And variety results in controversy and conflict. If you want a religion where everybody believes the same thing, look somewhere besides Disciples. Freedom creates diversity. Diversity inevitably leads to controversy. Very few people enjoy dealing with controversial issues.
Controversies make most religious folk nervous.
Our natural tendency is to avoid controversy, but occasionally we cannot avoid dealing with difficult issues. And it may not be a bad thing for us to do at all. Sometimes people become too comfortable in their faith, and when they do, they fail to grow. We need a challenge to jolt our minds out of their ruts, so that we can entertain new ideas and new ways of doing things. Someone has said that the pastor's job is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.