Acts 15:39 “And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other.”

God's second great commandment to followers of Christ, to those who endeavor to be more be like Jesus, is to “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (See Matthew 22:39). Furthermore, with the parable of the good Samaritan Jesus instructs his disciples to cast-a-broad-net when considering who is our neighbor. (See Luke 10:30-37) Just so, Jesus implies we are to love those with whom we disagree despite social, cultural or religious differences.

We must also love our neighbors who hold political opinions different from ours. Consider, for instance, Jesus calling as Apostles Matthew, a Jew who was a Roman tax collector and Simon, who identified with the Zealots, a political group which sought insurrection against the Roman occupiers. The two held polar opposite views of Roman occupation. Yet, finding common identity, purpose and ethical pursuit in the Savior enabled them to regard and treat one another according to His imperative to "love thy neighbour." Irrespective of their differing political opinions both discovered how to serve and please God by placing their greatest loyalty in Jesus and their highest priority in doing his will.

Furthermore, scripture indicates all three continued to lovingly respect one another. Paul later sent for Mark to labor with him. “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:11) And it can be inferred by Paul's mention of Barnabas in 1 Corinthains 9:6 that the two labored together going forward. Thus, disagreement did not keep them apart. Rather, they found they were bound together by a common identity in Christ and common duty to love and serve God and to love one another.

Even more, the narrative of a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul recorded in Acts 15:36-41 teaches us how faithful brethren can disagree regarding how they best serve God, follow different courses, and yet continue to love one another. The account cites a disagreement between two sound and faithful servants of God pertaining to a third brother. Barnabas wished John Mark to accompany he and Paul “to visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord.” But Paul believed John Mark was unreliable because he had apparently abandoned them at Perga to return to Jerusalem (see Acts 13:13); and so, he opposed Barnabas' suggestion.

The key to brethren loving one another in disagreement is to always endeavor to speak and act in good conscience toward God; to always seek to be on God's side rather than trying to convince self and others that God is on my side. You see, God doesn't take sides. He is the Truth. He is morally impeccable, and He is immutable. Just so, He cannot be swayed to one side or the other in any matter. Therefore, God doesn't take sides per se because He is always on His own side. Thus, aligned to His side is always the morally correct place to be!

Amazingly, it is possible for brethren who disagree over some issue to each be on God's side at the same time! That was the case with Paul and Barnabas who disagreed over John Mark. You see, God's side led Barnabas, known as the "son of consolation," (see Acts 4:36) to in good conscience disagree with Paul over John Mark, likely because he felt a burdened to encourage and help strengthen the brother who later wrote of the Gospel According to Mark. Yet Paul was also on God's side. Like Barnabas, Paul acted in good conscience toward God. Thus, he left John Mark with Barnabas and under the leadership of the Spirit he met and began to mentor Timothy.

The parable of the good Samarian together with the examples of Mathew and Simon, plus Paul, Barnabas and Mark show how disciples are to love and respect each other even when we disagree. To do this we must love God above all else. We must also dutifully obey His commandment to love one another, and we must place loyalty to God above all other loyalties. We do so by endeavoring to always speak and act toward others in good conscience toward God. Thus, while we may not always see eye-to-eye on everything, we must all agree the primary duty of our high calling in Christ is to love God and love our neighbors, which supplies believers with the moral grounds for respectfully disagreeing from time-to-time with loving regard toward one another.