Yes, I am intolerant, and I pray that you are too. This seems to fly in the face of love! Aren’t Christians supposed to love everyone? Yes, we are. But love and intolerance are not mutually exclusive. The question is, “What are you intolerant of?” If you are intolerant of hate then you can love and be intolerant. Right?

We are an Intolerant People

Today, I am referring to the intolerance that we have towards compromising the truth of Jesus. As Christians, we are single-minded towards the life, teaching, and ministry of Jesus. We must be intolerant when it comes to what Jesus taught. We wholeheartedly believe Jesus when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The same is true for what is written in the next chapter in the book of John. Jesus said:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

John 15:18–19

A Chosen People

Jesus chose us! It’s a great feeling to be chosen. To be picked to be on a baseball team, chosen by a company to become one of their employees, to be proposed to for marriage, but none of these come close to being chosen by Jesus:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

So, after having been redeemed by Jesus, how could we compromise His truth and His promise. God made one way for humanity to be saved and that is by Jesus, God’s Beloved Son. So we must be intolerant.

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12 NLT

An Unshakeable People

Our unshakeable, steadfast, uncompromising faith that only Jesus saves makes us an intolerant people and serves as a cause for people to hate Christians. But let us remember: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

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C.S. Lewis wrote the Christian satire, “The Screwtape Letters” in the early 1940s. What he wrote is, sadly, still true.

“Screwtape” is employed by the “Lowerarchy” of Hell, and acts as a mentor to Wormwood, his nephew. Wormwood is an inexperienced and incompetent tempter. In the book, God is called the “Enemy” and the person that Wormwood is trying to lead away from God and to the devil is called “the Patient”. – Wikipedia

The opening paragraph

My dear Wormwood,
‘I note what you say about guiding your patient’s reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïf? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy’s clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier. At that time the humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not; and if it was proved they really believed it. They still connected thinking with doing and were prepared to alter their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning. But what with the weekly press and other such weapons we have largely altered that. Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn’t think of doctrines as primarily “true” or “false”, but as “academic” or “practical”, “outworn” or “contemporary”, “conventional” or “ruthless”. Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don’t waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That’s the sort of thing he cares about.’

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Notice C.S. Lewis’ point that, “They still connected thinking with doing and were prepared to alter their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning.” People today are completely unwilling to change, even when they think through the logic and see that something is true; they still call it false. That is the nature of humanity.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

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All truths are not always spoken to all people. Truth is true wherever you find it for all truth comes from Jesus. You may find truth in a secular song, a novel, or just in everyday conversations. But remember, Jesus is the source of truth for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ” (John 14:6) The challenge for us is to know when to share truths with others. It’s always proper to tell the gospel, but there are more profound truths in God’s word that should only be shared when mentoring someone or digging deeply with a mature brother or sister in the Lord. Here are some verses that confirm this truth:

Matthew 7:6: “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Matthew 16:20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 17:9 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Mark 1:43-45, Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Mark 5:41-43 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Revelation 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Truth is True

Truth is true wherever you find it for all truth comes from Jesus. You may find a truth in a secular song, a novel, or just in everyday conversations. But, remember, Jesus is the source of truth for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ” (John 14:6)

Christ’s statement about truth is absolute like in trigonometry when we talk about axioms, that’s what Jesus is telling us. The challenge for us is to know when to share truths with others. It’s always proper to tell the gospel but there are deeper truths in God’s word that should only be shared when mentoring someone or digging deeply with a mature brother or sister in the Lord. Here are some verses that confirm this truth:

From Matthew Henry’s Commentary, we find: All truths are not to be always spoken to all persons, but such as are proper and suitable to their present state.” and the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything“–but not everything is constructive…Therefore, it is imperative that we remember our calling and not be drawn into needless disagreements. If we are to be mocked, abused, or killed let it not be because we are speaking truths that are not for the weak or unsaved but let it be for preaching Jesus and Him crucified.

Don’t Trip Over Words

I’m sure we all know someone who lives to create arguments about the Bible and Christianity. They argue for the sport of it, not to turn the conversation to them to the good news of Jesus even though it says in 2 Timothy 2:14, “Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.”

I confess that I have been guilty of worthless disagreements. Today I confess and repent of this sin. I pray that we will not be drawn into these useless disagreements but, instead, live in peace and tell the good news.

Photo by Gem & Lauris RK on Unsplash

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Playing the Part

At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples He knew one of them would betray Him. Each asked Jesus if it was him. The Pharisees had paid Judas to betray Jesus, yet in Matthew 26:25: Judas, who would betray him [Jesus], answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Judas was still playing the part of an apostle while having no understanding that Jesus knew everything. Judas was saving face by parroting what the other apostles asked Jesus – “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 So when Jesus said, “You have said so,” was Judas surprised? I mean, how blind was Judas?

Spiritual Amnesia

Do we sometimes find this same spiritual amnesia crippling us? Do we “say grace” over our meals at home but refrain from doing so in restaurants? Do we tell co-workers, “Good luck” but tell fellow Christians, “I’ll be praying for you?” Do we cheer at sporting events but stoically sing, “Amazing Grace?”

If not amnesiacs, then perhaps we’ve learned to be chameleons, not even aware that we take on the color of our surroundings. I include myself in this problem. One of the outstanding characteristics of my dad was that if you knew him, you knew him. He was the same person as a university professor, a member of the faculty senate, a deacon in his church, a Sunday school teacher, a farmer, a business partner, a dad, and a grandpa. He was not universally liked. He was a Christian. It was your choice how you reacted to him.

Is it I?

As a child of God, I need to be acutely self-aware. In every situation, and among all people, I need to be “all in” for Jesus and His Gospel. May I never ask Jesus, “Is it I?” when I know it is.