I read a quote today that caught my attention from a December incident:

“It was a trivial problem that…occurs every year…No one was arrested because all those involved were men of God,” stated Palestinian Police Lt. Col. Khaled al-Tamimi about the December 28 Christmas fight that broke out among several dozen Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests cleaning the Church of the Nativity.

Sounds almost like a Baptist business meeting…just kidding.  But, I found it difficult to determine if laughing or crying would be the right response…until my eyes were drawn to the words “men of God.”  It hit me again; how sometimes as Believers we forget in our human disagreements that a world is watching, and our behavior not only reflects on us…it also reflects on God. I wonder if at times we may be a greater witness to an unbelieving world on how we respond to one another in our times of disagreement than when we easily agree.  Can we create barriers to fulfilling the Great Commission in how we react to one another in times of disagreement?

What would an unbeliever write about us as Kentucky Baptists if they observed us as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission together?  After all, sometimes I feel strongly about Kingdom directions that differ with some of my brothers and sisters of the faith. What a tragedy, if in those times of disagreement an unbeliever might write, “It was just another one of those Baptists’ meetings…really rather trivial…they do it all the time…but we don’t arrest them despite their fighting because they are people of God.”

Should Christians be able to disagree without being disagreeable?  Just something for us to think about…as a world watches.