Sunday, August 5, 2012 am
Christians and Tolerance
This past week has seen some interesting events in America, as people
stood up for the right of individuals to express their moral
convictions, especially their views on “same-sex marriage”.
While the events that occurred are certainly not an end all to
the debate, there was good (and bad) discussion on the subject of
tolerance in the Bible. With
that in mind, I think it to be productive to take a few moments to
examine and discuss what the Bible says about the subject of tolerance.
NOTE: This lesson is not about homosexuality, nor about same-sex
marriage. You know where I
stand on that. I can
summarize it with 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of
God. And such were some of
you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
The verse clearly condemns homosexuality (and the verse describes
BOTH partners in a homosexual relationship) and even more it indicates
that you can repent of such behavior and be forgiven.
This lesson is about tolerance in the life of a Christian.
It would apply to this subject and many others, including our
attitudes toward one another as brethren in doctrinal matters where we
disagree. We need to understand
the subject of tolerance from a Biblical standpoint, and so that will be
our study this morning. We
will only introduce the subject, as much more could be said.
a.
Defined – “a
fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions,
practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own.
Freedom from bigotry.” (www.dictionary.com)
Bigotry is defined as, “stubborn
and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs
from one’s own.” (ibid).
i.
When you see definitions
like this, it is obvious that we need to draw lines as to what we
tolerate and what we do not.
Most, if not all of us, have things that we simply cannot and
will not tolerate (i.e. how many will tolerate a child molester or a
mass murderer?). The
challenge, as Christians, is where do we draw that line?
ii.
And how do we deal with
those who practice things that we find to be wrong according to God’s
word? That is really the
debate that we are engaged in right now!
b.
As you study the Bible
you find that there is a difference between one who is a sinner and the
sins he is guilty of.
i.
WE sometimes hear the
expression, “Love the sinner, but not the sin.”
That is a true statement.
In Matt. 5:44, Jesus tells us to love our enemies.
Rom. 12:14, 20,21 tells us to bless those who persecute you, and further
to let God take care of the vengeance.
ii.
Jesus, while upon this
earth, dealt with many this way and it is an example we need to follow.
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, He did NOT accept his sinful
greed. In fact, He told him
he needed to repent or he would be lost.
Yet Mark 10:21 says, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said
to him….”
When the adulterous woman was brought to Jesus (John 8:1-11), while He
forgave her, there is NO indication that He tolerated her sinful
behavior. In fact, He told
her, “go and sin no more.”
In these, and other
examples, you find Jesus loving the sinner, but NOT the sins he is
guilty of. You do NOT find
Jesus, in the slightest bit, APPROVING of their sinful behavior.
iii.
Our understanding of
tolerance has to keep these things in mind!
c.
The Bible never uses the
word tolerance, but we can see the principle both positively and
negatively in scripture. We
will notice some examples of this as our lesson progresses.
a.
The Bible
never teaches us to
tolerate sinful conduct! In
fact, we must NOT tolerate sin!
b.
Romans 6:23 says, “For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Sin
leads to death and we are RUN away from it!
We are to resist the devil and his minions.
c.
Psalm 1:1 begins by
saying “Blessed is the man who
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful…”
d.
IN Gal. 2:4-5 we find
brethren that attempted to teach false doctrine, and Paul said, “to whom we did not yield even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel
might continue in you.”
While dealing with false teachers and their doctrines, the point is that
they did not tolerate ungodliness at all.
e.
1 Tim. 6:3-5, Paul told
Timothy if one did not “consent to
wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the
doctrine which accords with godliness…”, after describing his
ungodly demeanor, he said, “From
such withdraw yourself.”
f.
Ephesians 5:3-11 (READ)
culminates with this saying, “And
have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose
them.”
g.
This HAS to be at the
foundation of our conduct.
h.
Rev. 2:20-23 finds a
church that was corrupt in that it allowed false doctrine and immorality
in its midst. In essence
they were told they should not TOLERATE such.
i.
1 Cor. 5:4-7 speaks of
why a church cannot tolerate such – it will corrupt the body!
j.
When we stand before God
in judgment, he will NOT tolerate unrepentant sin!
Neither should we.
a.
Regardless of our
convictions against sin, we live in a world and society that is very
ungodly. By far, the largest
percentage of our population does not have clear and strong moral
convictions that they are willing to stand up and fight for.
In recent times, the number of Americans that deny or question
the existence of God is on the increase.
1 John 5:19 says, “We know that we
are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
1 John 4:5 says, “They are of the world.
Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.”
b.
When you stand for your
convictions you will get people upset.
Jesus was crucified because he withstood corrupt leadership.
Paul was resisted continually, by both Jews and Gentiles.
When his “morality” changed the climate of Ephesus, the people
reacted. Acts 19 records
Paul’s 2 years there. While
there, he converted many to the point that many burned their magic
books. But others, following
the lead of Demetrius, the silversmith, saw their livelihood in danger
(because shrines to the gods, including Diana, were produced by them),
they stirred up the society in confusion and nearly started a riot.
c.
We are told in no
uncertain terms that we will be rejected by the world.
2 Tim. 3:12 says that “All who desire to live godly WILL suffer persecution.”
1 Pet. 4:1-4 speaks of living having ceased in ungodliness.
In vs. 4 it says, “In regard to these things they think it strange that you do not run with
them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you…”
1 Pet. 2:12 and 3:16 both speaks of the evildoers villainizing us (speak
against you as evil doers; defame you as evil doers”, etc.) because of
our good conduct in Christ.
d.
Even with this, there is
a sense, in which you let the world be the world.
Matt. 15:14, Jesus said to His disciples after he “offended” them with
His teachings, “Let them alone,
they are blind leaders of the blind.
And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
1 Cor. 5:9-11, Paul reminds us that we have to still associate with the
ungodly of this world – sexually immoral, covetous, extortioners, and
idolaters. He even observes that
to avoid such, “you would need to
go out of the world.”
Jesus, when He prayed to the Father acknowledged how His disciples were
hated by the world, and yet they were still in the world. (John
17:14-19).
We’re even told to submit to governments, regardless of their godly
stand – Rom. 13:1-2, 7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17 (unless they demand that we break
God’s laws – Act 5:29).
NOTE: There is no distinction made between good and bad governments.
Our only hope in the society we live in is that our constitution
provides us opportunity to stand for our convictions (for the time being
– may we never neglect this blessing and use it to His glory).
e.
BUT, with this we are
still told to limit our exposure to the ungodliness of this world.
2 Cor. 6:14-18, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers”, “come out
from among them and be separate…”
1 Cor. 15:33 warns us, “Evil
company corrupts good habits.”
James 4:4 tells us, “Do you not
know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself
an enemy of God.”
Again, when we do such, it leads to mockings. (cf. 1 Pet. 4:4)