TOLERANCE
DR. JIM DIXON
REVELATION 2:18
MARCH 12, 1995
The seven cardinal virtues were identified by the early church as faith, hope, love, temperance, prudence, justice and courage. The first three virtues: faith, hope, and love, were derived from the Pauline Triad in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. The last four virtues: temperance, prudence, justice and courage, were taken from the Greek philosophers but they were run through the grid of scripture, reinterpreted in light of scripture by St. Augustine. For centuries, these seven virtues were taught to Christians in churches throughout the world.
Today, we live in a revisionist era and revisionists are rewriting history and they are rewriting morality. They tell us that most of the great moralists through history really regarded tolerance as one of the great virtues. Certainly today, if we had a contemporary list of virtues, tolerance would be placed on that list. In our contemporary culture, tolerance is now the supreme virtue. So, this morning we will examine what the Bible, what Holy Scripture, has to say about this subject of tolerance and we have two teachings.
First of all, the Bible tells us that God’s tolerance is perfect. God has perfect tolerance. Now, we should understand that tolerance is a divine virtue. I know that most of you have heard of the city of Nineveh. If you’ve read the book of Jonah in the Old Testament then you’ve certainly heard of the city of Nineveh. The Bible tells us that the city of Nineveh was great and it was such a great city, such a massive city, that it would take a person three days just to walk through the length of the city.
For centuries, historians, scholars, archeologists mocked this biblical teaching regarding the city of Nineveh. Historians claim that there never was the city of Nineveh. For centuries they claimed that the city of Nineveh was simply a mythological city that didn’t really exist. But then, in the 19th century, the British archeologist Sir Austen Layard discovered the ruins of the city of Nineveh along the banks of the Tigris River in a region that today is called the country of Iraq. They discovered that indeed the city of Nineveh was a great city, a massive city, a city with temples and a city with palaces, a city with parks and botanical gardens. They found a wall 50 feet high that ran 2-1/2 miles along the banks of the Tigris, a wall 50 feet high that ran eight miles around the inner city of Nineveh. And the outer portions of Nineveh seemed to just go on forever. It is a significant archeological dig today so massive they think they may never uncover the entire city of Nineveh, one of the great cities of the ancient world. It was, they now know, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. It was the royal city of Sargon II. It was the royal city of Assyria. It was the royal city of Ashurbanipal, and it did indeed take a person three days just to walk through that city. Once again, archeology has confirmed biblical historicity.
The Bible tells us that Nineveh was not only a very large city, but it was also a very evil one. The Bible tells us that the city of Nineveh was known for its cruelty and the city of Nineveh was known for its immorality. Historians who have now examined that city and records concerning the city tell us that the city dates back to 5,000 B.C. For millennia it was considered the most wicked city in the world. For centuries, the Bible tells us, God was forbearing towards this city of Nineveh. Despite its sin, despite its cruelty, for centuries God was forbearing towards the city of Nineveh. The Bible tells us that in the course of time the inequity of the city rose to heaven and God could forebear it no longer and so God called the Hebrew prophet Jonah. God said, “I want you to go to Nineveh. I want you to warn them that unless they repent, My judgment is going to fall on the city.”
You know the story, how Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Jonah left Joppa, taking the wrong boat heading for Tarshish. Why was that? Why did Jonah not want to go to Nineveh? Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because it was a Gentile city. Jonah wanted that Gentile city to be judged. He wanted it to be destroyed. Jonah knew that if he went to Nineveh and he preached repentance, they might repent. He also knew the character of God, that if they did repent, surely God would spare them and Jonah didn’t want them to be spared.
You see, historians understand today that the book of Jonah is not just the story about a man and a whale. The book of Jonah is a story of tolerance. The truth is that in the time of Jonah the Hebrew people were not tolerant of the Gentile nations, but God had tolerance. So, as we come to the end of this book of Jonah, you see the prophet Jonah sitting on the banks outside the city. The people of Nineveh have repented and God has spared them and Jonah is pouting about this. I mean, he feels bad that people are alive. God comes to Jonah and God says, “Don’t you realize there are thousands and tens of thousands of people living in that city and many animals as well? How can you begrudge My compassion?” But the Bible tells us time and again of the tolerance, the forbearance of God.
