Jesus Died for the Unity of Christians, and This Matters When We Disagree

The Bible calls our attention as Christians to times when we will certainly disagree (sometimes violently) with others, and sometimes our opponents will be unbelievers and sometimes it will be other Christians. In one respect, this is more expected with unbelievers; not only will our convictions differ, but (in theory) so will our way of conducting ourselves in the middle of disagreement.

Disagreement and debate with other Christians is not a bad thing, per se. We have our blind spots, and it is good for us to be sharpened by other Christ-followers who push on our weak arguments and encourage us to sharpen our convictions. When speaking of the effect Christ’s sacrifice on the cross should have on the relationship between Jews and Gentiles (two ethnically and culturally divergent groups), the apostle Paul states, “Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us….Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” (Eph. 2:14, 16) One implication of this passage is that even when conflict, tension, or disagreement occurs among believers, the main and plain thing is that the death of Christ serves as the greatest unifying factor in the universe, one that dwarfs whatever differences may exist among believers (and some of these are significant).

Even when we do engage in argumentation with others, we want to be individuals, says pastor John Piper, “Who enter controversy, when necessary, not because [we] love ideas and arguments, but because [we] love Christ and the church.” John Newton, 18th-century pastor and author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” described how God’s kindness should impact the way a Christian relates to others: “He believes and feels his own weakness and unworthiness, and lives upon the grace and pardoning love of his Lord. This gives him an habitual tenderness and gentleness of spirit.” Do you hear the beautiful humility and gracious spirit oozing out through Newton’s words? Being a recipient of undeserved grace – furthermore, realizing that we have been a recipient of undeserved grace – changes us. In heated debate with another believer, we see them as a fellow heir of grace more than an argument to be won.

In Philippians 4:2, Paul urges two women in that church (Euodia and Syntyche) to put aside their differences for the sake of demonstrating their unity in Christ. We don’t know exactly what the nature of their discord was, but it was public and it was serious enough to warrant Paul’s attention. He says directly to them, “Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.” Notice the since/then reasoning: since they belong to the Lord, then this calls for them to move their differences to the back of the line, behind their common love for Jesus. Some Bible translations say “Agree in the Lord.” Biblical counselor Kristin Silva says, “To ‘agree in the Lord’ has more to do with having the mind of Christ, cultivating humility, and considering the interests of others over yourselves than it does with coming to a consensus.” If this is true, this means that we don’t have to pretend we agree when we really don’t. Rather, the differences may persist, but the goodness of being in the same family of God is elevated over these differences. Theologian Gavin Ortlund says it so well: “Some Christians are eager to defend sound doctrine. Well and good. But is the unity of the body of Christ one of those doctrines we jealously guard?....[O]ur zeal for theology must never exceed our zeal for our actual brothers and sisters in Christ.”

One supporting reason that Christian unity is of paramount importance is because of what it communicates (or doesn’t) to a watching world. How Christians handle their disagreements with each other will either commend Christ to others or will dissuade them from imagining the Church and the Christian faith has anything to offer them. If that sounds too extreme, consider Jesus’s words to his disciples: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Disagreement is not bad per se, but the way disagreements are conducted often disenchants a watching world from considering Christ, because the way we treat others does not match up to our stated belief that people are made in God’s image. Beloved author C.S. Lewis states:

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”

People – even difficult people – have God’s image stamped on them, and because of this, they are imbued with dignity from him. Living as if this is true is not easy, but believing it is true is foundational. As Lewis said, every individual we cross paths with will be an immortal horror or an everlasting splendor. This should give us a joyful seriousness. Eternity really is hanging in the balance in some ways.

We never know when our faithfulness to God and kindness to others whom we differ with might eventually make a profound difference. As an example of this possibility, there was a minister – more liberal in his theological leanings – who lived in a nearby parish to John Newton (the same pastor mentioned earlier). This minister would make fun of Newton’s biblical convictions. But later, this pastor (Thomas Scott) said of Newton: “Under discouraging circumstances, I had occasion to call upon him; and his discourse so comforted and edified me, that my heart, being by this means relieved from its burden, became susceptible of affection for him.” I hope you see and are encouraged by this example. Newton and Scott were at odds with each other over some theological differences. But because of the gracious manner in which Newton interacted with Scott, when troubles later hit Scott, he went to the man who had consistently prioritized their union in Christ above all else. May Christ help us do the same. After all, he died for interactions like that to be possible.

This post is the second in a series deriving from the “Staying Friends Through Disagreement” seminar that took place at Rocky Creek in April 2026. If you’d like to receive the PDF note packet and audio version of that seminar, you may email allen@rockycreek.church.