Has your church family experienced disagreements? Divisions? Has your church had to wrestle with how to respond? It can be really tricky, right? Emotions fly, people get offended, and it can seem that no matter what option you choose, someone will not like it, get hurt, and leave the church.
Okay, let’s turn off the pause, hit play, and continue with Titus 3:9-11. There were disagreements in the church, Paul says in verse 9, that were unprofitable and useless. Clearly, then, Christians are to focus on what is profitable and useful.
Remembering that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should want to live in such a way that even in our disagreements we should be Christ-centered. There is a way to disagree that is loving and caring and in line with Jesus.
Agree to disagree in love. Recognize with humility that you could be wrong. Remember that the other person is also made in the image of God, and is loved by God.
Paul also teaches a method for addressing a situation when a person refuses to handle disagreement well. Paul says, sometimes people are divisive, meaning that they can cause division in the church. So in verses 10-11 he says, “Warn a divisive person once, and twice, then have nothing to do with them.” Paul is once again talking about church discipline, as he did back in chapter 1.
Now, though, Paul mentions warnings. Who does the warning? Paul doesn’t say specifically, but because the letter is to Titus, and Titus primary objective on his short trip to Crete was to appoint leaders, we could surmise that it was Titus and the church leaders who were to do the warning. Because Jesus also talked about something similar in Matthew 18:15, let’s determine if we can connect Paul’s teaching to Jesus’ three-step process, and perhaps we’ll have a better idea of how to handle this. Go ahead and read Matthew 18:15-17.
See how Jesus’ teaching is similar to Paul’s? Step 1, you approach the individual, and try to resolve it. If it doesn’t work, Step 2, take one or two other persons with you. If that doesn’t work, Step 3, take it to the church. Churches have varying approaches to what body in a church should be responsible for Step 3. At Faith Church, our Leadership Team handles such concerns, and I recommend that for most churches some equivalent leadership group, comprised of spiritually mature leaders/elders, rather than the entire congregation, be tasked with Step 3. So for Jesus, that’s how to resolve conflict in the church.
Back in Titus 3, notice what Paul says in verse 11: if a divisive person will not submit to this process, he calls them warped, sinful, and self-condemned. They are not truly a Christian, as he said in Titus 1:16. There he says that though they claim to know God, they show their true colors by their behavior. It doesn’t matter if you say you are a Christian, or if you believe you are a Christian, when you do not act like one. Paul says those people will do what they want to do. Have nothing to do with them. That doesn’t mean we can be unkind and unloving towards those people. We should be kind and gracious and loving in all situations.
Paul doesn’t give us specific instructions for much for the nitty-gritty details of each situation. Our Leadership Team has had to wrestle with these issues, and every situation is unique. Because of that uniqueness, we don’t always choose the same responses for each situation. I can tell you this, though, that our Leadership Teams over the years have worked hard to preserve confidentiality, and we have prayerfully sought the Lord’s wisdom in the way forward. That means we oftentimes take it slow, allowing time for prayer, for discussion, for situations to unfold.
Our heart’s desire, just like Paul’s is that all people in the church will grow closer to Christ, turn away from sin, and love and be loved in the fellowship of the church family.
Engaging Scripture 