Singer Mike Donehey on How to Disagree in a Christ-Honoring Way
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former lead man for the band Tenth Avenue North, Mike Donehey, recently shared the way he thinks Christians should approach disagreements in a loving and Christlike way.
“Jesus loved a bad reputation,” Donehey told Sports Spectrum in a recent podcast episode. “Jesus kept shooting himself in the foot. Just when he starts eating with tax collectors and sinners and prostitutes, you go, ‘okay, I see where this is going: he’s about these people,’ well then… he goes and he keeps having dinner with pharisees. And in that culture to eat with someone was to say, you are my people.”
Donehey believes that society is teaching people division. ESPN, for example, has many shows that rely on disagreements for content. However many talking heads come together to give their opinions and double down on their thoughts rather than talk about nuance between their positions. The world at large seems to believe that people that you have any disagreement with cannot be your people.
This divison extends to the church through denominational beliefs. While differences in denominational beliefs are important, Donehey believes that too much emphasis is placed on them and members of the body of Christ shouldn’t allow minor differences in belief to come between them.
While he is thankful that his concerts bring these people together to worship in the same space, he is grieved that the body as a whole does not come together more often.
“Could it be that we’re making unnecessary divisions amongst ourselves over nonessential items. And so this is kind of a call, number one to shake us up and say ‘Hey, what really are the essentials?’ And quit doubling down on nonessentials and making them seem like they’re essentials when they’re not,” Donehey said.
“We think of unity as the removal of disagreement, the absence of dissent,” Donehey continued. “When actually, true unity is the presence of disagreement – it’s the hostility of our disagreement [being] removed. Ephesians says, ‘He’s broken down the walls of hostility…’ If everyone around you in your life always agrees with you one hundred percent of the time, you’re not in a relationship with anyone but yourself.”
Therefore, the process of disagreeing with people is not wrong or sinful. God created us with different viewpoints and different opinions. It is not unbiblical to disagree with people, but it is unbiblical to let the hostility of disagreements come into your relationship.
“Our process as Christians… is not about just merely learning the truth and aggressively speaking it at people. It’s learning that our position and our posture are actually equally important,” Donehey added.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +2