When Christians Disagree

Acts 15.36-41 is an interesting passage. There is a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over whether or not they should allow John Mark—he had abandoned them during their first missionary journey—back onto the missional team. Barnabas, the son of encouragement, wanted him back on. Paul disagreed. Luke points out that the disagreement grew so sharp that Barnabas and Paul had to separate over it.

Notice, however, their separation. Both continue in the work of the gospel; both go their separate ways; Barnabas takes John Mark and goes to Cypress; Paul takes Silas and heads to Syria. In God's ever sovereign way, he uses the disagreement to effectively double the force of missionaries.

Paul will later realize that John Mark is fit for the ministry (Col 4.10). The salient points here are that, first of all genuine, faithful Christians are going to have disagreements about how ministry should be done. This is not in itself a bad thing. Second, God can use these disagreements to further the gospel. Third, it's perfectly okay to explore solutions to problems that stem from these disagreements. There is no evidence that Paul and Barnabas hated each other, or that their conflict was unresolved. The difficulty was resolved by them agreeing to separate, and continue further ministry.