Can Christians Walk Together if They Don’t Agree?
by Rick Wynn
God
is not a respecter of persons, but a respecter of the heart. If this is God’s
perspective of us, then should our perspective of one another be any less? As
Christians, we often develop friendships because we can agree in our personal
understanding concerning Scripture and biblical interpretation, but what happens
when we don’t agree? Is it possible to love our brothers and sisters in Christ
despite our disagreements? Is our love unconditional or based upon our
agreement?
The
Pharisees, convinced by their own confidence of righteousness, believed with
absolute certainty that they were right in accordance to their knowledge and
understanding of God and that even Jesus was wrong. Before Jesus arrived on the
scene, the Pharisees were at work deciphering the scriptures of Moses and the
prophets. They knew the oracles of God, could recite them, and understood the
prophecies that spoke of the coming Messiah.
In the midst of their knowledge, they became complacent with God and
esteemed the letter above God. In
other words, they esteemed their scrolls higher than the light and life, which
God spoke of in the oracles. Because
they were confident in their understanding, they thrived on their own
egocentrism, self-righteousness, stature, and prestige. They loved the adoration
of those who agreed with them and ostracized, persecuted and even killed those
who did not. Adamantly fixed in
their conviction concerning what they knew, they did not recognize the Messiah
whom they had studied about in the scriptures. They cast Him down, called Him
evil, and eventually hung Him on a cross to be crucified.
Concerning
our Christian relationships, I believe that often believers don’t realize that
sometimes it’s necessary to look up from the written words in the Bible to
ascertain that God’s Word coincides with life, meaning that His Word is alive
having depth and dimension. We need to know how the Bible is relevant to our
lives, other wise the Bible simply becomes flat words in a book.
Because the Word of God is life, it is imperative that we receive and
understand His Word from the perspective of life as opposed to the ink in the
book. How does God’s Word apply
to our lives? Should our foundation
of life be based upon flesh or Spirit? The Word says, “The
letter killeth, but that the Spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). If
we endeavor to live our lives and build our relationships only upon the written
words in the book without engaging in the action, which God’s Word requires,
then we can become susceptible to living and esteeming the letter of the Word as
opposed to the Spirit, which is life.
Have
you ever known Christians who quote scripture almost in every sentence, yet
their lives do not reflect at all what they speak? Many Christians are caught up
in trying to “act” holier than thou, but their lives are far removed from
the kind of life God desires them to live. Like the Pharisees, they attempt
holiness according to their understanding of the “letter” and not the
Spirit. In other words, they do not
internalize the Word of God via their spirit that it may germinate there as a
spiritual seed producing everlasting fruit.
They instead attempt to receive the Word from the perspective of their
carnal intelligence. Thus, their lives never excel beyond what they can perceive
intellectually. This intellectualism cancels out their “faith” in God.
Faith
comes by hearing and understanding the Rhema Word of God (Romans 10:17), which can only be understood spiritually. People who
lack faith rely on their intellectualism. In
fact, some people are so caught up in their own dogmatic views that they
actually believe this unwavering is their faith in God. Being a Christian and
living life according to God’s instructions go hand and hand.
It is true that Jesus quoted Scripture, but He demonstrated everything He
said by the way He lived His life. Many
professed Christians, churchgoers, and believers alike tend to become caught up
in the scriptures where they are even memorized and recited at every
opportunity, but their lives do not necessarily reflect nor honor Jesus, though
they think it does because of their fair speech.
Jesus warned that people’s lips may give Him praise, but their hearts
are far removed from their lips (Matthew 15:8 see also Isaiah 29:13).
