me[2].
My prescription: decaf and the seventeenth chapter of John’s gospel.
Decaf
Calm down! It’s ok. Jesus isn’t going anywhere. There’s been a war on Jesus since Herod tried to kill him and all the other Jewish baby boys 2000 years ago. Herod lost then, and he continues to lose today. But, we suffer personal defeats when we get excited and start arguing about the wrong things. The right things are laid out for us in the Bible.[3] What do you do when you think your take on the Bible is more right than another Christian’s take on the Bible? Drink decaf and then apply John 17.
John 17
In this chapter John writes about one of Jesus’ most passionate prayers. Later, please read the whole chapter. For now, just read this verse:
John 17:23 (NLT)
23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
Wow! Jesus (so by definition, God) is in us—all of us. He’s even in that other Christian whom you always disagree with. Jesus is praying that we would get along with each other. Why? So that the rest of the world would want more Jesus. When you disagree with a brother or sister in the faith, resolution is really this easy[4]:
- Christian 1: “Hey Sister! Isn’t our pastor great? I think he’s just swell. By the way, I don’t agree with [insert your beef[5]] that thing you said.”
- Christian 2: “Oh really? Well, I think I’m right and you’re wrong. At least we agree that our pastor is awesome.”
- Christian 1: “Yeah, but he only has one eyebrow. So, we really need to resolve this [reference your beef again] before my conscience can go back to normal. Do you mind reading [Bible verses about your beef] with me? Maybe we can figure out together what the right answer is.”
- Christian 2: “OK, but what if we read it and you still won’t admit that I’m right?”
- Christian 1: “Then we’ll agree that we both love Jesus, equally apologize if we said or did anything harmful to each other, then thank God for making us uniquely shaped with passion for different things.”
- Christian 2: “Sounds good. Let’s use my translation though. It’s better than yours.”
And, there you go! No need for malicious statements, resentment, or secret plots to “fix” the brakes in the other person’s car. The beauty of it all: you just disagreed AND maintained unity. To the rest of the world, that’s a pretty attractive thing.
Trying to be better,
-bill
[1] Hold the phones. I am not (ever!) claiming perfection in this—or any—area. I get mad when others do this. I get mad when I do this. I get really, really mad when we’re not honest enough to admit that we do this.
[2] 2 Peter 3.9
[3] I’m thinking about writing my own book of “right things,” but nobody would read it. Except maybe my mom.
[4] See also: Matt 18.15-22
[5] Vegetarian Christians may repent, or use tofu instead.