I’m going
to say a word that tends to get Christians in an uproar: tolerance. Did I make
any of you jump? The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes tolerance as a
“willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from
your own.” I personally do not like this word. Don’t get me wrong it can be a
great word, if people use it properly. However, people in our culture are
starting to not use it properly. Basically, the way I see it, people are using
it as a cop out. As soon as someone says something against what someone else
believes what’s the normal response? “You are not being tolerant. You are a
bully.” Then people go crying to a person in authority.
I believe that people sometimes
go about discussing their different beliefs the wrong way. Christians need to
respond to disagreements with love. We can disagree with what people believe
and what they do, but we need to do it with courtesy. We cannot respond
violently. 1 John 3:15-16 says: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know
love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brothers.” Christians cannot respond to disagreements with violence because
this ruins our testimony.
Another issue we may face is we
feel like if we say anything we would offend these people. If we stand by and
let these people go on with their sin then we are going against what the Bible
tells us to do. Galatians 6:1-2 says: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any
transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of
gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Christians need to let people know
that we may not agree with what they are doing, but we still love them.
There is a link at the bottom of
this post. This video shows how some people dealt with a conflict. A white woman
went into a Harlem barber shop and was harassed by a black barber. It is neat
to see how some people react. How would God want us to react?
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