Unity, disagreement and perspective

There are (at least) two phenomena that it seems to me,  are common to the human race. But perhaps I should speak for myself! If I dislike somebody, I find it quite hard to see their good points. And we are all mixture of good and bad, right and wrong. So the second thing is that if I disagree with somebody on a point that I feel strongly about, I find it hard to see any points of agreement. It might be a useful exercise to examine yourself in these two points.  But perhaps you are not into introspection! Somebody recently explained it to me this way, if I look at a quarter from across the room, it looks quite small. But if I bring it to with an inch of my eye and look at it, I can see nothing else. In other words if we concentrate on the faults and the difference with others,  we are going to be blind to the big picture.

But I also have to say, on the other hand, that I have learnt just as much,  if not more,  from people with whom I disagree. In cemetery  (ups I mean seminary) one Professor advised that I need to feel the weight of the other person’s argument. In other words I need to listen and listen proactively. Most of us,  most of the time,  are simply waiting for the other person to shut up,  so we can make our own point. In other words,  most of the time nobody is listening to anybody. But if we Christians, with the unity that Christ purchased on the cross, if we  cannot listen to one another,  how on earth are we going to talk to the world who is at war with us? I mean even if they are at war with us, we should not be at war with them. Not saying it’s easy!

In the end it's all about relationship, and with the world,  in this day and age,  we need to earn the right to be heard. But if we Christians cannot learn to listen to,  and love one another with the unity that we know (or should know) that we have in Christ  and that we are commanded to have …..  (Ephesians 4:3)  I am not saying we don't need work through our differences. Actually in my view,  we should commit to work though them with the ones God leads us to fellowship with.  But if we are not willing,  what sort of ambassadors are we going to be (2 Corinthians 5:20)?  In other words if we don’t learn the necessary skill in iron sharpening iron among ourselves (Proverbs 27:17), where exactly will we learn it?  Unity is not uniformity, and we need to learn to love one another in and though our difference. And we need to learn to chew the meat,  and throw away the bones.

Lord Jesus,  please help us to understand what are the non-negotiable essentials of the faith, and on what points we can agree to disagree.   Please help us, help me,  not to be wanting more to be right, than I am wanting to be obedient. to the command to be eager to preserve the unity that at incredible cost You purchased for us on the cross.  And Lord help me to practice what I am preaching here, in Your precious Name I pray Amen