And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, "We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God." Acts 23:7-9
Last time we commented on how Paul irked two rival Jewish parties into dissension. It was intentional on Paul’s part and it did get these enemies of Christ to divert their attention away from Paul—which was his aim. We commented on how we as believers need to be united, which is true. However…
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15:
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
These words assist us in who to be united with and how much.
We must not turn against true believers. Do all believers agree about everything? Of course not, but we must discern the difference between matters that separate believers from non-believers and intramural disagreements. Though we do not need to agree about everything, we must not unnecessarily divide the body of Christ over secondary matters about which we do not have exactly the same convictions. We may even disagree over the interpretation of some passages of scripture and still be brothers and sisters in Christ.
What if the disagreement is on essential doctrines? If someone holds a position that places them in the category of outright heresy, they are not Christians. This is why we cannot lock arms with those who are in cults—no matter how much they may insist that they are Christians. This does not mean that we may hate them or be less than pleasantly Christian in our relationships with them—especially if we are family-related!
What if we agree on other matters, but not about Christ and the gospel? If a person is not a Christian, we may agree on other things and therefore be able to encourage each other regarding those matters. For instance, there are people who insist they are Christian (and are not) who are pro-life. We can agree on this moral issue and work side by side to further the pro-life cause—as long as we understand that being pro-life doesn’t make a person who believes a false gospel a Christian. This is true regarding other moral issues and even politics (but let us be doubly careful not to mistake like-political convictions with being followers of Christ!).
The key to all of this is discernment. We must discern the difference between essential gospel issues and issues about which true believers may disagree. We must discern the difference between agreement on moral or political issues and theological incompatibilities. And above all we must remain Christlike (pleasant, winsome, and kind) not only with brethren with whom we may disagree on secondary issues, but also with those who oppose Christ and the gospel.