Aside
from outright sensual perversion and blasphemy against the Word of God, I
believe that multitudes of people are turning away from God also because the
church speaks at them only from the perspective of the ink in the book as
opposed to the Bible’s relevancy to life. Even the majority of leaders behind
pulpits today do not necessarily understand that the Word of God written in the
Bible is the revelation of life, a manual if you will, of righteous and holy
living. Christian relationships are
quickly built upon the excitement of agreement concerning the knowledge of
scripture, but are torn down just as fast because of disagreement concerning the
knowledge of scripture. In other words, the relationships are not predicated
upon unconditional love as God commanded, they are predicated upon carnal
understanding pertaining to the scriptures in the Bible. Many Christian
relationships formed are predicated upon the agreement of interpretation
concerning the Word of God.
Perhaps
it is difficult for us to correlate the letter in the book to life because
worldly wisdom and knowledge learned in and outside the church often gets in the
way. We tend to hold the bible in
one hand and life in the other keeping them separate, yet God wants us to
understand that they should actually blend.
Thus in the midst of what people carnally understand concerning God’s
Word, they lose sense of what is truly important. Perhaps we don’t often
consider the common thread that caused us to come together as friends or as
brothers and sisters in Christ in the first place. Perhaps
many have not necessarily realized that the common thread we share is the Father
whose voice is heard as we read His Word in the book.
Now
please understand that I am not minimizing the Bible at all, I am simply saying
that God never meant His Word to be received, perceived, nor understood from the
perspective of anyone’s brain. He
created the Bible for the benefit of spiritual food, nourishment, and
understanding. He told us to
restructure our spiritual minds according to His Word and to instruct the flesh
so that it may follow the spirit. Thus, study the Word of God.
Many Christians today read and take in the Word of God according to their
own intellectual understanding. The results of this are that it is destroying
their relationships with one another by way of their disagreements. Over the
centuries, it has even played an essential role in tearing down Christianity and
building up the apostate church. Understand
also that disagreement is not always necessarily bad. In fact, I would say that disagreements can and often do
bring truths to light. But . . .
this is usually only in the event that parties are willing to put down their
intellectualism and dogmatic views with an earnest desire to grow and
understand.
I
once heard a young man speaking about having a relationship with God. He
used marriage as the analogy, but what he said can be used in just about any
instance. His words were very profound. He said that when a husband
and wife seek God, their relationship with God is like an upright angle. God
is at the top, the husband represents one leg, and the wife represents the
other. Even though they may not always agree on things, they nevertheless
seek God. As they do this, God draws them closer to Him in relationship and
revelation. As the pair draw closer to God they draw closer to one another
until eventually they blend as one at the apex with God. The Lord told us in
advance that all His people fall short and obviously, we do, whether it is by
sin, knowledge, love, worship, and even within our relationship with Him. I
believe that all of God’s people are at various places in Him, yet he loves
them all. People who truly seek God and righteousness are on a multitude of
different levels. I also happen to believe that one level in Christ is not
necessarily better than another level, for each serves a divine purpose and God
is a respecter of the heart. God also takes us from level to level, when He
finds us ready to move on. In other
words, He gives us only what we are capable of handling though He stretches,
challenges, and provokes us to go higher. Because God is a respecter of the heart only, this tells us
that His view of our heart is more important than our carnal intellectualism.
I
had a dream/vision once where I was lifted high above the earth. Peering
into the depths of space, something caught my eye. I saw an unusual yet very
bright light come into view. This sphere of light grew in size as it
rapidly approached. The closer it
moved toward me the brighter it became. Eventually
its size and brightness became greater than the sun and the brightness of it
illuminated the blackness of space. High
above and well beyond earth’s orbit it eventually hovered. Indescribable as it was, it was the most beautiful thing I had
had ever seen. Wide laser-like
beams of light streamed down all over the earth like the occasional heavenly
appearance of sunrays emanating through enormous storm clouds in the sky
stretching downward toward earth. I knew that the light was Christ and the beams
that rained down represented His illumination of those who were seeking Him. I
also instantly thought “rapture.”