In the New Testament, we see our Lord Jesus Christ traveling from Galilee to Judea with His disciples. They’re traveling toward the city of Jerusalem. They pass through the region of Samaria. We’re told in the 9th chapter of Luke’s gospel that Jesus and the disciples entered a Samaritan village and they preached the gospel to that village, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, the gospel of the Son of God. But the people in that Samaritan village refused to believe. They would not believe in Christ nor would they respond to the message of Christ. We don’t know how Christ felt when He left the city but we do know how some of the disciples felt. The Bible tells us how James and John felt. They were mad. They were really indignant. They were vexed. Maybe that’s why Jesus referred to James and John as “Boanerges,” the “sons of thunder,” because their tempers were so volatile.
So James and John, having left this unbelieving village, had a great idea. They came up to Jesus and they said, “We know what to do. Why don’t we do this. Since they wouldn’t believe, why don’t we just call down fire from heaven and destroy them? Why don’t we just call down fire from heaven and destroy the city and all the people in it?” The Bible tells us that Jesus had to rebuke James and John for their lack of tolerance.
The Bible tells us that tolerance is a manifestation of divine love. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, we read about the character of God’s love. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I’m a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I have prophetic powers and I understand all knowledge and all mysteries and I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I’m nothing. If I give away everything I have to the poor and deliver my body to be burned but have not love, I accomplish nothing. For love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not seek its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrong, but it rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things. Love endures all things. Love never ends.”
In that passage you see tolerance that is part of love. There are a lot of tolerance words in the Greek in that passage in 1 Corinthians 13. The word “hupomone,” which is translated “endurance,” is a tolerance word. The word “makrothumia,” which is translated “patience” or “long-suffering,” is in that passage on love. It’s a tolerance word. The word “stego,” which is translated “to bear with,” is a tolerance word. It’s in that love passage. God’s love enables Him to be tolerant and we can be thankful for that.
The primary word in the Bible for tolerance is the Greek word “anoche,” and this word is applied almost exclusively to God. It’s God who bears with us. There are passages of scripture that speak of God’s forbearance even towards our sins. Certainly if you read Romans 2 and Romans 3, you can read of God’s forbearance, His tolerance, even towards our sin. But we all know that God will not forebear sin forever. There is a limit to His tolerance. Certainly, God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Certainly, our Lord Jesus Christ was not always tolerant. He pronounced condemnation upon the city of Capernaum. He pronounced condemnation upon the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida. He even pronounced condemnation upon the city of Jerusalem. When Titus and his Roman legions swept over the city of Jerusalem and destroyed it, “not one stone was left upon another on the temple mount.” It was rightly interpreted as the judgement of God prophesied by Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
Jesus wasn’t always tolerant towards the Pharisees. In fact, He was really rarely tolerant towards the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites. He called them a brood of vipers. He called them children of hell. While Jesus was tolerant towards the woman who was caught in the very act of adultery and He did not want the people to stone her, He still called her behavior sinful and He told her to sin no more. When we say that God’s tolerance is perfect, what we mean by that is God knows how much tolerance is too much and how little tolerance is too little. God’s tolerance is perfect.
We have a second message from scripture this morning. The second message is this: Our tolerance is flawed. God’s tolerance is perfect but our tolerance if flawed. Oftentimes we have too little tolerance and sometimes we have too much tolerance.
First of all, I think with respect to having too little tolerance, not being tolerant enough, sometimes the Bible tells us we’re not tolerant enough towards people. Time and again in the Bible we see this admonition: “Bear with one another out of love. Forebear one another out of love.” This is a constant admonition on the pages of scripture. Tolerate one another out of love.
Richard Mouw, who’s the President of Fuller Theological Seminary, has just written a book called Uncommon Decency – Christian Civility in an Uncivil World. He argues that there’s not enough civility in our civilization, not enough kindness, not enough gentleness. He says, “Everywhere you go in our culture, in our society, people are not forbearing towards each other, towards our differences, towards our eccentricities, towards our flaws, towards our mistakes.” There’s not enough forbearance. As I read his book, I had to conclude that certainly I don’t have enough tolerance in my driving.
