Disagreements are healthy only because they give us opportunity to obey the Scriptures as we strive together for like-mindedness. But some have taken the fact that disagreement is healthy in this limited sense, and twisted it into disobedience. They believe that we are supposed to strive for disagreements, because they are healthy. But the Scriptures tell us in multiple places to strive for like-mindedness, to be eager to speak the same thing together, to cultivate the mind of Christ.
This is a fallen world; we don’t have to strive for disagreements any more than we have to plant weeds in our gardens. We will have disagreements, just as we will have weeds. God gave us disagreements for the same reason He gave us weeds, so that we might learn the wisdom of pulling them up by the roots.
There are two sins related to this that we must overcome before we can obey the Lord here. The first is the idea, just mentioned, that we have a right to our disagreements so long as they are amicably held. Of course, it is better to be amicable than nasty, but this is still a means to the end. The end is agreement, not agreeable disagreement. An important means to like-mindedness is amicable disagreement, but it must never be mistaken for the end.
The second sin we must fight is the sin of the grievance. A grievance is never mere disagreement. A grievance always has an edge; a grievance is personal; a grievance resents; a grievance imputes motives; a grievance is suspicious; a grievance is an insult to the love of God in Christ.
We have gathered here as Christians, but we are still vulnerable this temptation. This means it is likely that we have many grievances, of many shapes and sizes, gathered in this room. But we are ascending into heaven, a great multitude. As we gather before the throne of God this morning, in the midst of this throng, let there be no murmuring, no grumbling, no muttering. We have been ushered into the throne room of the God of all heaven and earth, and He deigns to have fellowship with us. How could we have a grievance?