By James Wilson
The
writer said, “I am not a reader of the Bible, nor am I a practicing member of a
church…However, I am a Christian who believes in the message that God gave us
when He sent His Son into the world on Christmas Day. We are to care for the poor, the needy, the
less fortunate than we are…” She then
attacked a local church she judged deficient in carrying out this message. The trouble is, she has no idea what the
Gospel is about. She would have to read
and believe the Bible to know that.
Jesus
does set a high priority on caring for the poor. But the Gospel itself is much more
personal. The message is we cannot make
it without entering a radically dependent relationship with Him. Once we engage that relationship one of the
signs will be caring for the poor. God’s
Word is just as clear, however, that we can care for the poor apart from Him
and achieve only evil; read the temptation narratives in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Of course, this was a letter to the
editor. The attack e-mails I receive are
personal.
Some would
instruct me about prophecy, but I often get correction regarding the “Christian
principles of love and tolerance.” The
writers – who are rarely believers – want to remind me of my responsibilities
to these principles. The trouble is,
while love is paramount in the Christian faith, there is no such thing as
Christian tolerance. There are four ways
to say “love” in the New Testament alone, but each of them means to embrace the
other with compassion and committed relationship – treating the other as though
he is more important than me. The same
principle applies to the radical act of love we call forgiveness. Jesus requires that we approach our brethren
seeking reconciliation (Matthew 5) before we approach Jesus Himself in
worship. He expects us to extend
ourselves to the one who holds something against us before we offer gifts to
Him – even if the other has no legitimate grievance. Love – by the way – is action leading to warm
feelings – if practiced consistently; it is not feelings that lead to action.
Tolerance – toleration – is simply putting up
with something or someone we detest and reject out of hand, hoping it does not
show too much. We tolerate bad weather,
long lines, and dead-end jobs. Christian
love crowds out tolerance every time.
The crowding occurs because love is real and substantive while tolerance
– applied to human relationships – is nothing but hypocrisy masquerading as
apathy.
The
folks chanting tolerance as though it were a mantra understand this as well as
I do. If I own a business – from a
bakery to photography – that caters to weddings in Oregon or Colorado – where,
incidentally, gay marriage remains illegal – the government will run me out of
business if I refuse to serve a gay wedding.
It is not enough that I make no fuss, that I am tolerant; I am required
to embrace the people and the concept if I am to do business without serious
penalty. If I own Hobby Lobby it is not
enough that I tolerate the legality of elective abortion in the land; the
government expects me to supply abortion services to my employees because it
expect me to embrace something that spits in the face of my faith
convictions. Tolerance is not enough;
only loving embrace will do. But those
who insist I love have no clue what love is.
As it is depicted in traditional wedding
services, love hangs in there through thick and thin with people who may
disappoint or even disgust the lover.
But like the famous expression of patriotic love spoken by Stephen
Decatur, “Our country…may she always be in the right; but our country, right or
wrong,” love is anything but a blanket endorsement of self-destructive behavior. Jesus loved lepers; He hated leprosy. I love my addicted friends and relatives; I hate
their addiction. I will speak against it
whenever I can and tolerate it whenever I must.
Some things are simply not tolerable. Governors, attorneys general, and even
presidents who won’t enforce – or will unilaterally re-write – the laws entrusted
to them are not tolerable; they are to be opposed. People who bully and terrorize those who do
not conform to their ideas are not tolerable; they are to be stopped. Non or marginal Christians who think they
know my faith better than I do are to be ignored. Yet Christians are called to love even these
– and even as we ignore, oppose or stop them. We’re called to love, not tolerate.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
It was amazes me that those who shout tolerance are the most intolerant when it comes to the Christian faith. God loved the world, but not all the world will be saved and their refusal of God's provision for their sin through Christ will be punishment in hell for eternity, this doesn't make Gods provision any less loving. If I tell you the truth am I not loving you by giving you this truth knowing the consequences of dying without Christ, yet the world sees my giving you this truth as being intolerant and hateful. I know I can't change anyone's mind if they don't want me to, but that work is not for me, my work is to give them the truth the rest is between them and God.
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