Tolerance and Intolerance
by Dan HarrisonThis article first appeared in the Urbana Today newspaper, given to Urbana 93 delegates.
I gave a lot of heartache and heartburn to my parents as a rebellious teenager. On one occasion I was summoned to the superintendent's office along with my parents, because I had exceeded all limits of tolerance on the part of the school officials for truancy. That year I attended school only 45 days. If I was I sick, I had my mother write a note. If I was intending to skip school, I had my girlfriend write a note in my father's name. During our meeting, the superintendent made it very clear that if there were not a dramatic change in my behavior, I would be expelled and perhaps sent to reform school.
During those adolescent years I was openly intolerant of my parents' point of view. Faith and religion were things for "old fogies" and had negative connotations for me. Everything that I was attracted to and wanted to do was unacceptable behavior. It was only after I became a Christian in college that my attitude changed, and I became more tolerant of the differences between my parents and me. We still disagreed, but we learned to respect each other. Our level of trust increased, and our love for one another helped us overlook the differences that existed between us.
As Christians we are to be intolerant of sin. God the Father turned his back on his Son, when on the cross Jesus bore your sins and mine. We're to be discerning and to apply biblical values to life's realities. In my view, people are far too tolerant of one another's ideas and too often intolerant of people. The distinction between tolerance and acceptance is important. Out of respect for them, we tolerate the views of others no matter how wrong or strange, but we do not accept all views as being equal.
A few years ago I had the opportunity of making friends with two medical doctors in the Soviet Union. At the first meal in their home Valerij said, "My parents are atheists. I'm an atheist; and at 36, I'm too old to change." That was to be, so to speak, the end of the conversation. Fortunately the conversation did not stop.
I respected his perspective, and he developed respect for mine. During the months and years following that, he was very willing to do some reading that I suggested, including the Gospels. And I also, learned a lot more about him, his culture, perspective and point of view. We had many wonderful, long conversations; and we disagreed at places; but we did so charitably.
More than two years later, my friend Valerij was in the United States in order to get some medical attention that he needed. In our living room he and his wife Tonya became Christians. Subsequently their children have become Christians, as have other relatives.
Another Ukrainian friend said to me after about one and a half years of knowing one another, "You trusted me long before I trusted you."
"Thank You," I said. "I didn't realize that. Why do you think that is?"
"It's because of your Christian faith," she said. Somehow, she had recognized that I was different and the reason that I was different was because of my commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. That person has also become a Christian. The secular perspective is that we should be accepting of everybody and all other religious ideas, that whatever works or feels good is fine. But as Christians we base our perspective not on something subjective, but instead, on the teaching and statements of our Lord Jesus in the Scriptures. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Also, in John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Chuck Colson gave a message at the Congress on World Religions in Chicago last summer. Since then, he has been sorely criticized by some Christians for "compromising" by being present in that eclectic group of persons representing 'a large variety of religions.
I admire his participation in that congress and I feel that it is quite like the perspective and behavior of our Lord Jesus during his ministry. Jesus declared that he came to the sick and the sinner, not the healthy. He spent time with tax collectors and prostitutes in order to bring forgiveness of sin and healing to them. God's call is to be in the world, not of the world. May God make us wise in choosing what things to be intolerant of. A genuine interest in others is the best way to witness. It results in friendship, mutual respect, trust and is often used by the Holy Spirit to draw men and women to the Savior.
One of our InterVarsity staff challenged a new Muslim friend with the dare of studying each other's religious books until one of them converted. The InterVarsity staff person said we can't both be right.
Like Jesus we should be clear on what we believe and why. We should spend time with those whose views differ from our own, and we should be ready to present our reasons for the faith within us. We are called to use biblical standards to help others make those choices, remembering that Jesus' extravagant love is always winsome.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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