Genesis 13:1–13; Romans 12:16–18; 15:5–6

Bible Studies for Life
Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Samford University

Agree With One Another
Genesis 13:1–13; Romans 12:16–18; 15:5–6
Despite what reality teaches us, we sometimes maintain an ideal picture of church life. In that vision, brothers and sisters worship, study, pray and serve in unity. Indeed this vision does sometimes match reality. We have to admit, however, that periodically conflicts emerge. Perhaps this is because the stakes are high: We worship, study, pray and serve together because of our convictions about what is most true and important in the world, because of what we believe about God’s plan for the Church and will for our lives. When we mistake our convictions for ultimate truth — when we forget that in this life, we can only understand in part — conflicts can emerge. When egos do the work instead of God-given minds and hearts, disagreements can become sharp.

Biblical authors knew what happened when families came together, even when their members expressed love for one another. We will look at how two authors talk about agreement: the author of Genesis, who set out his instructions in a story, and Paul, who wrote his teachings in his typical letter format. Although separated by centuries, languages and cultures, these authors agreed about much.

Reality of Disagreements (Gen. 13:1–7)
Lot, the son of Abram’s brother Haran, was present at the beginning of the Abram and Sarai story but dropped out when they entered Egypt (Gen. 12:10–20). That interlude helps explain Abram’s great wealth when he returned to Canaan. Lot re-entered the narrative here, and almost immediately, we are told that he and Abram had to separate because there was not enough land to support both families’ herds. That implies a lot of animals, for the families had settled in Canaan’s fertile central hill country.

The story presents Abram and Sarai as something like adoptive siblings for Lot and then as his adoptive parents. Way back when Abram’s father, Terah, left Ur in southern Mesopotamia for Canaan, out of his family, he took only Abram, Sarai and Lot to accompany him. The group settled in northern Mesopotamia until after Terah’s death, and then the three traveled on to Canaan.

This text tells us that even family members as close as these three had to work out a solution beneficial to both parties.

Seeking Solutions (Gen. 13:8–13)
Notice that it was Abram who broke the impasse, proposed a solution and allowed Lot to choose what to do. The text suggests that Abram was the mature one, and indeed Lot would reveal his shortsightedness by electing to live in the Jordan valley. Perhaps he was enticed by the river and its nearby oases, but he didn’t take into account the wickedness of Sodom’s residents. He and his daughters would escape the infamous destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but things would not go so well for this family in the chapters that follow.

Grounds for Agreement (Rom. 12:16–18; 15:5–6)
Make sure to read the full background passages in Romans to set these verses in their contexts.

Notice that many of the words in Romans 12:16–18 imply how important God-given rational thought is for community cohesion. Verse 16 literally says, “Think the same thing as one another; do not think haughty things.” The word translated “wiser” in verse 16 has the same root as “think,” and verse 17 admonishes readers to “take thought for what is noble.” Paul wanted people to get their thinking straight, which leads to right actions. Thinking logically can help us to remove our egos, put our desires second and recognize good ideas even when they are different from ours.

What are the grounds for agreement among members of the body of Christ? Ultimately it is God, in Christ, who supplies them. God has made us into “one body in Christ” (Rom. 12:5). It is Christ who provides the example through His sacrifice (Rom. 15:3) and God who grants us the ability “to live in harmony with one another” for the purpose of glorifying God (Rom. 15:5–6).