 |
 |
| Make a Smilebox greeting |
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Definitions...
This is going to be a short post. But I had a lightbulb moment yesterday. It wasn't prompted by anything, but came just the same. The dictionary is full of words. What is interesting is how people will take a word, and twist it and pull it and prod it until it no longer means the same thing in a culture. I do not personally agree with that, especially when it's done purposefully with ill intentions and to manipulate others.
The word that came to my head? Tolerance. I believe it is something God wants us to practice. However, do you know what the actual definition(s) of this word is/are? Here is a fair sample:
1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.
2. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.
3. a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
Nowhere in any of those does tolerance mean agreement with or affirmation or condoning of another's differing opinions, practices, or beliefs.
What is God's command to me and all humans? Love one another. That's it. I love my brother and others in my life who have chosen courses that I disagree with. That God would disagree with, too. And they love me even when they disagree. So that would be tolerance. Tolerance is not agreeing with, affirming, and wholeheartedly supporting all the actions of everyone else. God does not call us to that.
I've heard this said many times over the years: the Gospel itself is offensive to many. That is true. And it is not affirming of all actions of people. Yet God, and His Word, and His son Jesus Christ, love and tolerate all people, all the while hoping they will turn from their worldly ways back to the One who created them. Do you know why the Gospel is offensive to many? Because it in itself states there is a God, therefore there is truth. And most of today's culture doesn't want to hear that.
Granted, we should not be disrespectfully shoving God's commands in people's faces who don't know Him. As a wise man I listened to recently said: "It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, it is God's job to judge, and it is our job to love." (Andrew Marin, speaking to the National Youth Worker's convention on how to minister to teenagers and others in the gay community)
Tolerance doesn't require me to agree with sexual and other sin, other religions that deny the God I know, politicians who lie about themselves and each other to get elected, or anything else that God disagrees with. But God does require me to love all of those involved. And He always grants me just the right amount of grace to deal with each situation I face in this life.
Ok, so that wasn't so short. And I feel like I could go for a long time and not exhaust the subject. But there's no need for that, because if you want to know more God has all the answers!
The word that came to my head? Tolerance. I believe it is something God wants us to practice. However, do you know what the actual definition(s) of this word is/are? Here is a fair sample:
1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.
2. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.
3. a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
Nowhere in any of those does tolerance mean agreement with or affirmation or condoning of another's differing opinions, practices, or beliefs.
What is God's command to me and all humans? Love one another. That's it. I love my brother and others in my life who have chosen courses that I disagree with. That God would disagree with, too. And they love me even when they disagree. So that would be tolerance. Tolerance is not agreeing with, affirming, and wholeheartedly supporting all the actions of everyone else. God does not call us to that.
I've heard this said many times over the years: the Gospel itself is offensive to many. That is true. And it is not affirming of all actions of people. Yet God, and His Word, and His son Jesus Christ, love and tolerate all people, all the while hoping they will turn from their worldly ways back to the One who created them. Do you know why the Gospel is offensive to many? Because it in itself states there is a God, therefore there is truth. And most of today's culture doesn't want to hear that.
Granted, we should not be disrespectfully shoving God's commands in people's faces who don't know Him. As a wise man I listened to recently said: "It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, it is God's job to judge, and it is our job to love." (Andrew Marin, speaking to the National Youth Worker's convention on how to minister to teenagers and others in the gay community)
Tolerance doesn't require me to agree with sexual and other sin, other religions that deny the God I know, politicians who lie about themselves and each other to get elected, or anything else that God disagrees with. But God does require me to love all of those involved. And He always grants me just the right amount of grace to deal with each situation I face in this life.
Ok, so that wasn't so short. And I feel like I could go for a long time and not exhaust the subject. But there's no need for that, because if you want to know more God has all the answers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
