Disagreements between Christians

“They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.” Acts 15:39-40
At the start of Paul’s second missionary journey, he and Barnabas had a major disagreement. It was concerning John Mark, Barnabas’ nephew who had come along with them on the first journey but had left and gone home when they got to Pamphylia (Acts 15:38, Acts 13:13). It wouldseem that he got cold feet. Paul didn’t want to take him again, in case the same thing happened, but Barnabas, having a heart of reconciliation (see Acts 9:27), wanted to give him a second chance.
When I read about Paul arguing the case for the gospel, I can only imagine how big this disagreement was. We know that it was big enough for the two to separate. But despite this, God used it: now there were two powerful missionary teams going out into the world, instead of just one.
It is inevitable, unless you’re a doormat, that we will have personality clashes with other Christians. It might even be with the leadership in your church (this has happened to me...). But no matter what is said between you, there are some important things to remember. Firstly, a personality clash doesn’t mean that one party is right and the other is wrong. It doesn’t make our ministry void because we can’t agree on how something should be done. Most importantly, a personality clash doesn’t mean the other person’s salvation is in question. We need to recognise disagreements like this for what they are, and not turn it into judgement on the person’s spiritual maturity.
With time and prayer, rifts like this can heal. We read elsewhere that Paul and Mark were later reconciled (2 Tim. 4:11). But the healing process can take years, depending on how deep the hurt is. If you can, agree to disagree. We are called to unity in the body of Christ, but not uniformity. There is no one ‘right way’ of doing ministry. If you can’t, then at least treat the other person with respect, and don’t get drawn into the trap of attributing your personality clash to some spiritual attack.