Tolerance In Church And Society (Rom.14:1; Eph.4:15; Rev.2:20)

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and 1 Chronicles 12:32.

  1. Tolerance by itself undermines both truth and love.
    • Eph.4:15. George Orwell hit the mark near the end of Nineteen Eighty-Four where Winston is told: ‘You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him: you must love him.’ G. K. Chesterton: ‘The most bigoted people in the world are the people who have not got any convictions at all.’
    • Mark 12:28-31; Eph.5:25 – ‘tolerate’ is no substitute.
  2. Some things are intolerable.
    • Rom.12:9; Jer.32:35; Rev.2:20. It is difficult to argue for complete religious freedom. Is the Hindu caste system to be protected? Jihad? Satanist chaplains in the navy?
    • J. Gresham Machen: Christianity is ‘radically intolerant’. Acts 4:12.
  3. There is a Christian tolerance.
    • Rom.14:1, 3; Phil.3:15-16. We do not all see everything in the same way at the same time. Compare to Gal.4:9-11; Col.2:16-17, 20-22. In Christ all things hold together – Col.1:17.