An Exercise In Intolerance

Why are we so afraid of the notion of intolerance?  A genuine Christian should never think they are better than anyone, for any reason whatsoever, but they should think their religion is.  How could we dare think such an offensive, intolerant thing?  Well, for starters, Jesus did.  Jesus said His way was the only way, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6).  God said His way was above anything we could ever think, say or do,  "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.'" (Isaiah 55:8,9).  According to God, Christianity isn't just a better way, it's the only way.

Look, the Bible says we are all sinners, every one of us (Rom 3:23).  No human being should ever think themselves superior over another.  The Bible says we are not to criticize, despise, treat with contempt or discriminate against anyone (Rom 14:10).  Self-righteous intolerance is no bueno.  But that's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about righteous intolerance in the context of the Gospel message, and that's a good thing, that's muy bueno.  Intolerance in the context of the Gospel is truly a Godly thing because it's rooted in a heartfelt love and genuine concern for someone's best interests.  God always has our best interests at heart, that is why He is intolerant of sin.  Therefore, we should be intolerant of sin.  God is intolerant of hypocrisy, so we should be intolerant of hypocrisy.  God is intolerant of mankind attempting to reach Him by any other means except the One He has provided-- Jesus Christ.  So why do so many Christians feel compelled to go out of their way in fear of offending someone over religion?  If you're gonna follow Jesus, then get down off that fence AND FOLLOW JESUS!  The REAL Jesus-- not the comfortable Jesus or the hippy-dippy kumbayah Jesus or the politically correct Jesus or the unfundamental, seeker-sensitive Jesus-- follow the Jesus that's in the Bible.  Because the Jesus of the Bible is the only One that will truly set you free from this world.  The real Jesus of the Bible is the only One that will deliver you from the crippling chains of tolerance and the blindfold of liberal propaganda.  What's so bad about liberalism?  It's bad because it's rooted in, and a vehicle for, humanism.  And humanism is the antithesis of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Humanism, on the surface, seems like a great, noble thing but at its core, tries to replace God with man.  Humanism says we are intrinsically good and that we can save ourselves.  The Bible says we are all sinners and our salvation comes only by, through and in the context of Jesus Christ.

I say a Christian should be intolerant and humanists lose their minds.  Why?  Because that's what the world tells them to do.  The world tells them that a Christian being intolerant is the same as a Muslim being intolerant or a communist being intolerant or a Nazi being intolerant.  But the reality is, that it's not the same.  Why?  Because Jesus is not a Muslim, a communist or a Nazi.  Jesus is, "the name above all names, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:9-11)   And if you are a genuine Christian, then that's Who you serve and worship.  That doesn't make us superior, that makes us saved.

There was a time when I called myself a Christian, yet all the while I was trying to be friends with the world.   You know what the Bible has to say about that?  "You adulteress, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).  God is intolerant of His people making an idol of tolerance.  When we make a special effort to accommodate, defend or justify those who reject Christ, we are telling them that their rejection of Christ is okay.  Jesus said He is the only way, and if we truly believe that, we will love people enough to be intolerant of any other way.