The Dilemma
So how do we stay unified with people we disagree with? I believe that it was St. Agustine that said it best, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
We have the essentials: how we are saved, the gospel, the trinity, the person and work of Jesus Christ, the word of God. Those essentials unify us. But there are some things that we may not agree on, but we can still love and serve alongside each other for the kingdom of God.
– Pastor Tony Walliser
“Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
– Romans 14:14-17 CSB
There once was a young man who was faced with a dilemma, which caused a debate of sorts.
Just a few years out of college and a relatively “new” believer, while at work one day he became aware that the Rolling Stones were coming to town to play a concert at the legendary Legion Field. So, as many young men in their early 20’s might do, without really thinking he quickly got on the phone and ordered 4 tickets: 1 for him, one for each of his two young cousins (young High School and Middle School), and one for a potential date (whoever she might be when the concert rolled into town) – after all, it was the Rolling Stones.
The Dilemma: as the concert approached, some of his “church friends” were supportive of him going to the show and thought it would be a fun night of great music and memories. Some of his “church friends “were disappointed in his choice to attend, much less take a nice girl and two impressionable kids with him.
He felt a bit disappointed, even angry with those “friends” who questioned him and his choice. After all, they didn’t know his heart or what his thoughts were to attend the show.
His original thought/plan was that he would take the date and his two young cousins to the concert and thus show the impressionable youngsters that they could actually go to a concert (even of that magnitude) and enjoy the show and the music without partaking or even feeling the pressure or the need to take part in all the other junk that can go on in/at a concert setting such as that.
Now, suddenly he was being ridiculed and questioned by people, some of whom he respected and thought well of. “How could he even think about taking a nice girl and two impressionable kids to a concert. Especially THAT concert?”
Yet, he had an opportunity to see a show of a lifetime and show his young cousins that you can actually be in the world and not of it… even at a rock concert.
His heart hurt. His faith questioned.
Should he go to the concert in spite of those “fundamentalists”’ views?
Were they making valid points?
If he attended the concert, was he supporting the Stones’ worldview by his non-verbal actions?
Should he stick to his plan?
After all God knew his heart?
Were his intentions truly pure?
All in all, was too much being made of all of it?
What should he do?
What decision should he make, when the Bible doesn’t specifically say?
“Christians can disagree on debatable issues. You and I will have different convictions about different things in life. You may have a strong conviction about something, and I may not. Look what the apostle Paul says in Romans 14:1. “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.” You may say, Pastor Tony, do you mean, that there are gray areas in the Christian life? Yes, there are gray areas. There are those things that Christians can disagree on, and it is okay to disagree with each other, without it causing a dispute and a division in the body…. So, again, we are NOT talking about the fundamentals of the faith. We call them first order issues. We are also not talking about the clear moral teaching of the Word of God, like the Ten Commandments…”
– Pastor Tony Walliser