Do you always get along with everyone?
same mission, different objectives…
'Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.' Acts 15:36-41 https://my.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.15.36-41
mission - a general statement of how you will achieve your vision;
objectives - specific actions and timelines for achieving the goal
i believe in life and relationships you will have moments of disagreement; sometimes it’s a small misunderstanding, while other times it becomes full-blown argument. in this case, both paul and barnabas had a pretty strong disagreement regarding john mark joining them on the next portion of their travels, and while it led to them separating on their journey, they had the same mission - preach about Jesus.
the main issue is paul didn’t feel john mark was ‘trustworthy’ since he abandoned them previously. in the end, paul got to see the type of work that he was putting in and actually called for him to join him (2 timothy 4:11). reconciliation can happen (colossians 4:10) when the cause of Christ is preached (mission). just a reminder that putting aside all differences - that even with their own character flaws and failures, both continued to do the work they were called to do. this led to The Gospel being shared and spread throughout the region. so powerful and so good to know that you can have it out with each other and love The Lord that you want to still serve Him and others.
a great reminder that we are not always going to see eye-to-eye on everything. what we need to do as brothers and sisters-in-Christ is to expect that things and conversations do happen, challenges occur with each other, and we can still be friendly, cordial, and supportive, knowing we have a common goal - share the love of God through His Son Jesus.
Father God, thank you for guiding me along this path of life you laid out for my life. i’m still needing to work on a bunch of areas and i defer to you. please fill me with your Holy Spirit to guide my conversations with anyone who i may have wronged, caused confusion, led to a misunderstanding, etc. so that we can focus on the ‘big picture’, be heavenly-minded, fulfilling our Kingdom purposes in Christ Jesus. in your majestic and soothing name we pray, amen!