Article September 11, 1995 Issue

When friends disagree

David L. Degler

In animated and forceful language a fellow church member told me I was doing my church assignment badly. I was surprised and hurt. Of course, this kind of incident can occur in any organization—a business, a school club, a civic group—as well as among friends and family.

I knew this individual was not maliciously trying to harm me in any way. She genuinely believed that I had done wrong, and she yearned to see me corrected and reformed. I also knew that I had meant no offense. I had not intended to do the wrong thing. I was honestly trying to do my best.

Over the centuries disagreements among religious peoples have at times become the basis for splits in churches and denominations. Some have become the causes of wars. At other times, however, disagreements have been settled harmoniously. Whatever the nature of a disagreement among Christians, however, Christianity requires that we pray for the resolution to the problems that would divide.

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