We Christians can disagree over some of the smallest, most ordinary things. Group therapy is now available for congregations who want to learn skills for getting along peaceably within the body of Christ. A congregational therapist tells the story of a church that almost split over the issue of mashed potatoes. I know it sounds a little trivial, but to the people involved, it was a most significant matter.

The problem at hand was a proposed change at church fellowship dinners — whether to continue making mashed potatoes the old-fashioned way or to begin using instant potatoes. One faction declared that the only real mashed potatoes were the ones you lugged back from the supermarket in huge mesh bags, scrubbed, peeled, cut up, boiled, drained, and then mashed while you were adding milk, bu…