Can we have be tolerant and Christian at the same time? Let’s think about the ramifications of a new world agenda (the enemy’s agenda) to promote unitarianism. I know a big word- but let’s break it down. As described by the author’s of Resident Aliens, it’s a Society that says it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something. My spin on this is that it’s a society that preaches tolerance. The Webster’s meaning of tolerance is sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own b: the act of allowing something: the allowable deviation from a standard.
So, a tolerant utilitarian society thinks, we can all be right, can’t we? Why does someone have to be right, or wrong? Let’s just all play nicely. If we take it a step further in the thought that tolerance is an allowable deviation from a standard, we can further say it is a dilution of a standard. If dilution continues, then there is no standard. Then where does a society work from if there is no standard? People of this mindset think they are a peaceable people of strong faith and good moral character because they promote tolerance in the name of fairness and empathy for all beliefs. This is deception used by the enemy. In the end, I think this type of society is producing a people of meandering, lost in individual focus, with individual dreams, with individual morals and ethics, because the standard is being diluted daily. In so doing, we are losing the ability to relate to others, we have no common standard from which to proeceed from. Isolation is setting in. What better way for the enemy to work on society than by isolation. The support system is lost. The balance in fellowship is lost. We continue to segregate lives, as society establishes a norm to let all be what ever they want to be. In the end, the main loss is the fellowship of the gospel. God has intended the fellowship of the gospel to provide a common ground for the members of the Body of Christ to unite, to find common morals and ethics, to be studying the same play book for the game of life. Hauerwas and Willimon, authors of Resident Aliens, describe this occurrence of isolation and the need to stay in Christian fellowship as such, “It is almost impossible to minister alone because our loneliness can too quickly turn into self-righteousness or self-hate. Christians can survive only by supporting one another through the countless small acts through which we tell one another we are not alone, that God is with us. Friendship is not, therefore, accidental to the Christian life.” I agree that it is in the banded colony of our Christiandom that the Body of Christ can function efficiently in an alien society. Don’t believe we are residents in an alien society? Hauerwas and Willimon refer to the state of God’s people in a harsh world as being resident aliens, “as an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief.”
Anyhoo, fellowship is a crucial component of how we as a people of faith function in thought, word, and deed. Our thoughts are common, based on the fellowship of the gospel. Our words are supportive and encouraging of each other, and keep us focused on God. Both thought and word are the springboard for the deeds we perform for the good of God’s glory and God’s story.
So, my answer is no we cannot promote a society or views of tolerance and stand as God’s people in this world. It’s a double edged sword. We must stand on the side of righteousness, of our beliefs, of our God given morals found in the gospel. There is a right and wrong. There is an absolute truth (perhaps another blog). We must have the courage for the salvation of other’s to think it, speak it and do it in the way of love. Tolerance is not love. God’s way is a way of love. When we speak of the moral rights and wrongs, they are spoken in a language of love, preached throughout the Bible. Can I get an amen?