There are few situations more tragically ironic than Christian disunity. The whole point of the Christian faith is reconciliation. God wants us to be reconciled to him and to one another. How ironic to be divided over something that ultimately has to do with reconciliation! Doesn’t that defeat the point? The presence of disunity in the Corinthian church indicated to Paul that they had not understood the nature of their faith. The Christian faith is not about following people and their ideas and opinions. It is not about schools of thought and different styles of worship. The Christian faith is about becoming a child of God through Jesus Christ and living as a child of God. We didn’t become children of God by holding right opinions. We became God’s children because God called us to Christ by his sovereign grace. We are united in his calling. If you think your brother or sister in Christ is mistaken in their opinion, by all means express disagreement, but do not respect them less for it. We are always wrong about something. We just differ in which mistakes we make. Correct ideas do not make you a better person. Have you disagreed recently on spiritual matters with a fellow Christian? You can disagree and still be united so long as you recognise what is most important. Just remember, your relationship with your brother or sister is far more important than the vindication of your opinions.
Do you need to address any issues of disunity today?
Read 1 Corinthians 3
