Tertullian

Tertullian was one of our early church fathers. He vehemently fought for the Gospel, exposing (in a ridiculing and almost sarcastic way) the distortions of the Gospel that the early Gnostic sect portrayed. Tertullian was well versed, knowing his way around the work of the Apostles, and their contemporaries that followed them. Tertullian was a bold leader, one ready to defend the Gospel at all costs. He was disillusioned by the Early Church leadership, specifically those in Rome, and left the Orthodox Church and defected to a group of puritanists called Montanists. How is it that a man of such intellect, passion, and persuasion can become so disillusioned with the Church structure that he would leave? I think it goes to show that when disagreement gets a foothold in a church body, division is more than likely to occur. So how do we remedy disagreement? Is disagreement something that needs to be remedied? To quote 90s Christian Ska Group, the Orange County Supertones: "If we all love the same God, can we agree to disagree?" Possibly, division may not be necessarily a bad thing. Look at Paul and Barnabus; these pillars of the early church had a logistical disagreement about who should be apart of their traveling party, and the disagreement was so strong that it caused these men to divide and go and work in different directions. I would like to think that the work of the Gospel was not hindered by their division, because the mission of the Gospel remained, and both Paul and Barnabus continued the work they felt they were called to do. I believe that if Paul and Barnabus would have remained together, their disagreement would actually hinder their work. In this case, the only option was for them to go their separate ways. I think it is important in our modern times to sometimes take the way of Paul and Barnabus and choose for amicable division when disagreement arises. Disagreement has the ability to fester in the hearts of men, and bitterness is sure to follow. When disagreement arises in the church body, we should try to sort it out, or part our ways, if nothing more than for the sake of furthering the gospel. To do so otherwise would be to place a direct hinderance on the work of the Gospel.