You know, it’s interesting. It occurred to me that I actually am more tolerant when I drive than I used to be because I used to get out of my car and go after people. I was one of those guys. Now I just remain in my car and I fume. It’s just hard for me to be a tolerant driver. I have times when, particularly if someone just sits through a green arrow and you’ve got like 50 cars backed up in the left turn lane and the green arrow’s very brief and they just sit through it, I wonder what’s going on there. What are they thinking? I have a hard time with patience. I have a hard time when people are in the fast lane going 15 miles an hour under the speed limit. I have a hard time when people are in the fast lane and they’re going the same speed as people in the slow lane. I think, well, why don’t they just get into the slow lane? I have a hard time with patience when I’m driving.
I think most of us have areas of our life where we’re not tolerant enough towards people. The truth is God would tell us we all need tolerance from one another because we’re all so flawed. We all have eccentricities. I need tolerance from you. You need tolerance from me. Children need tolerance.
You’ve probably heard the story, I think I told it some time ago, of a father who was pushing a shopping cart through the grocery store. He had his little baby in the shopping cart and his baby was just screaming and crying and just making all kinds of noise. The father was saying, “Keep calm Albert. Keep calm Albert. It’s going to be okay Albert. It’s going to be okay.” This went on and on and people who were in the grocery store were watching this father and listening to the kid scream. Finally, this elderly woman went up to the father and said, “I’ve just got to tell you I really respect your patience with the baby Albert.” The father said, “You don’t understand. I’m Albert!”
It is true that it takes a certain forbearance, it takes a certain tolerance, just to raise children. But the Bible tells us there’s a sense in which we are all children. The Bible tells us there’s a sense in which we are all babies. It says in 1 Corinthians 13 that we see in a mirror dimly and that we are now as children. We’ve not yet put away childish things. There’s an element of immaturity with all of us, and yet God wants us to forebear. God wants us to forebear one another, so we have this constant admonition in scripture to be patient with one another and to tolerate one another.
We not only need more people tolerance, but we also need more religious tolerance. Certainly, this is true within the Christian community and with respect to denominations. I mean, this church is affiliated with a denomination called the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, but one of the things that I like about the denomination we’re affiliated with is that most of the churches in the denomination do not take denominationalism very seriously. We take Christ seriously. We’re far more concerned with being Christians than we are with being Presbyterians. There are so many Christians who argue with one another over denominational play and theological minutia. It’s tragic. There needs to be forbearance and tolerance in the community of Christ.
Again, you may have heard the story of this Baptist minister who was speaking to a large congregation. He said, “I want all of you who are Baptists to stand up.” Everyone in the auditorium stood up except one elderly woman in the front row. She remained seated. This minister noticed her and so he addressed her and said, “Ma’am, you didn’t stand up. What’s wrong? You’re not a Baptist?” She said, “No Sir.” He said, “Well what are you?” She said, “I’m a Lutheran.” He said, “You’re a Lutheran? Why in the world would you want to be a Lutheran?” She said, “Well, my great grandmother was Lutheran and my grandmother was Lutheran and my mother was Lutheran.” The minister said, “I see. What if you’re great grandmother was an idiot and your grandmother an idiot and your mother an idiot? What would that make you?” She smiled and said, “A Baptist I guess!”
You see, it’s tragic the way people are sometimes so concerned with being a Baptist or a Methodist or a Lutheran or Episcopalian or Pentecostal or Catholic. You see, all that really matters is that we love Christ and we want to live for Christ and we love the people of Christ. There’s this call for religious tolerance. The truth is religious tolerance is needed not only in the Christian community but as Christians we need to show a certain tolerance towards other religious groups in the world. This doesn’t mean we don’t take the gospel to the nations. We do. We’re not ashamed of the gospel. It’s the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, but we still need to have a certain civility towards other religious groups in the world.
The Bible tells us that we are to share our faith with reverence and gentleness. How tragic it is that there are nations in this world who have gone to war because of religious intolerance, killing people for their religious beliefs. Certainly, as Christians, nothing is more important to us than Christ and His kingdom. But if we want to honor Christ, we’re going to treat all people with civility. There needs to be a religious tolerance that sometimes is missing in this world and then, too, a moral tolerance as well.
