Not Divided
2 Samuel 1:23
"Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions."
It is interesting that the verse above says that Saul and Jonathan were not divided. If I recall correctly, there were times when the Scriptures clearly show that Saul and Jonathan were not on the same page. You will recall when Jonathan and his armor bearer fought the Philistines, that Jonathan ate some honey against Saul's commandment. Jonathan plainly told the people that his father made a mistake commanding the troops not to eat anything. Then there was the relationship between Jonathan and David. Saul clearly had a problem with Jonathan being so close to David. They disagreed so much so that one time Saul threw a javelin at Jonathan because he was so angry over the situation.
So, what does it mean that they were not divided? It means that they didn't let their disagreements divide them from their purpose. Sure, Saul and Jonathan had disagreements, but they did not let their disagreements keep them from working together for the purpose they both agreed upon.
I think of Paul and Barnabas who could have learned this truth from Saul and Jonathan. Paul and Barnabas both agreed upon their purpose, but they let a disagreement over John Mark divide them. A team that was so strong together was separated over a disagreement. One could only imagine what could have been accomplished if they would not have allowed their preferential disagreement to divide them from their purpose.
The key to every relationship is to not allow your disagreements to divide you from your purpose. In every relationship there will be disagreements because no two people will agree on everything; but, you must not allow your disagreements to divide you over your purpose of what you are trying to accomplish. If you will learn in your relationships to set aside your preferential disagreements for your purpose, then you can accomplish great things together.
Marital relationships must be careful not to allow preferential disagreements to divide their marriage. Let's be honest with each other, you are not going to always agree with your spouse, but you can still stay happily married. You must be careful that you don't let your preferential disagreements divide your marriage and cause a divorce.
In work or business relationships there are going to be preferential disagreements. If you want a business partnership to work, then both sides of the partnership are going to have set aside the preferential disagreements for the cause of succeeding in business. Certainly you will disagree with how some things need to be done, but you can't let that distract you from your original purpose of why you went into business with each other.
Likewise, we must be careful about allowing preferential disagreements to divide us in Christianity. I am not talking about compromise, but I am talking about allowing methods and personalities to divide us from the purpose of getting the Gospel out to a world. In our independent, fundamental Baptist world we are so easily divided over preferential disagreements that we are splintered. Let's be careful not to fight over preferential disagreements. Let's not let these disagreements divide us from the purpose of our cause.
Always remember that everyone will not always do things like you do them, but don't let that divide you from each other. Disagreements are a part of every relationship, but division does not have to come because of them. Learn to set aside your preferential disagreements and work together on that with which you do agree. This is how relationships last a lifetime.