Grateful for the Disagreements
Well, my time at eMseni is just about up, and I have to be honest in saying that it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
There were times where there were disagreements. People didn’t like what I was doing; I didn’t like what people were doing. And in a sense, I’ve come to see how these experiences have grown me, and I’ve even become grateful for them because of how I’ve grown through them.
Learning Through Conflict
In fact, I think if there’s one regret I have about my time at eMseni, it’s that I didn’t deal with these types of situations more graciously. I hope that in the future I’ll be able to do that.
But I have come to learn that even people who disagree with you are precious. In fact, I can think clearly about people who didn’t particularly like my music or my style of preaching or whatever—and yet we were friends, because even though we disagreed on some things, we could still love each other with the love of Christ. To me, that was precious, and to me, that was something that I learned from.
Agree to Disagree
It reminds me of John Wesley, the great founder of the Methodist movement, who had some sharp disagreements with another great preacher and minister of the day, George Whitefield. They had been great friends, but they ended up clashing so heavily on some issues that, for a time, they didn’t really get along.
But they reconciled and learned to get along with each other and be friends, even with their differences. In fact, Wesley was the one who coined the phrase, “We agree to disagree,” when he preached at Whitefield’s funeral.
I’m grateful that my time at eMseni has taught me to agree to disagree.
Pursuing Peace
Think about your current context. Are you agreeing to disagree with people, or are you getting angry and upset? There’s a place for standing firm, of course, but peace is so much better. In fact, I like the attitude the writer of Hebrews shared in Hebrews 12:14: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone.”
Seek as much as possible to be reconciled and to not let your differences split you apart.
I’m thankful for the grace that the people at eMseni showed me, and I hope, friends, that we followers of Christ will always be gracious towards one another—even if we disagree.