Sometimes (and I know this is a controversial subject) it seems to me some of us as Christians just don’t have enough moral tolerance. I mean, some Christians want to legislate their personal morality on the culture and society that surrounds them. They want everyone who lives around them to think exactly like them. Of course, in a free society, in a pluralistic society, there needs to be a certain amount of moral tolerance. I think some Christians are rightly described as bigoted. If you know the history of the word bigot, it comes from the French “bigote” which means “by God.” It began back in the 10th century with a Norse king who was very stubborn and he would always say, “No, bigote”…no, by God. He said this over and over again. Eventually the word bigote or bigot began to refer to anybody who was stubborn, obstinate, who was unbending in their opinions. Then, over time, the word bigot began to refer to people not only who were entrenched in their opinions but who would not tolerate other opinions, who had no tolerance towards other opinions. I think certainly this can be a problem within the Christian community.
God wants us at times to be more tolerant. He doesn’t want us to be bigots. On the other hand, biblically, we have to say that since our tolerance is flawed, the flaw isn’t always that we aren’t tolerant enough. Sometimes the flaw is that we’re too tolerant. This is a problem too in the Christian world today. Some Christians are just too tolerant. We can be too tolerant with respect to our own sin.
Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of those people who were always trying to get the speck out of their brother’s or sister’s eye and just ignoring, tolerating, the log in their own eye. I think sometimes as Christians we’re too tolerant towards sin in our own lives. We just kind of ignore it. We forebear it. We don’t deal with it. I know there needs to be a certain amount of grace by which we live. We need to have a certain grace towards ourselves, understanding God’s grace, but God wants us to be on a quest for holiness. He wants us to hunger and thirst after righteousness. He doesn’t want us to just wink at sin in our lives. Sometimes we’re so concerned with the sin of others and we’re not concerned enough with our own sin. Sometimes with respect to tolerance we’re too tolerant towards ourselves.
Then sometimes, too, the Bible tells us that churches are just too tolerant of moral and theological apostasy. In the church at Thyatira this was the case. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I know your works. I know your love. I know your faith, your service, your patient endurance and how your latter works exceed even your first, but I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel who is teaching and beguiling My servants to practice immorality.” There are churches that are too tolerant of moral and theological apostasy.
You see, the Bible prophesies that at the consummation of the age, as we approach the return of Christ, there’s going to be a great falling away of the church. There will be apostasy in the visible church. We see it today in the mainline denominations, a growing theological and moral apostasy as churches, in the name of Christ, tolerate what they should not tolerate.
Then sometimes the Bible tells us that we can be too tolerant even in society as a whole. I think this is perhaps, for most of us as Christians living in the end of the 20th century, the great struggle. How tolerant should we be in society as believers in Jesus Christ?
You know, there was a building in Mexico City in 1985, a building called the New Lion, a 13-story apartment building called the Nuevo Lyon. This apartment building had a flaw with its hydraulic earthquake stabilizers. The owners of the building knew about that flaw. In fact, they knew that the hydraulic earthquake stabilizers were not even working. They decided that they wouldn’t do anything about it, because, what were the odds of there being a really significant earthquake in Mexico City?
Well, of course it happened on September 19, 1985, at 7:30 AM. That’s when the big earthquake hit Mexico City. That 13-story apartment building called the Nuevo Lyon began to sway. Because the hydraulic earthquake stabilizers were not functioning, the building was not cushioned with respect to the shocks. In the midst of the earthquake, a third of that 13- story apartment building just split away at the foundation and toppled over. Another third of the building just began to crumble, floor upon floor. It came all the way to the ground and only a third of the building remained standing. Hundreds of men and women lost their lives. Hundreds of men and women lost their lives because the owners of that building had tolerated something that was extremely dangerous and dysfunctional.
