How should believers in Jesus view tolerance? How do we stand for biblical truth while also conveying the love of God?
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zero_g on February 22, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Acts 10:11-15
He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Peter was faced with a conflict between what the Bible said and what God was telling him. Peter figured God was onto something new and he must listen too and follow what God is saying now.
You can’t go wrong when you choose tolerance, compassion and love for God’s creation.
jeGeddes on February 23, 2011 at 3:08 am
Well it depends what you define tolerance. Today more and more people are defining tolerance as, “What people say cannot be disagreed because it is not ‘tolerance'”. So that means if someone attacks your faith, sorry it is not tolerant to disagree. The real meaning of tolerance is you tolerate the person as a human being and you have a right to disagree politely. That is the tolerance that is more biblical, and the tolerance we should strive for. As for today’s views on tolerance, well we should oppose those beliefs and stand our grounds as Christians.
Sonny on February 23, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Read Jeremiah 42:21 interesting storyline on this subject: “So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you.” The prophet Jeremiah lived during a time when truth was spurned. In chapter 42, we find a group of Judean “guerrillas” and the people they had rescued coming to
Jeremiah with what sounded like a sincere request for guidance (vv.1-5). At that time, Jerusalem had been destroyed and Egypt was applying great pressure on the kingdom of Judah to cast their lot with them. After receiving a message from God, Jeremiah delivered God’s pronouncement to the people. The substance of God’s reply was that they
should not go down into Egypt, and that if they did they would be destroyed. The people were intent, however, on going to Egypt, and they rejected Jeremiah’s warning (43:4). They called the prophet a liar and added insult to injury by forcing him to accompany them (vv.2,6). Jeremiah knew his messag wasn’t what the people wanted to hear. Yet he spoke forth God’s Word boldly, instead of trying to make it more palatable for the people. There are countless stories like this in God’s Word where men and women stood their ground, even when it didn’t fit well with the crowds. Some even faced death for their witness of God’s truth. Steven is a good New Testment example.
Today, while we need to be discerning about how to present God’s truth to diverse audiences, we should never change what it says. When issues strike at the heart of biblical teaching, we must take a stand and winsomely continue to be God’s salt and light to people lost in a declining culture. Let us continue to speak God’s truth in love.
lindagma on February 24, 2011 at 7:14 am
Speak in love… we were once there, before we were saved… but never-the-less stand for God’s principles. We accomplish nothing by accepting and following the standards of the world. Then we are just “hypocrites” as many non-Christians like to flip around. They are watching to see if we really believe what we say…or just judging others. AND…who do we answer to…the world or our Heavenly Father. We know what his standards are…they are spelled out quite explicitly in the Bible. You can’t ignore Proverbs…or Sodom…or what Jesus taught on earth. Either you believe the Bible or you don’t and if you are ashamed of HIM here on earth…well, there will be a day of judgment. We do the non-saved no favor by accepting sin or tolerating sin. We don’t have to get on a soapbox and shout it, but we also don’t have to act as though it doesn’t matter. As difficult as it may be, we must love the sinner and hate the sin…and show by example the peace that comes from knowing Jesus. Even if you are criticized for your stand, it’s your connection with God they will turn to when the bottom falls out.
zero_g on February 25, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I agree with a lot of what you said. However I have to disagree with “either you believe the Bible or you don’t”. The is a lot of the Bible I disagree with, and you can say with all of the translations out there, it appears as though there are many people who disagree but are Christian.I think our tolerance lies in how we relate the words in the Bible to the situations we encounter today.
tom felten on February 24, 2011 at 11:08 am
Good comments! It’s been said that “tolerance is important. But if practiced to excess, it becomes an idol.” What, as believers in Jesus, allows to know when we’ve crossed the line from tolerance as a godly virtue to tolerance the ungodly idol?
winn collier on February 24, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Is it perhaps who we are trying to please – either God (via love expressed in accepting another) or anyone else (via minimizing truth that we think will make another reject us)?
Jenniwren on February 28, 2011 at 7:14 am
There seems to be a fine line in standing for the truth as it is set forth in Scripture, and yet loving and accepting another whose sin is blatant and so anti scripture….. so it comes across as being accepting of their sin when its the person we accept, but not their sin….. Confusing but its a concern to me.