With all the ado surrounding
the CEO of Chick-Fil-A’s personal stance on traditional marriage we hear, quite
loudly, cries for tolerance. But is tolerance what is really being demanded?
No. I don’t think it is.
Let me first start with
explaining what tolerance in this context, truly is. Tolerance is defined a few
ways in Webster’s but in relation to this topic the one that best defines it is
as follows:
2. a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or
practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own b : the act of allowing
something
Essentially, tolerance is the
act of allowing others to believe and do certain things while those beliefs or
actions conflict with our own. That is tolerance, and I will argue, Christians
seem to have a corner on the market.
This is ironic I realize, as
we are the ones who are most often called “intolerant”. But we are not. We
tolerate other religions. We tolerate the sinful behavior of our neighbor (and
ourselves for that matter). We tolerate mockery and scorn. The list goes on…
Our tolerance however is
called into question when we speak about the objective nature of things. When
we make truth claims about how things are or how things are supposed to be, we
are automatically thought of as intolerant. And I don’t think I need to rattle
off the list of objective truth claims found within the Christian system. I am
taking it for granted that most who read this will be able to intuit my point.
But yes, our tolerance is
called into question when we say things are 1. Right or 2. Wrong. When taking
an unwavering stand on certain “hot button” topics, it is thought of as
intolerant. But if tolerance is understood as what is found in the above
definition, then taking a stand on something isn’t intolerant it is merely
saying that with which we disagree is, well, what we disagree with. And if we
think those things should change, it still doesn’t follow that we aren’t
tolerant of the thing in question. We are. This is made evident in the fact
that Christians (in contemporary Western culture – and I think I am saying in
all contemporary culture) are not putting people to death for worshiping false
gods. We are not stoning people for what they are doing in their bedrooms. What
we are doing however is saying false gods are evil and certain bedroom activity
is sinful.
Pointing out that something
is wrong and should come to an end doesn’t mean we are not tolerating it. What
it does mean however is that we care. We care about people who are captive to
false gods and the power of sin. We care deeply about them. If we are
Christians we can’t help but care which leads me to why I am writing this in
the first place. Which is this …
When people are crying out
for tolerance, what they really want is indifference. They want us not to care.
They do want approval to a certain extent but over all they just don’t want us
to care about them. People don’t want Christians caring about their sin, the
state of their souls, or them in general. Because when we care it nags at their
conscience.
They don’t want tolerance,
they want apathy.
When people demand that
Christians be tolerant, what they are really saying is “stop caring.” Why do
you care what people do in their bedrooms? Why do you care if people are
Atheist or Mormon or Hindu? Why do you care? Why do you care? Why. Do. You.
Care?
I would say ultimately
because God cares and we being His people have been given hearts that reflect
His own. And within those hearts is love and concern for all humanity. Yet we
are being asked to do what is impossible. We are being asked not to care about
the state of the lost world around us. And speaking of the lost world around
us, we can now revisit the idea of tolerance.
As I said above we are a very
tolerant group. When we consider that everything “of the world” is antithetical
to our worldview I’d say we are exceptionally tolerant. But we must not forget
to point to the most tolerant of all. God.
Consider how entirely holy
and perfect He is yet stands by and permits our rank sinfulness. He tolerates a
lot. He is the most tolerant of all. But one day, that tolerance will come to
an end and only those who belong to Christ will then be tolerated for all
eternity. This is why we care, and why the demand for apathy will go unheeded.
We will never cease caring
for a lost and fallen world. We will continue to tolerate it but we will never
stop caring.
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