Tolerance

I was recently talking with a close friend about the seeming harshness of Christianity's claim to the exclusive means for salvation, i.e. through belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who died on a cross, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. I completely understood his trouble with that truth claim because it leaves a vast amount of the earth's population without any hope for salvation and condemns them to hell. This does seem harsh. I tried to think of the best way to respond, and the only thought that came to my mind was that it is consistent with the Christian faith to declare this truth as taught in the Bible as a loving act of kindness toward those who do not believe this truth. In fact, to hide this truth from the unbeliever is callous and uncaring if indeed I believe that it is true.

However, the Christian's claim of exclusive access to God and salvation has been labeled as intolerant. In reading a book today -"Promoting the Gospel" by John Dixon the truth about tolerance has become clearer to me. Dixon writes, "True tolerance does not involve accepting every viewpoint as true and valid; it involves treating with love and humility someone whose opinions you believe to be untrue and invalid."

This statement confirms my belief that being tolerant of other beliefs does not dictate that I stop believing what I believe. What it does dictate is that while I consistently hold and proclaim my belief, I also treat with respect and dignity those who disagree with me and whom I am attempting to convince to believe as I believe.

Christians have been labeled as intolerant, I think, for two reasons. One, because people find our beliefs to be repulsive, which should not surprise us given the Bible tells us that the natural man (or the lost) will consider the gospel foolish and those who believe it, fools. Second, because Christians in their evangelistic efforts have often been unkind, disrespectful and prejudicial toward those who disagree with them and hold opposing views.

If we truly want to be tolerant, we must learn to hold our beliefs dearly, proclaim them clearly, and love others passionately, treating them with kindness and respect.