In this age of political correctness, moral relativism, and the anything-goes mentality we find the Christian world view being chastised for it’s intolerance. How dare we claim that unless a person accepts Christ as their saviour, they are doomed to Hell? Never mind that it is the truth, and that we have excellent reason to profess such things, we offend and exclude and border hate-speak to say this. Christians should be both intolerant and tolerant at the same time, but in different areas. When it comes to the truth claims of any theological system we stand intolerant of any that are not the absolute truth; yet we are extremely tolerant of all who would hear the message of the Gospel regardless of prior convictions or backgrounds. Christianity is thoroughly IN-clusive in it’s EX-clusivity.
It is not the place of the Christian to hate the Muslim, the Buddhist, the new age adherent, or anyone of differing opinion. Still, we must not allow the theological errors of the other world faiths to be commingled into Christianity, for what fellowship can light have with darkness? But before we get too far it needs to be pointed out that all of the major world religions are exclusive. They all claim to hold the truth and they all deny that the others are true, so unless you follow the professed path of the case before you, you can not hope to attain whatever it is they promise. New Age is a bit different because it will tolerate almost any view as long as it does not exclude any other. You end up with a cafeteria plan that allows a little Zen, a pinch of Tao, a bit of Krishna and since we all create our own reality, you can have anything you want it to be.
Today, absolutes are taboo. You can have anything as long as you don’t claim that the truth you profess is absolute. I was listening to Ravi Zacharias on a Sunday morning talk show describing the Atheist’s creed. The part that stuck with me was the contention that, “There is no absolute truth except the truth that there is no absolute truth.” Think about that for a minute! If it weren’t for the fact that most of society believes it, it would be laughable in it’s absurdity.
If anyone is willing to hear the truth, then we are to explain the reason for the hope we have within us in gentleness and love, but if someone is going to try to water down absolute truth, attempt to diminish the power of the Word of God and teach false doctrine or misuse the Gospel; this is the time for Christian intolerance.
Jesus got angry; Jesus was intolerant; but in His anger, He sinned not. “Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger…” Mark 3:4-5. We can just as easily look at John 2:16 which reads, “… how dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” Both of these examples show anger and intolerance - for a set of circumstances, not for the sinners themselves. We are going to get angry from time to time, but what is the cause of our anger? What is it that will move us to stand on the rock and be intolerant in our belief? There are many places in Scripture that caution us to be slow to anger, not that anger is wrong, but that it’s motives must be examined and it’s outpouring checked, so as not to be excessive. God, the Father, is repeatedly characterized as, “slow to anger, and abounding in love.
The small, single chapter letter from Jude is telling because though he would have rather written about the salvation shared in Christ, it was MORE URGENT that he write to urge that they contend for the faith. “For certain godless men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are Godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality…” But that was way back before we had such good and numerous colleges of divinity right? Not so. It was then and it is even now to a greater degree. Did Jesus ever teach that it was a Godly ambition to be wealthy? He never commanded poverty but He did warn about the dangers of wealth and the potential for disaster when we place our trust in our finances, yet not once in the sermon on the mount does he say, “Verily I say unto you, give of your money so that you will become wealthy and get a bigger house and a fine new Lexus.”
But when you turn on the television and hear the rant of the health and wealth preachers, it is the same thing. If it is all about giving to get, why is the encouragement not that they give to the poor, or accredited charities, but to their own ministries? Joyce Meyers has you naming and claiming by talking to your checkbook, Crenflo Dollar, (can it be more obvious?), even the highly esteemed Bishop T.D. Jakes is encouraging the masses to work to better their financial position, (and his latest book will surely show the way, available for a modest price at your favorite book store). I have a book too, it’s on my website but I do not, for one minute, try to say that you will grow financially from buying a copy, or that you will see a new car in your garage if you make donations to my effort. I am very up-front in telling you that I hope to earn an income from what I do, how I will share in any money received and where it will go. I believe the doctrine I espouse is true because it is Biblical doctrine, not my own.
“If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to Godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words. [These are men] who have been robbed of the truth and who think godliness is a means to financial gain.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5. This is what much of the mainstream public sees when they look at the church today. OK, not your church, … the one down the road! It is time that we became a bit more intolerant of this type of thing and began contending for the faith, just as Jude was doing.
Welcome all who would come with open arms but lets make sure that what we are welcoming them into is based on the sound doctrine of Christ. I would rather receive the widow’s copper coins because she believed that the work going on here is glorifying to God than I would, thousands of dollars given because someone thinks they are promised to get it back 30, 60 or a hundred fold. I fear that we, as a society, have become so lazy in our faith that if we can find anyone to tell us something to do to guarantee our salvation, we’ll do it! Too many people, “play,” church. They go, they find out how it works, they act the part and go home thinking they’re done. Never mind that one day Jesus may say, “I never knew you.” If we, who are called by His name, do not stand for the truth, we will end up falling for anything that comes along, and taking future generations along with us.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15. Why would Jesus have given this warning it were not something to heed? We are called to share the Faith we have found in Christ Jesus but before we do we need to be sure that we have got it right. This is the area where we must be intolerant! Never compromise on the Word of God. But share with anyone who would listen as the opportunity arises. Here we must be exceptionally tolerant. “But what if they don’t listen?” That’s not our responsibility. We are to get the Word out there and God will open the ears of those who are ready to receive it.
You never see Jesus chasing after the Pharisees and keepers of the law begging them to try to understand, just once more. He never says, “Wait a minute guys, let me try explaining it a different way.” Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” If we allow false doctrine to work it’s way into our churches we are likely to be the ones held accountable for it’s destructive impact. If we stand on the solid rock of God’s Word, if we uphold the message of the Gospel of Christ, if we maintain the right opinion that absolute truth does exist and that it is found in the Bible, then we are making a difference. We need to be tolerant of those who do not know the Lord because, in most cases, they do not realize the error in their theology. But armed with the sword of truth, which is the Word of God, we must take our stand against any who would weaken or lead any astray from the truth which we know is absolute. Sometimes the intolerant view is the only view that ends up being…
All for the Glory of Christ
