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
Disagreement is a natural part of life. Can you imagine how boring life would be if everyone thought and felt the same way about everything? We would only have one type of restaurant, one type of gas station, one type of Church, and one style of clothes. That would be an interesting world.
The truth is that different opinions are what make our world unique. God designed each person unique with their own viewpoint, their own preferences, and that leads us to situations of disagreement.
We see that here in Acts, where Barnabus and Paul reached a point of disagreement. It seems the disagreement was heated, so much that it led them to depart and go separate ways. You do not see anywhere that it says they were angry and walked away from their work as Christians, however. In fact, it tells just the opposite. Barnabus and Paul still went on their way working for God, even though they disagreed.
So many times we disagree about things, but we let those disagreements get in our way of the greater work for God that we need to be doing. This can be social disagreements, political disagreements, work disagreements, or even family disagreements. As Christians, we need to be able to agree to disagree, but continue on about the work of God. After all, that is the reason that we are here.
