Humble disagreement …

Christians don’t know how to humbly disagree with one another.

If you don’t believe that, log into social media sites on any given day and it won’t take long for you to see them publicly berating one another.

It’s obvious we either haven’t taken to heart, don’t understand, or just don’t care about applying some important biblical instruction about our interacting with others …

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3

What could application of this verse of scripture possibly look like? Perhaps something like this story told by pastor Warren Wiersbe …

It is a matter of historic record that the two great English evangelists, John Wesley and George Whitefield, disagreed on doctrinal matters. Both of them were very successful, preaching to the thousands of people and seeing multitudes come to Christ. It is reported that somebody asked Wesley if he expected to see Whitefield in heaven, and the evangelist replied, “No, I do not.”

“Then you do not think Whitefield is a converted man?”

“Of course he is a converted man,” Wesley said. “But I do not expect to see him in heaven because he will be so close to the throne of God and I so far away that I will not be able to see him.” Wesley did not have envy in his heart.

When we disagree with a brother or sister in Christ, it’s easy to let thinking our position is superior to theirs morph into thinking we are better than they are. That’s a far cry from the Apostle Paul’s admonition to “… Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”

How do you treat Christians (or anyone) you disagree with? Have you learned to disagree humbly?

Scotty