The
people were from all walks of life and even though their knowledge and
understanding, worship, places and levels in their relationship with Christ
varied, all of them shared one common thing. Each of them had a sincere
heart toward Christ. They kept the same expectation of their Lord and
Savior returning. They didn’t
know everything, some knew very little, some had even been led down horrendous
paths in their understanding due to their lack of knowledge, but their hearts
were full of love toward Christ nonetheless. They sought God day and night
without cease. They consisted of the young, old, every race, creed, and
gender. They were rich and they were poor. The Lord said, “Do you see how
all my people are scattered across the world and yet there are many clumps of
groups and then there are many whom seem to be far off and away from others?”
“These are all my people and I love them just as I love you.”
As
the Lord showed me this, I remembered what Jesus said. He said, “Think
not that I have come to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). There
was a time when I thought that Jesus was only speaking about the separation
between the sinner and the Christian, but He was speaking also about separation
between Christians. Jesus never implied that just because two Christians would
seek Him that they would automatically agree with one another concerning their
knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. I realized then the importance
of separation, especially among Christians. I believe that even though we
have all accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior whereas we love and seek God, we
nevertheless have not yet arrived at that place of unity concerning our thoughts
and understanding of God. In other words, we have not yet been gathered
together by Him through knowledge and understanding for our nature gets in the
way. Until we have been lifted up and given glorified bodies, that nature
will continue to get in the way.
Due
to our knowledge and understanding, we are scattered. In a sense, some
Christians are as magnets that repulse instead of attract regardless of their
attempts to “connect.” (In some respects, I believe this is a good
thing because it can prevent confusion) They may even get very close to one
another, but the connection eventually breaks down. One may mention something
concerning God and another may say, “Well that’s not what the Lord said to
me.” I believe that separation has to exist because we are all at
different places and levels with God. One place or level is not necessarily
greater than the other for the Lord is a respecter of the heart not our
knowledge even though He tells us to get understanding. Getting
understanding is a process, which ushers us toward Him. In one capacity or
another, those who are truly seeking God move toward Him in truth, knowledge,
and understanding—His Wisdom—yet within the process, we may not always agree
with one another in our knowledge and understanding. However, in God’s time
eventually we will all agree. His Word will prove true regardless of what
any of us may disagree upon or think. When
we get to that place of one accord and total agreement, the issue of who was
right or wrong in our knowledge or interpretation of the Word will not be a
factor.
In
the vision, the light that I saw streaming down to earth came down in angled
slants across the world. In reference to the analogy about the angle that
I mentioned earlier, if you consider the base of an angle there is always a
distance between the two legs, yet each leg connects to the apex. The legs
themselves are located in different places and do not intersect at the base.
However, they will intersect later at
the apex. This is far more important than the two legs connecting at the base.
Still, God told us that where two or more are gathered together in His name, He
would be in the midst of them. This is true even when two Christians who do
not necessarily agree in their knowledge come together in praise and worship
toward God. The presence of the Holy Spirit is nevertheless in their midst
because He views them from the vantage of the apex, and not at the base where
they stand apart from one another.
True
Christians stand fast, and are immovable in what they believe the Lord has shown
them. No belief, doctrine, or
wisdom of another will move them. They
allow only the Holy Spirit to correct them if need be, yet they have the
capacity to love those who do not agree with them. They abide in God in every
endeavor as they know how according to what they know via the Holy Spirit. The
place we stand with God is vital because it is a form of obedience. In
Romans the 14th chapter, God even says that when you know you are
right, it is not always necessary to boast what you know to others, but to keep
it between yourself and God so that you will not cause others to stumble in
their walk with God.
“Him that is weak in the faith receive
ye, but not to doubtful disputations” (Romans 14:1)
“One man esteemeth one day above another:
another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind” (Romans 14:5)
“For whether we live, we live unto the
Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or
die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8)
Another’s
place and timing in the Lord may be different from yours, but in perfect
synchronicity and alignment to God’s plans. Though Christians may stand in
different places concerning their knowledge in Christ, the underlying
commonality that is often overlooked is that above their relationship with one
another stands the apex of the angle where God sits upon His throne.
