All over the world, I hear calls for tolerance.
We are supposed to tolerate other people. We are supposed to tolerate other faiths, races, creeds, political views, opinions, and just about anything else.
Tolerance is a terrible thing, and it should never be practiced.
When I tolerate someone, I can still hate him. When I tolerate someone, it demeans that person. It is degrading and demeaning to be "tolerated."
Jesus never told us to tolerate anyone. Jesus told us to love.
The greatest commandment in the Bible is not to "Tolerate the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and tolerate your neighbor as yourself." We are to LOVE the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and LOVE our neighbor as ourselves.
Tolerance is easy. All I have to do is put up with you. But to love- now, that is hard.
With all the riots in the Middle East and the storming of American embassies, I hear all kinds of calls for tolerance. Tolerance for our enemies. Problem- that's not what Jesus told us to do.
He told us to love our enemies. Jesus knew that a world that simply tolerated each other would still be a terrible place. His commands were for the people of the world to love each other.
He told us not to tolerate our enemies. He told us to love our enemies.
Someone might say, "Dave, love would be great. But in reality, tolerance is all we can hope for." Maybe that's why the world is in the shape it is in.
What would happen if Hillary Clinton, in her speeches, called for love instead of tolerance? Why aren't our nation's leaders calling us to love the radical Muslims that burned our embassies and killed our ambassador? That's what Jesus told us to do. Why do we think that a world full of tolerance would be any good whatsoever?
What would a marriage be if husband and wife tolerated each other? Pretty bad marriage. Not a happy home.
What would a marriage be if husband and wife LOVED each other? Good stuff.
Same thing is true in our world. Tolerance is a terrible thing. It degrades, dehumanizes, and calls us simply to put up with each other. The result of that would be miserable. Love, however, is a beautiful thing. It's what Jesus calls us to do.
We shouldn't tolerate people of other faiths- we should love people of other faiths. We shouldn't tolerate people of a different race- we should love people of a different race. We shouldn't tolerate our enemies- we should love our enemies.
If you tolerate me, you put me down. If you love me, you build me up. There's a big difference. Don't ever call for tolerance in this world. Call for love.
We are supposed to tolerate other people. We are supposed to tolerate other faiths, races, creeds, political views, opinions, and just about anything else.
Tolerance is a terrible thing, and it should never be practiced.
When I tolerate someone, I can still hate him. When I tolerate someone, it demeans that person. It is degrading and demeaning to be "tolerated."
Jesus never told us to tolerate anyone. Jesus told us to love.
The greatest commandment in the Bible is not to "Tolerate the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and tolerate your neighbor as yourself." We are to LOVE the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and LOVE our neighbor as ourselves.
Tolerance is easy. All I have to do is put up with you. But to love- now, that is hard.
With all the riots in the Middle East and the storming of American embassies, I hear all kinds of calls for tolerance. Tolerance for our enemies. Problem- that's not what Jesus told us to do.
He told us to love our enemies. Jesus knew that a world that simply tolerated each other would still be a terrible place. His commands were for the people of the world to love each other.
He told us not to tolerate our enemies. He told us to love our enemies.
Someone might say, "Dave, love would be great. But in reality, tolerance is all we can hope for." Maybe that's why the world is in the shape it is in.
What would happen if Hillary Clinton, in her speeches, called for love instead of tolerance? Why aren't our nation's leaders calling us to love the radical Muslims that burned our embassies and killed our ambassador? That's what Jesus told us to do. Why do we think that a world full of tolerance would be any good whatsoever?
What would a marriage be if husband and wife tolerated each other? Pretty bad marriage. Not a happy home.
What would a marriage be if husband and wife LOVED each other? Good stuff.
Same thing is true in our world. Tolerance is a terrible thing. It degrades, dehumanizes, and calls us simply to put up with each other. The result of that would be miserable. Love, however, is a beautiful thing. It's what Jesus calls us to do.
We shouldn't tolerate people of other faiths- we should love people of other faiths. We shouldn't tolerate people of a different race- we should love people of a different race. We shouldn't tolerate our enemies- we should love our enemies.
If you tolerate me, you put me down. If you love me, you build me up. There's a big difference. Don't ever call for tolerance in this world. Call for love.
Thanks for speaking truth. Love that perspective.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff...sometimes, we're called to "bear with" others-- which sounds like tolerance. But in light of other Scriptures, we know that the call must be more than mere "tolerance".
ReplyDeleteAll that said, it'd sure be nice to get mere tolerance from folks who profess to be tolerant.