“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God,” [Romans 15:5-7]
“…pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you,” [2 Thessalonians 3:1]
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves,” [Romans 12:9-10]
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” [Romans 13:8-10]
Are Christians intolerant? Is that statement true? We truly are intolerant of some things.
Christians are intolerant of injustice. We are called to “seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” For there to be justice, there must be judgment. For there to be judgment, there must be Law and… a Judge. But this is the verdict of the Judge: Light has come into the world… and whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what He has done has been done through God…” (John 3:19ff). While we were still sinners, He sent His One and Only Son to pay our penalty. Therefore, we acknowledge Truth, and “hate what is evil and cling to what is good.” We are intolerant of sin, but love sinners. We become intolerant of human judgment so that God’s judgment prevails among us. We become intolerant of the enemy, who seeks to divide, limit and isolate us from people in need.
We are the family of the intolerant. We love sinners and hate sin and the author of all sin. We are the rescue squad, the first defense and lovers of sinners. We hate sin, but we will never tolerate the loss of sinners, because the blood of Christ demands mercy.
We are also intolerant of self-exaltation. When we seek to exalt ourselves, Jesus says that the only reward awaiting us is the praise of people. But when we exalt others above ourselves, our God takes notice and exalts us. Just as Christ lowered Himself to allow the Father to be the only One to exalt Him, we are also asked to be intolerant of our own selfish desires. In a culture that actively promotes self-exaltation, Christians stand apart when they exalt others above themselves.
By accepting Christ, we actively reverse the dominion of Satan hand dominion back to the Rightful Ruler of this world –one soul at a time. Just as all died in Adam, we all live in Christ. And we eagerly await the Return of our Savior so that we may witness Him taking possession of the whole universe.
And we are intolerant of wickedness. When we see the world growing more evil, we fall to our knees, inviting the Lord Jesus to overcome darkness with His Magnificent Light. We are intolerant of the same-old, same-old. We are strangers and aliens in this world, certain that better things are yet to come. We are intolerant of death –we proclaim the resurrection. We are intolerant of disease – by His wounds, we are healed. We are intolerant of starvation –He is the Bread of Life. We are intolerant of slander –He gives strength to the weak. We are intolerant of doubt –we are saved by grace through faith, completely by the power of God. Our God is greater than any threat that this world may produce. Our God is intolerant of sin and death.
On the Solid Rock we stand!
George