Why is There so Much Disagreeing in the Christian Faith?

There seems to be so much disagreeing among Christians it leads you to wonder if there's anything they actually do agree on. How can there be so much disagreement when we all worship the same God and read the same Bible? There has to be a reason why there is so much division among Christians.

Even though we all read the same Bible, I believe one of the primary causes of disagreement among Christians is a lack of understanding of scripture. Even with all the study helps available, people still seem to derive different interpretations and persist to argue over the meanings of words. This ultimately results in confusion and division. I have personally witnessed the breakup of many Bible study groups and even churches over this kind of conflict. In my opinion, the primary reason for all the different (and new) denominations of today is because of too many people having their own personal interpretations of the Bible, and each one believing his is right.

I'm sure all the struggling over the meanings of words is an honest attempt to gain deeper knowledge, but we seem to forget it's impossible to know the ways of God through our own understanding. God said the only way to have true understanding is through the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, this concept appears to have gotten lost in the shuffle with the numerous Bible study resources available to anyone who wants to gain knowledge. Who needs the Holy Spirit when you have all that?

There are many Christians these days, who pour through every book they can lay their hands on and listen to every "reputable" pastor they can find. They consider themselves to be true Bible scholars and are eager to plant their seeds of knowledge everywhere they can. Unfortunately, they are the ones you'll usually find lashing out at anyone who doesn't agree with them and the ones lording themselves over everyone else in churches and Bible study groups. You won't find much in the way of love and kindness because that can only come by the Holy Spirit.

God warns us in the Bible this is exactly what happens when people lean to their own understanding so it's really not surprising. He also says leaning to our own understanding is prideful:

"He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings" (1 Timothy 6: 4)

I admit this isn't an easy concept to grasp because our logic tells us there's nothing wrong with an honest quest for knowledge. How could it be harmful or prideful, and how else are we supposed to learn if we don't ask questions and seek out answers? The reason it's prideful is because there is definitely an ego trip involved. Who of us hasn't had a sense of pride after finally achieving a goal through our own efforts and hard work? Doting about questions and striving over words is certainly hard work.

The second part of the verse tells us all this puffed up knowledge will eventually lead to envy, strife, railings and evil surmisings. Why? Because pride will, undoubtedly, cause us to flaunt it. We just can't help ourselves, we're human. If you go to any online Christian group, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It's not easy to be humble when we work hard at something and come up with amazing results.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

These verses sum it all up very nicely. We need to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, especially in matters of understanding. This means submitting our wills (and our egos) to Him. How many people are truly doing this when studying His word? From the looks of it, I wouldn't guess many. If we could all just learn to rely on God to give us understanding instead of trying so hard to understand on our own, "our paths would be made straight" and maybe we could finally be in agreement.