Love Isn't Tolerance

The desire to supplant Jesus’ lordship and to trash the authority of God’s Word still exist in our fallen world today, perhaps no more so than among people who claim to be Christians.

For example, there are Christians who want to use their faith as an excuse to act as Christian vigilantes, imposing their version of God's Law on the larger society. I've spoken against this so many times that I probably sound like a broken record. So, I won't belabor that point here.

But there are also Christians who confuse God's love for God's approval. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, they want to turn God into an indulgent grandfather who doesn't care what we do as long as we have a good time doing it.

In the name of Jesus as they want Jesus to be, these misguided Christians claim that we should forget our call to speak God's truth in love when we see friends or fellow believers veering away from God's will for us. (Ephesians 4:15) They want to forgo the message Jesus wants us to share with all: "Repent and believe in the gospel..." (Mark 1:15) (To repent means to turn away from sin and death and to turn instead to Christ Who freely forgives our sin and gives us life with God.)

What do I mean by this last point exactly?

Imagine you saw a friend or stranger about to run into a street with heavy traffic.

Would you think, "Well, the loving thing for me to do is to be tolerant of this person's idiosyncrasy. After all, if by his or her nature they like exposing themselves to unnecessary danger and probable death, love compels me to be tolerant"?

I don't think that's what you would do! (At least I hope it's not what you would do.)

At the very least, you would bellow out a warning to the person! No matter how much that person might love walking into traffic, love would compel you to warn them. Love might even compel you to try to grab and take that person to safety.

Love then, is not the same thing as tolerance.

When we see our friends engage in behavior that could sever their relationship with Christ, that finds them wandering toward contempt of the God we know in Christ, that is, when they engage in repeated, unrepentant sin, it isn't intolerant to warn them or to pray for them. It's the loving thing to do.

It's appropriate for you, as one sinner in need of repentance and faith to another sinner in need of repentance and faith, to speak God's truth in love, calling them away from sin and death, calling them to forgiveness and life through Christ alone.

In the kingdom of God given to us by Jesus Christ, that's what love does.