We're in a country where the meaning of words continues to change They continue to evolve to have new meanings. While a laymen may look at this with an explanation, the theological impacts require that absolutes do not exist. Thus extinguishing the need for God.
So what is tolerance? Tolerance is defined by most as accepting opposing viewpoints as valid or equal with that of the truth. Tolerating the difference is called respect. Now that we understand the terms, we must deal with the implications. Can a Christian respect a Muslim perspective, view of God, approach to faith, etc? Certainly. Can they tolerate that a Muslim friend does not agree with them. Absolutely. Should they be 'tolerant' of the Muslim faith and accept it as equal with their own. Absolutely not. There is no name under heaven, given among men, by which they might be saved. I've coined a phrase and tell me if it doesn't emulate the United States slow and consistent evolution away from God.
"God desires a relationship with men; men who would seek to replace God with rules, and then the rules with their interpretation of the rules and then the interpretation with discretion and discretion with tolerance."
Ask yourself, did Satan lie in the Garden? Yes he did, but how did he do it? He did it by telling most of the truth. He said that their eyes would be opened and that they would be able to see good from evil...that was certainly true...where he lied is when he said that they would not die. They interpreted the death to be instant - while the Bible does not record the context of how their death would occur, their death certainly would occur. More thank likely they presupposed the meaning instead of seeking it out. As a result, they tolerated Satan in their midst. They tolerated untruth, false prophecy and a belief that wasn't of God. And because of that, their fall was causally linked to tolerance. In hindsight, I bet any one of us would have stomped on that snakes head and snuffed out his lies, his deception and would not have tolerated his false nature in our midst. Yet we do it everyday in America.
Satan is devious, and he will use the smallest sliver of difference to controvert the truth. If you change true to 50% true, isn't it still true?, How about, 75%, what about 99%...I mean, that's pretty darn close.
The answer is a resounding No. It's either true, or it is false. The implication of tolerance is a slow, perpetual move away from absolutism. And as I've stated before, tolerance is just a rejection of truth. Saying you tolerate other faiths as equal with your own is akin to saying that you reject God, for either God is the one true God or he is not. If you believe other faiths to be equal in merit with your own, then one of you is obviously wrong.
Do not mistake the tolerance of a person and their path as the same or equal with tolerance of a specific faith. Tolerance of a person is excellent, but tolerance of a faith that isn't based on the God of Israel, who sent his Son to provide for those who believed in him a source of salvation, is a travesty. As Christians, we're either sold out for Christ, working on a path of sold out, or enemies of God. Anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ is the enemy of God...so I ask you this question. Would you tolerate an enemy in your camp? If you knew that the enemy had only one goal and that was to seperate you from God, by the minute, hour, day, month, year, decade, and he had your entire lifetime to work at it...do you think he'd come right up and bonk you over the head? Or would he slowly, and persistently work on your desire, your definition of words and teach you things like tolerance...
3 comments:
"God desires a relationship with men; men who would seek to replace God with rules, and then the rules with their interpretation of the rules and then the interpretation with discretion and discretion with tolerance."
Jesus taught tolerance? I think not.
Your statement above sounds like Protestants.
Karin,
The comment I made was designed to show an evolution away from God.
I absolutely agree that Jesus did not teach tolerance. I think he called us to be on-fire for him, but also to love others. That's certainly much harder than it sounds.
Why does it sound like protestants?
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