I think the issue that confronts us as Christians with respect to tolerance in society is we want to have a reasonable tolerance in a pluralistic society and in a free society and yet we don’t want to tolerate those things that are just going to destroy people and destroy society itself. I mean, if we love people, if you love the 250 million people that live in this nation, you’re going to hate those things that destroy people. As God would tell us in His Word, there needs to be some limit to tolerance. With respect to the Christian community, you kind of see three perspectives. You see some Christians who say, “Well, we just kind of mind our business and society can mind its business. Let’s just leave each other alone.” That’s how the Amish think, and they’ve cloistered themselves and they’re just minding their own business and they want society to mind its own business. That’s one Christian view.
Then you see another Christian perspective where Christians say, “Well, let’s pretty much mind our business and let society mind its business. But with respect to society, all we want to do is make sure we proclaim the gospel. Let’s just not get involved with ethics or morality or poverty or politics, but let’s preach the gospel. The gospel has power to change lives and that will be enough.” Certainly, biblically, that is our priority: To preach the gospel. If you’ve been at this church for any length of time you know that’s our priority, to preach the gospel to the nations and to our communities.
But I think it’s a cop-out to say that that’s all God requires of us when we live in a culture that’s so fallen and we know that God has called us to be salt and light. There is no denying in the pages of scripture God was not only concerned with the covenant people but He was concerned with the people outside of the covenant. Sometimes, God sent prophets to people that were of nations outside of the covenant community. That was true of Jonah with respect to Nineveh. God wants us to have a prophetic voice in our secular culture. This isn’t something new. This has been the will of God for centuries, for millennia. He wants us to have a prophetic voice in a secular culture.
Now, with respect to homosexuality, for instance, in our nation, there was a time in this century when homosexual behavior was illegal, illegal by decree of the secular government in all 50 states. Now, of course, that’s not true today. Today, homosexual activity and behavior and lifestyles are legal in all 50 states. I don’t have a problem with that because I don’t believe that in a free society, in a pluralistic society, that earthly governments should regulate private sexual morality unless that private sexual morality is infringing upon the rights of others, which is certainly the case of rapists and pedophiles. But generally speaking, the government should not try to regulate the private sexual behavior of people.
What bothers me, what vexes me, is when I see Christians who are adapting the values of the culture. When I see Christians who begin to say, “Well, I think maybe homosexual lifestyles are okay now,” denying the authority of holy scripture, denying the authority of the Word of God. When I see Christians who are willing to tolerate just anything… I mean, if the gay lobby wants to establish gay advocacy curriculum in the public schools, there are many Christians who just acquiesce. They just tolerate it. If the gay lobby wants to make viable homosexual marriages and homosexual adoption and if they want to redefine the institution of family, there are many Christians who just say, “Well, that’s too bad.” They just tolerate it. They’re willing to tolerate anything because they’re afraid of being called intolerant.
We should have an audience of one. There’s only one person’s opinion that should govern our life and that’s our Lord. How do we live in a society where pornography is a multibillion-dollar business? Most of the pornography in the world is produced right here in the United States of America. Much of the pornography even by secular laws violate obscenity standards and many Christians just tolerate it. Thirty-two million babies have been aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade. It doesn’t matter what your view of abortion is, that’s a national tragedy. Abortion on demand, gratuitous abortion, aborting at whim with no restrictions whatsoever, surely that bothers you. Do you just tolerate it?
How about poverty and oppression? We live in a nation where poverty is growing. Do you care? What does the Bible say to us about being salt and light? I think we live in a difficult time. I know all of us want to live lives that please our Lord Jesus Christ. I think it’s hard. Sometimes we struggle with what is too much tolerance and what is too little. We know that God’s tolerance is perfect. I know that today what God is saying to us, He wants us to begin to ask the question, “Am I too tolerant? Do I have too little tolerance? Where do I have too little tolerance in my life? Where do I have too much?” I think the problem is that so many Christians just live their lives. They live and die. They never ask a question. They may have very little tolerance, they may have too much. They just don’t ask the question.
This morning, I think God’s message to us is that He wants us to live lives that please Him. He wants us to seek the counsel of His Word. He wants us, on the basis of His Word, to begin to learn more and more about when to take a stand, when to forebear. He wants us to always be grateful for His mercy, realizing that even His mercy has limits. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.