Often,
Christians tend to seek out agreement and approval among others. Some people
feel more “comfortable” when they know that others are in agreement with
them. Thus, seeking such
endorsements is very typical among Christians, especially when it concerns their
friendships and acceptance from those they respect in the church body. It
gives them a sense of stability or foundation whereas they feel safe because
others agree with them. For the most part, I believe this is why many attend the
churches they do and maintain their relationships with their fellow Christian
brothers and sisters. Naturally, they seek out churches and/or people that agree
with them and vice versa throughout their Christian walk. Most don’t want to
run the risk of being proverbially stoned, ridiculed, or ostracized thus they
either conform or seek out those who agree with them.
Many
professed Christians do not necessarily allow God to direct them to that given
church or lead them to that given person for His purpose. As Christians, we
rejoice when we agree, yet agonize when we don’t. Concerning our relationship
with Christ, we should always rejoice because the bottom line is that we are
bound to Christ regardless of our “connection” to one another via our
agreement of knowledge. In other words, it is not our knowledge that proves
us, but our hearts toward Christ. If our heart is what interests God, then
why should our interest in one another as Christians be valued according to our
knowledge? Would you agree that Christians often have the best
relationships among each other when they can agree upon their knowledge
concerning the things of Christ? Let
them not agree, however and see what happens. Disagreement does not
automatically imply that one is serving God and the other demons. On the other
hand, some who disagree classifying themselves as Christians, have absolutely no
idea what being a Christian means for they lack in every area of Christianity.
Some I have personally seen full of hatred simply because of
disagreement.
I
believe that God deliberately keeps many of His followers separated in the
natural because if He bunched us all up together, we would become worse than
even the apostate church. How many times have you experienced ridicule or
ostracism from Christians because perhaps you chose to leave a church, or
because you did not agree with certain aspects of what someone taught?
Were the people who came against you devil worshipers? Probably not.
Where they way ward Christians? From their point of view, chances
are likely that this was also not the case, but what about from “our” point
of view. I know many Christians, for instance, some of whom I was very
close to who actually believe today that both my wife and myself are backslidden
in Christ because we left the proverbial church building. Well, we are no
more backslidden than those considering themselves way-ward Christians. We
simply stand in different places with God, yet when we were in the church, we
were just like them and kept the same beliefs about others who left the church. God
moved us from that place in our understanding to where we stand today, just as
He has done for many others who ask for His truth and are willing to submit, and
trust in Him.
God
does not speak one thing to an individual and then speak something contrary to
another. He speaks His Word to all. His Word does not have variations,
nor does it change. It is solid, eternal, and alive. Because His Word
is alive, it has depth and immensity. We could not live enough lifetimes to
experience the depth or vastness of God, yet we tend to judge one another
according to our depth of knowledge concerning Christ, which is miniscule in
comparison to whom He is. Therefore, we receive him but through different
levels of understanding, which is why there has to be separation. It’s
kind of like different races fearing or being intimidated by one another because
they don’t necessarily understand each other, yet they came from the same
source. It’s about going back to the source, which is God. It’s
about that angle of relationship between you and me, between us and other
Christians.
I
don’t think that it is necessarily God’s desire to “keep” His people
separated, but until we can get to that place where our relationships are not
about what we know, but about Jesus, we will remain separated. I believe He
does this for our own good. It may also serve as a purpose to protect us
from attempting to follow what we are not ready to receive, let alone a possible
untruth.
I
knew a Christian sister for instance, who insisted that Christianity today is
actually “spiritual Israel,” and that all Christians are actually the Jewish
nation in the eyes of God and that the abomination of desolation and tribulation
as described in the books of Daniel, Matthew, Thessalonians, and Revelation have
already taken place. She further
believed that Jesus had already come and set up His kingdom on earth. This
person obviously believes in Preterism. She
based her belief upon what she understood according to the Word of God.
