Why Christians Disagree So Much

 

At a recent men's breakfast, someone asked me the following; If Christianity is true, why are there such a varied set of Christians who disagree and squabble about so much?

My response, which might be worth sharing here:

If all Christians sought the full truth without compromise, we would not see the ecclesia so full of division and disagreement. The Biblical template certainly goes against this. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, St. Paul says:

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought."

He doesn’t hold back; we are to be “perfectly united in mind and thought”, and in Philippians 2:2 Paul tells us we are to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.". Consequently, Christian disagreement is a solecism against the credibility, harmony and reputation of the faith, and it is disagreement – both in factual propositions and ethical aberrations – that continues of be one of the biggest impediments to the spreading of the good news.

That raises the question, if the Bible, when correctly interpreted, provides clear guidance on how we should live, and if Christians have the Holy Spirit to offer deeper direction, why is it so difficult for those in relationship with the Creator of the universe to agree on a consistent and truthful understanding of reality? I think the primary factor here is that when we judge anything based on God, we often assume that our understanding reflects God's own qualities. However, this is a two-way mirror. God provides us with principles to live by, but we also interpret those principles through our own proprietary perspectives. We put ourselves at the mercy of God’s judgement, and at the same time make judgements about the teachings in accordance with our own understanding and experience. 

Sadly, religious people – Christians and the adherents to the false religions – are also susceptible to the sway of shaping their religion in accordance with their own incentives, needs and agendas. That's why those very varied personal trajectories throw up all sorts of religious personality: the pious Catholic genius, the evolution-denying religious huckster, the repressed priest, the Islamic scholar, the Al Qaeda suicide bomber, the Jewish Messianists, the worshipful self-mutilators, the monks, the crusaders, the missionaries, and all manner of literary talents, brilliant theologians, cult-founders and propagandists.

Ultimately, the way we perceive God and present ourselves to the world is shaped by a number of essential qualities; the depth of our intellectual and emotional engagement, the honesty and integrity we bring in to our relationship, our willingness to seek truth over comfort, our openness to correction and growth, our humility in recognising the limits of our own understanding, and our willingness to put Christ first and make Him Lord of our life.

EDIT TO ADD: On this subject, I wrote this in reply to an antagonist, this week: 

“I invite you to think about it more carefully – surely you have enough confidence in yourself to at least conceive of how Christians might disagree about all manner of things – especially as many of these matters are highly complex, connected to complex ranges of subjective experience, and shaped by human flaws, incentives, biases and limitations. Given the state of humanity, I’d no more expect Christians to agree on everything than I would mathematicians to agree about politics, or opera singers to agree about economics. But, I do wish they would – and as I often argue – Christians SHOULD agree more, especially on objective things – and two Christians of any sex, ethnicity, denomination, should converge on more and more consensus if they were to sit by the fire, Aumann’s Agreement-style, and honestly, rigorously seek the truth together, like people who care about what is true."