And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus. — Acts 15:39
Life is filled with disagreements. There are many times that we may disagree over small things. For example, my wife may not always agree with me on where I want to eat dinner if we are going out to eat. But those we are able to quickly get over and move on. Then, there are the big ones.
We all know what the big ones are. Those are the disagreements when we simply cannot get beyond the situation. It can be a misunderstanding or a difference of opinions, but for whatever reason, we simply cannot find a way past the issue. How we respond in those moments matters tremendously.
Here, we see Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement. The original word here means a sharp altercation or angry dispute. They were both passionate about this. They both felt they were right and there was no way they were going to be able to move on from the disagreement. There are two things that are important to see here.
First, they went their separate ways. They didn’t choose to stay in the disagreement. They realized they were both passionate, so they each decided to go their separate ways. But second, they didn’t go on their way criticizing or attacking the other. In other words, they agreed to disagree with mutual respect.
It is impossible to go through life without disagreements. There are going to be the small ones, but occasionally, you will face one of the big ones. It is in those moments that our Christian witness and reputation can be at stake. Rather than responding as the world would, we should learn from the example set here.
Sometimes it is ok to agree to disagree with a fellow Christian. Maybe we need to go our separate ways and perhaps God has something much bigger in store for us when we do. But we should remember the example set forth here. We must move on and be different from how the world would respond!
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