Well, based upon what I understood from the Word of God, I didn’t agree
with her. The Lord had not told me this. He had not shown me this in
scripture or through any form of confirmation.
The point however is that before we found disagreement, we had an awesome
rapport and relationship with one another. Once we found that we did not agree,
the relationship changed.
One
disagreement often leads to many more because we base our understanding of the
Word of God upon what we know and understand concerning the Word of God.
Thus, from the point of our disagreement, what more could we possibly
talk about that wouldn’t lead inevitably to the next disagreement?
I believe that this general scenario is what many Christians face in
their relationships toward one another. God did say after all, “Can
two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) Another way of
putting it is how far can two walk together if they don’t agree? As I
said before, disagreement among Christians can be an avenue to discovering
God’s truth if there is maturity among those who disagree.
Maturity allows room for God’s Word of truth to come forth.
God
instructed us in His Word to get wisdom, for it is the principle thing. But what
if the wisdom is actually not about us adding higher notches to our belts
concerning our spiritual depth, knowledge and understanding, but purely about
the heart of God. What if the wisdom is about us being silent and allowing
the Holy Spirit to do all the talking, even amongst one another? Sometimes
I think it would be better if we were silent because we Christians tend to spout
what we know, instead of truly edifying and praising God in one accord. In
fact, sometimes when we spout what we know we even tend to think that this is
edifying God and praising Him in one accord, yet what happens when we don’t
agree? Can we honestly say that our relationships among one another as
Christians are predicated upon unconditional love? If we say that this is so,
then why do Christian relationships fall apart as soon as we disagree?
Why do some even set out to disprove, ban, censure, and even cast hatred
toward others when there is disagreement?
Another
scenario: There is a person who works where I work and he too is a minister of
God. We have a good, yet unusual relationship. What I mean by that is
that he read one of my books for instance and while he did this, I found that
whenever he read something he was in agreement with we had wonderful
conversations and all was well. Whenever he read something that he did not
agree with, he avoided me like the plague. Seeing this pattern, I finally
came out and asked him what was going on and he admitted that there were things
he did not agree with. I guess I have never understood why such a barrier
has to exist. In other words, what changed? I never asked him to
follow me, and I never told him that I would follow him. My focus has
always been God and to lead others toward the Lord. Whether I am right or
wrong in my understanding, God will direct me and correct me simply because I
ask Him to. He may even do this through a friend, but He will also give me
confirmation where His Spirit in me will bear witness in truth, and thus I will
be inclined to change because I love Him. Yet even this is still all in
God’s purpose and timing. With my friend, one moment as far as he was
concerned I was most definitely hearing from God; the next moment, to him it was
as if I was somewhere lost in space. Well, either we hear from God or we
don’t. I am just a simple man and certainly capable of missing it, but
this does not reduce my relationship with God, nor should it give anyone the
right to assume that I am perhaps not hearing from God.
If
God judged us according to our “knowledge”, we’d all be in trouble.
His knowledge of course steers us toward righteousness, which is why wisdom is
the principle thing to get. But the scope of His knowledge, which we are
to seek, is Alpha and Omega. Somewhere in the vastness of that space is
where we are. We could literally spend lifetimes there and never see each
other once. Therefore, I don’t believe that we should necessarily concern
ourselves with our knowledge as much as our love toward Christ and one another. God’s
first commandment was to love Him and then we were to love one another. What
usually happens when Christians cannot agree with one another concerning their
knowledge is wedges began to form. Separation again takes place because in
some respects if it did not, there would be war. In fact, in some places in
the world there is war.
