When Disunity is the Road to Unity

William Barclay calls it tragic—Paul and Barnabas’ split in Acts 15:39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Paul wanted to revisit the churches in Asia Minor. Barnabas agreed, but right there things ended. They both wanted to do mission work. They just weren’t agreed on who should be on the team. Mark, the Mama’s boy, Paul didn’t want. Barnabas saw potential. Paul saw problems. Who was right? The Bible doesn’t say. However, I think they both were right. This was a case where disunity was the road to unity.

They were unified on the mission: strengthen the disciples they had led to Christ on their first missionary journey. Both accomplished the mission. They just did it separately rather than together. Did God say they had to work together? Or, did God just give the assignment? Did they go on badmouthing the other? No. Only positive things were said after this, even about Mark. Barnabas had been successful in reclaiming the lost disciple (who eventually gave us an entire gospel). Paul opened Europe to the good news. God was in it!

Their separation was really unity…because it wasn’t division, but multiplication. Now there were two mission teams where before there had been one. That’s the genius of discipleship. The one becomes two, and God moves them in separate paths, continuing to spin off new teams. When you agree on the “what” but not the “how” or the “who”, go ahead in unity to the “what”…separately. Disunity can be the road to unity…if you are agreed on the "what". Too often we try to keep it together in a church, in a group, in a business, and wind up tearing each other apart. God may be in the kerfuffle if it's about multiplication.

When I was an early teenager, our small country church eight miles from town lost our pastor. He had been a “drive out”, a student who drove out the 29 miles from Portland to our old school building in Chapman. Our small church (30 people, including kids) asked the denomination for a new pastor. They, however, felt that the 30 people couldn’t support a pastor. “We’re gonna close the church. Drive the 8 miles into town where there is a sister church.”

Our church leadership felt that God wanted a church in our little rural community. So they contacted the American Sunday School Union (now the American Missionary Fellowship) for a missionary pastor. The main missionary himself came out and began to hold services, prayer meetings (the only time I ever saw my Dad on his knees praying was at one of those prayer meetings at our house on the hill).

About six months passed and the denominational executives, looking for church growth in Scappoose, found none and asked, “What happened in Chapman?” When they discovered that we were all still meeting out there, they sent out another pastor to take over. Now our church leadership had a problem. We had two pastors and one congregation which couldn’t support even one pastor. Part of the group felt a loyalty to the ASSU missionary who had helped us when we needed it. Part of the group preferred the denomination.

The church split…tragically it seemed. For, how could 15 people support a pastor? However, six months later, there were 2 churches of 30 people in the little community. God’s goal was to reach people for Jesus, not keep people in the same box. Our disunity was unwitting unity…for we were accomplishing what God wanted. Division was really multiplication!

So, when you are facing problems of disunity, ask the question: Are we both trying to do the same thing, only in separate ways or with separate people. Focus on what we have in common…the mission. Allow for diversity in accomplishing it. That’s unity!