NOTE: This article was previously published, however the link at the end of the article didn't work! So...enjoy the article (again) and this time, Lord willing, you can read the link!
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We live in a world where everyone has an opinion about everything. Many opinions are ignorantly formed while some are biblically founded. Some opinions are held very tightly, some more loosely. But inevitably, we will bump into others who disagree with our opinions. What are we to do when we disagree with other believers who have formed their own opinions and convictions based on certain biblical principles, and yet their views don't match our views? Is one of us necessarily wrong? Can we both be right? How do we view this disagreeing and what are we to do?
Praise God that the Scriptures speak so clearly to this issue. Romans 14 tells us that there are two people who are doing two totally different things, and yet God accepts both of them equally (one person thinks it is totally fine to eat anything at all, including meat that may have been offered to idols or meat that used to be unclean in the Jewish religious system, etc., while the other thinks it is not right to eat those things and therefore only eats vegetables, and verse 2 says God accepts both of them, both actions are OK!). Obviously we are not talking about issues of sin. We are talking about issues of conscience, convictions, and opinions (otherwise known as those sticky "gray area" issues).
To that end, a couple of authors over at 9 Marks have greatly helped us in thinking biblically on how to disagree with other believers, writing one of the best treatments on this issue that I've come across. This is such a difficult issue, one that we probably wrestle with daily, and unfortunately, and to our shame as believers who are to be characterized by love and unity, we have all witnessed unbiblical thinking on this topic destroy relationships. Therefore, let us be led through Romans 14 and let our thinking conform to the Bible in how we are to interact with others who might hold to differing views and convictions on matters of conscience, preference, and opinion.