Would
you agree that people tend to feel personally wounded when a brother or sister
in Christ of whom they love and respect (or even those they don’t know)
rejects or disagrees with their knowledge and understanding? I can
personally vouch that my wife and myself have certainly had our share of
disputes, but the wonderful thing about this is that somehow the Lord always
brings us to the same place of understanding. This may not happen in a day
or even a month, but it happens. Then
of course, we get new revelation and we go through the whole thing again. The
results however end up the same because nevertheless we both seek Christ. Perhaps
God works things out faster in our marriages because we actually have to live
together and spend our days and nights together. In our Christian relationships
regarding disagreements, the relationship usually dies.
Honestly,
by our very nature we want to be heard, we want people to agree with us and
oftentimes depending upon our level of maturity in Christ, we even take it very
personally when this doesn’t happen. Some are even shattered in their
confidence concerning their Christian walk when another is not in agreement with
them. We seek out those who are in
agreement with us, and sever ourselves from those who don’t agree. Is
this not exactly what has happened in the world, which we live today especially
among Christians? Denominations and believers of different churches all
over the world in addition to those who do not belong to a church believe that
their knowledge and doctrine is right, yet none of it (that is our belief system
based upon our carnal knowledge) actually has anything to do with the wisdom and
love of God. If it did, feelings wouldn’t get hurt. Relationships
between those who actually love and adore God would not be threatened. There
would be no bickering, fighting, ostracisms, and ridicule among Christians. Since
when did such things become associated with Jesus? We are all one body of
Christ, who happens to be a monumentally huge God. As the Word of God says in
the book of Psalm, He did position the stars with His fingers, after all. Thus,
from His perspective, what do we know? Yet we boast about the things we
know and may even question the love others have toward God because they don’t
necessarily stand where we do in “our” relationship with Christ. The general
attitude is that because they do not necessarily agree with us, they are
obviously missing it or vice versa.
To
some degree, I believe this is why many Christians have found themselves
seemingly alienated not only from the world, which is as it should be, but also
even from the people in the church body (proverbial building) and from those who
have left the building, yet remain faithful to Christ. From God’s perspective, I believe that we are not
alienated. From His perspective, we are in one accord in our rejoicing,
worship and praise toward Him. Physically, we may have different
geographies, but spiritually we are all connected to God even though we may not
necessarily be connected to one another (two sides of the angle) concerning our
views. As we continue to seek God, even our geography in addition to our
knowledge will inevitably become one place. In other words, we may disagree
about some things today, but one day there won’t be any disagreements, for we
will have come into the fullness of God. I am speaking also in terms of an
eternity here, not just the vaporous moments of our lives on earth.
Jesus
said that He came to show those who say they can see, just how blind they are.
Yet, many believe they see because they have their sights on the written
letter. The Bible tell us that the “letter killeth.”
Following only the letter keeps people blind not only concerning their
relationship with Christ, but towards one another as well. Because many
Christians cannot agree on what the letter says their relationships among each
other die. I think we have to remember that our understanding is not the
absolute, God is. We can only go as far in our understanding as our hearts
will allow. Our hearts, spiritual as it may be, is still bound to some
degree by the nature of what is on us, which is sin. We are still men and
women of flesh and therefore linked to carnality. Carnality will always get
in the way. It will always distort to some degree the knowledge, so God
consistently works with us via His Holy Spirit.
Regardless
of where we stand on any issue concerning our knowledge in Christ, we can still
rejoice in Him together in spirit because we know that the longevity of our
sight upon Christ is the same. Our desired destination with Him is the
same. Our love toward Him is the same, and we share the same Father and
long to be with Him forever. It’s all about Him, not us. Maybe the
Lord purposely allows us to come to such places with our brothers and sisters in
Christ i.e., disagreements, to see if we can prevail in Him regardless. Every
Christian will boast about his love toward Jesus, but how strong is our love
toward our brothers and sisters in Christ? God said that His love conquers
all things. Should this not include even disagreements? What are they
in comparison to our devotion to Christ?
With
much love and blessings to you all,
Your
brother in Christ forever,
Rick
Wynn