How Christians Can Disagree and Remain One

Today's Reading

Read Romans 14:1-13 carefully. Paul addresses a church divided over dietary practices and the observance of special days — issues that were deeply important to the people involved. His instructions are striking: "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls."

Then read Ephesians 4:1-6: "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Reflection

The early church was a volatile mix of Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, rich and poor — people with deeply different convictions about food, holy days, and social customs. The potential for division was enormous. Paul's response in Romans 14 is not what we might expect. He does not adjudicate who is right. He tells both sides to stop judging each other.

The "weak" in faith — those with stricter consciences — were not to be despised by the "strong." The "strong" — those who felt free to eat anything — were not to flaunt their liberty in ways that caused the weak to stumble. Both sides were servants of the same Lord, and it was before that Lord — not before each other — that they would stand or fall.

This is directly relevant to political disagreements among Christians. Believers of equal sincerity, equal devotion to Scripture, and equal love for Christ can reach different conclusions about immigration policy, economic philosophy, healthcare, gun legislation, and a host of other issues. These are not matters where the Bible gives a single unambiguous policy prescription. They are matters of wisdom, prudence, and conscience — the very kinds of issues Paul addresses in Romans 14.

The principle often attributed to Augustine (though it likely originates with the seventeenth-century Lutheran Rupertus Meldenius) captures it well: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." The essentials of Christian faith — the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace, the bodily resurrection — are not negotiable. But many political questions fall into the category of non-essentials, where faithful Christians may disagree.

Tim Keller consistently practiced this principle in his diverse Manhattan congregation: "Christians who differ on political questions should be able to worship side by side on Sunday, because what unites them is infinitely greater than what divides them." He resisted pressure from both left and right to make his church a politically uniform community.

Ephesians 4 describes how this unity works in practice: humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, eagerness to maintain peace. These are not passive qualities. They require active, costly effort — especially when you believe the other person is wrong about something important.

Going Deeper

The test of Christian unity is not whether you can get along with people who agree with you. It is whether you can worship, serve, and love people who vote differently, who hold different positions on contested issues, and who see the world through a different political lens. Is your church passing that test? Are you?