The Most Intolerant People You Will Meet
The word “tolerance” has certainly come into wide use in recent years. We are told that we have to be tolerant of any number of things. Even if you do not agree with something, you just have to tolerate it. After all, to do any less just is not a Christian attitude.
We can set that aside very quickly by pointing out that Jesus did not tolerate anything and everything. He clearly condemned religious bigotry. He told people that they had sinned. He even taught in such a way–via parables–that some would understand and some would not.
But I want to go down a different road. Maybe by now I should be used to it, but I am endlessly amazed at how the most intolerant people you will ever meet are the ones who preach at you to be tolerant. If you dare to not “tolerate” something, then those who are preaching tolerance quickly become very intolerant.
And you may think that I am speaking about this from a political standpoint. This can (and typically is) true in the political realm. But it is also true in the religious world.
If you actually try to say something is wrong, it is those who shout tolerance who will make fun of you, seek to get you fired or removed from a classroom, and build a coalition to “prove” how intolerant you are. And, all the while, they will put forward a smiling face on social media so the world can see just how affirming and tolerant they are.
All while they are totally intolerant of you.
The fact is, everyone has things they tolerate and things they do not. Those who hold tolerance to be some type of supreme virtue are those who are completely inconsistent. It could be ignorance. It could simply be that they don’t care that they are being hypocritical.
But those who preach tolerance really want one of two things (and they are usually connected): a changed morality and/or personal power.
Since Jesus set the morality in Scripture, they are willing to look the other way to get what they want. Don’t preach on certain things. Softshoe around controversial issues. Just talk about some vapid type of love. After all, Jesus loved people, so that’s all we should talk about. (Never mind the fact that, in His love, He directly called out some of the very sins that the tolerant want us to overlook.)
And personal power? Where is that found in the New Testament Church? Those who seek such are always condemned. Just think about Diotrophes in 3 John 9-10 if you need that reminder.
Yes, there are things we need to tolerate. But when it comes to those who shout tolerance as the highest virtue, they are not doing so because they want things to be Biblical. They are doing so because they want things the way they want things. And, if you don’t go along with it, you will see that the tolerant are the most intolerant people you’ve ever met.
They’ll leave your congregation.
They’ll try to build a coalition.
They’ll smear you on social media.
They’ll tell snarky jokes about how backward you are.
And…all in the name of so-called tolerance.
Maybe we should finally have the guts to call it what it is: the tolerant are playing the hypocrite.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
