How Should We Respond to Theolgy Disagreements?

   First off, we have to realize that some parts of the Bible are open to interpretation. Every time a Pastor/Evangelist/Preacher gives a Sermon they do their best to expound on it, and if you had five different preachers giving a sermon on the same series of verses, you would have, to a degree, five different views of the same text. 
   If we want only the pure word of God as is, preachers wouldn’t be able to do that:  all we could do is read Scripture in church and take it as it is written -- nothing more could be said.  If five people witnessed the same auto accident, you would have five different descriptions of what happened at that accident, yet the basic conclusion should be the same.  But each would describe it in their own way.  
   As far as differences of Christian theology, much of the difference is because many of our thoughts are just that, our thoughts, and opinions mixed in with the Word of God.  If both parties at least believe the basic Gospel (virgin birth/perfect life/death on the cross/burial/ressurection) and they focus on that, then they should treat one another as brothers or sisters in Christ. 
   Sadly a lot of the sharpest contention involves things that have little to do with the Salvation message.  Things like real wine or grape juice for communion, rapture pre-trib/mid-trib/post-trib, alcohol consumption, some for stomachs sake or absolute sobriety, baptism by immersion or sprinkling....and the list goes on. 
   Pat Robertson had a story he shared one time about a friend who believed that the rapture would happen after the tribulation while Pat believed in pre-trib rapture.  Neither could absolutely convince the other of their position so Pat did something unexpected: he handed his friend his car keys and told him, “I plan to be gone before the tribulation but you’re going to need a car for another seven years,” and left it at that.
   Some folks just figure that if you don’t find Christ exactly the way they did, and walk with God exactly the way they do, they are wrong.  
   Are there examples in the Bible of disagreements?  Absolutely!  The one that most comes to mind is the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:30-41.  They had gone on many mission adventures together, yet a difference they could not seem to resolve sent them packing in different directions.  Some folks who get defensive about their beliefs have gotten off track to the point that they are putting their faith in their church or denomination to save them instead of in God.  Therefore if you don’t do everything exactly as their denomination does things, they feel threatened because their only hope lies in their Church or Denomination.  But a true believer’s hope is in Jesus Christ and is not dependant only on their church or denomination.  An unsaved faithful church-goer is often the hardest person to reach for Christ because they have a false sense of security. 
   So does every believer have to do everything exactly a certain way?  Let’s see what the Bible says: Phillipians 2:12 KJV, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  Amen!