A Disputable Matter

“Accept those whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.” (Romans 14:1)

Division in the Church of Jesus Christ grieves me. A new Christian once asked me “Why are there so many different churches and denominations?” It was hard to answer! There is a lot of quarreling among different Christian groups.

“That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21)

Are you seeing that? I see some, but not as much as I would like. What did Jesus say would be the result of Christian unity? “That the world may believe.” Now, I’m not saying we should abandon the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. If we cannot unify around these, such as that Jesus was God, that He died on the cross to defeat the power of sin and death and make it possible for us to be reconciled to the Father, that He was resurrected, etc. then we cannot be in unity. The big question is, what is an essential doctrine and what is a disputable matter?

I believe that the role of women in the church is a disputable matter. My personal conviction is that women can Biblically take on a variety of roles in the church, including being a pastor, and I would defend my position with scriptural support. I know and am friends with other people who believe that women can Biblically take on only certain prescribed roles, also based on their understanding of scripture. I have seen some very severe division and fighting between the two sides over this issue. I wish both sides would agree to disagree on this issue so that we could be in unity “that the world may believe.”