by Rebecca Koerselman

Discord among evangelicals is not a new phenomenon. Often these disagreements result in separating from those who don’t agree with a particular view. Next, a new church is started.  Then, in that same generation or the next, more disagreements surface and the process continues.

Our current American culture displays deep divisions and today’s evangelicals largely mirror our culture’s insistence on division. But is being “right” on a particular view of scripture or “taking a stand” on an issue more important than unity?

Unity is a central identity for believers. All sorts of writers, speakers, pastors, scholars, academics, and fellow bloggers have pointed out that unity does not imply uniformity. Believers do not need to agree on everything.

Maybe the real question we Christians should be asking ourselves is why are we so reluctant to live in disagreement? Family gatherings often remind us that we don’t agree on everything to be family. Sometimes there may be very little we have in common. And yet we are family. Why do believers, for all our promotion of “family values,” not recognize the value of God’s family, in all its diversity and differences in opinion?

I like The Twelve because it is comprised of different people with different perspectives. But what we share in common is a passion for conversation. Isn’t that what believers should be doing? The writers here don’t agree on everything. I suspect that many of the regular readers enjoy this blog for that very reason. Isn’t it refreshing to read a conversation among a chorus of voices who may agree on a few things, but differ on many more? The Twelve engages Christ and culture. We don’t all agree on many issues, but that doesn’t mean we can’t respect each other and reflect the hospitality and unity that God calls us to demonstrate as followers of Christ.

Will you please give a gift today to keep this conversation going?

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