Begin your lesson by asking: Why is it important for people to “get along?”
Encourage students to give their answers. Write students’ responses on the whiteboard (or screenshared document). If you are meeting online, put the answers on a document and share your screen. After all of the answers have been documented, read them aloud. Next ask students to think about which of these suggestions would work with your own Sunday school group.
For most students, the summer months are a break from school. With this typically comes more time at home with family members. While this can be a great thing, more time with people can sometimes bring up conflict. Whether it’s getting along with siblings you have been spending a lot of time with, missing friends, or simply being isolated, it might take a little more effort to get along with others—especially when we disagree with them.
Let’s take a look at one expert’s tips for disagreeing respectfully with others.
How to Have a Respectful Disagreement
Discuss the video with the following questions:
- Did you agree with this man’s recommendation to share facts and then clearly state your opinions? Why or why not? (Accept all reasonable responses.)
- Do you tend to avoid disagreeing with others, or are you comfortable sharing your differing thoughts? Explain. (Accept all reasonable responses.)
- Sometimes friends have to agree to disagree. Let’s take a look at our group. How might we in this group agree to disagree in order to keep the peace during our discussions and get along? (Answers will vary. Invite discussion.)
Getting along with others when you don’t always agree is difficult. Yet, Christians are called to seek to get along even when they don’t agree. In today’s study, we’ll look at this concept further.
