People form groups because they have something in common with other people who are also interested in being a group. That's true about the local chess club, the Kiwanis, and other groups. And that is certainly true about the Church. The Church is a group of people who have something in common. They have Jesus in common. But there is another part of the picture that every church member needs to recognize. There are also lots of things that the people of a church do not have in common. It's no big deal if the issue is one's preference for vanilla ice cream instead of chocolate or vacationing in the mountains versus the beach. However, there are issues that are much more important to people, issues where there can be profound disagreement. In other kinds of groups people might just leave and form a separate group where everyone has that particular opinion in common. But being a church means that that is not an option. We are called to unity, to be one. In a faithful church, amid all the differences, there is still the one thing that all have in common - Jesus. So, while there might be radically opposing political views or ideas about the use of money or a host of other things, the unity of the group - because of Jesus - trumps all the differences. And that means that each person in the group, in that church, will need to find ways of connecting with the others in that church with whom he disagrees. This is not mere tolerance. There is no verse that says, 'Tolerate one another'. Instead, Jesus clearly tells us, 'Love one another'. The differences may well remain, but the bond of love is to trump those differences. Jesus says so. That won't be easy. It will take work and prayer and biblical problem solving. But it can happen, and it must.