Aug 28, 2026 When Christians Disagree – Words of Grace Blog – August 28, 2026
This Sunday at Grace Community Church, we resume our sermon series in the Book of Acts. When we pushed pause in June, the church at Antioch was encouraged in the gospel while the two leaders, Paul and Barnabas, were teaching and preaching the word of the Lord together.
On our first Sunday back in Acts, we will see that something changed. These two men of God, defenders of the gospel, pioneer missionaries, and church planters, have a disagreement to the degree that they can’t work together on their next mission.
This is not supposed to happen. This is the Christian church, with Christian fellowship and partnership in the gospel, with Christians filled with the Holy Spirit. This is Paul and Barnabas. How can two grown men in Christ have such a “sharp disagreement” (which means they had a heated, expressive argument) that they can’t travel and do ministry together?
Well, it happened. And the Bible doesn’t hide it. But neither does the Bible give much detail.
In Acts 15, Paul says to Barnabas that they should visit the churches they established in the cities they went to on their first journey. The purpose was to check on their spiritual health and encourage them in the Lord. They agree. But when they start to put together their team, they disagree about taking along a man named John Mark. He went with them on their first journey but left before it was over. Paul did not think John Mark should join them again, but Barnabas thought he should. That disagreement led to a separation, with each going a different direction to serve the Lord and the church.
That’s it, that’s all we get. We are not told who was right and who was wrong, if they were both right or both wrong, or what was the right or wrong thing to do. We are not even told why John Mark left early on the first journey. The lack of detail can be frustrating to those of us with the emotional need to know. But we can only know what is revealed. And these are the details the Holy Spirit has revealed.
But we can know some things. Here are a few things we can ponder as we reflect on the reality of sharp disagreements among Christians.
We are still human. Becoming a Christian does not immediately transport us to the “complete in Christ” state that we will be someday. So, we grow but still struggle with minds and emotions that are limited, imperfect, and impacted by indwelling sin. Even men like Paul and Barnabas remained human and showed very human traits.
We still have an enemy. The devil is real and is always seeking to derail the growth of Christians and the work of the gospel. He is not all-powerful but is currently allowed to influence people and events.
We still live in this world. This world is a hostile place for gospel ministry and kingdom work. Conflict will be normal, even if grievous, until the Lord brings the new heaven and new earth.
But God… God is sovereign over all things and is providentially working out his good plans in a human, devil-influenced, conflict-laden world. Knowing God does not cause us to shrug at the flesh, the devil, and the world. We fight them. Our hope and energy come from knowing that nothing thwarts the plans of God.
Paul and Barnabas separated. We must acknowledge that this happened because of human limitation. The devil was happy, thinking it might hinder the gospel work. The world once again proved to be a place of conflict. But God providentially worked. He now had two teams going in two directions, covering more ground for the gospel and the growth of the church.
Much mystery remains in this and many other conflict situations. But rather than be discouraged or cynical, let us do our part to be faithful, live at peace, and press on with the work God has called us to. Someday it will all make sense, but only because God will reveal to us what we don’t know now.
-Scott