Is Christianity Intolerant?

Question:

Why are you Christians so intolerant of the beliefs of others?

Answer:

Unfortunately, there really are people out there carrying the title of "Christian" who are terribly intolerant of the beliefs of others (I will come back to this at the end), but there are also many serious believers who are not intolerant in the slightest. In fact, believers are encouraged in many places in scripture to be tolerant of the beliefs of others.

In order to understand what this really going on here, we will once again need to define our terms. The word "tolerance" is used quite a bit in our culture today, but to paraphrase Inigo Montoya, that word does not mean what they think it means.

According to the dictionary, to be tolerant means, "showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with."

In today's culture, most people believe that tolerance means, "to accept as equally valid and fully endorse the beliefs, opinions or behaviors of all people."

Real tolerance is about how you treat people with whom you deeply disagree. It is about being civil and polite to those who hold opinions that you believe to be filled with errors. It is, as Ravi Zacharias has said, disagreeing without being disagreeable.

You see, we don't need tolerance for things with which we are in agreement, only for those things with which we disagree. If I think someone's view that Jesus might rapture the church at any moment is valid, and I can endorse it, there is no difference between what I have just done and agreement. If I "endorse" a person running for office, I'm telling you that I agree with her, and I want her to win. If I "endorse" a scientific theory, I'm telling you that I agree with it, and I believe it to be true. Likewise with philosophical ideas, theological doctrines, or social and private morality. Endorsement means agreement.

If, on the other hand, I have a different view of the end times, then I can't really say that I think their view is valid, nor can I endorse it. If I do not agree with the positions of a person running for political office, I cannot endorse him. And no one who believes a scientific theory is in error would ever endorse it. We simply cannot accept as valid a theory or belief that we think is in error, nor can we endorse something that we believe to be wrong.

So it should be noted above all else that the current definition of tolerance is nonsense. No one really does it, and to expect others to do it when no one actually does is ridiculous. In the same way that no atheist would EVER endorse the beliefs of Christianity, Christians cannot be expected to endorse the beliefs of others.

However, there is no reason that I must treat someone with hostility, call them names, belittle, mock and ridicule their views, or simply be anything less than polite and civil simply because we disagree. We can disagree and treat each other with respect at the same time.

With that in mind, I am going to contrast two confrontations. The first is between Jesus and a woman who is sleeping with a man to whom she is not married, and on top of that, holds doctrinal beliefs with which Jesus disagrees.

The second is between members of a church who believe any kind of politeness shown to those with whom we disagree is wrong, and anything less than hostility, name calling, and rudeness is akin to endorsement.

First, Jesus encounter with the woman at the well.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, "Please give me a drink," since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food. 

The Samaritan woman asked him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans. 

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, 'Please give me a drink,' you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water." 

The woman told him, "Sir, you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? You're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?" 

Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life." 

The woman told him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I won't get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." 

He told her, "Go and call your husband, and come back here." 

The woman answered him, "I don't have a husband." 

Jesus told her, "You are quite right in saying, 'I don't have a husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." 

The woman told him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet! Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem." 

Jesus told her, "Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You don't know what you're worshiping. We Jews know what we're worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 

The woman told him, "I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called 'Messiah'. When that person comes, he will explain everything." 

"I am he," Jesus replied, "the one who is speaking to you." (John 4:7-26)

This Samaritan woman was sinning by living with a man who was not her husband, and she held doctrinal views that differed from Jesus. On the theological front, Jesus  lets her know that the Messiah coming through the Jews vindicated their doctrines, and showed the Samaritans were wrong. And yet, notice the tone of this entire exchange. Jesus treats her with respect, and is able to disagree with her without any harsh language or name calling. He did not condemn her for her sins, nor did he treat her harshly because she held views about worship that were in error. 

What did He do? He gave her the truth with gentleness and grace. He corrected her theology while treating her with respect and dignity, and offered her a chance to believe the Truth. Because of His tolerance, she did not become defensive, but responded with enthusiasm to His words:

Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I've ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" The people left the town and started on their way to him. (John 4:28-30)

The end result of this respectful tolerance coupled with a gentle delivering of the Truth?

Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, "He told me everything I've ever done." So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of what he said. They kept telling the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world." 

(John 4:39-42)

Contrast how Jesus treated a woman who was theologically in error AND was living with a man out of wedlock with the following clip of members of the Westboro Baptist Church interacting with Russell Brand, who is a supporter of homosexual marriage. Notice that not only did Jesus never called the Samaritan woman a "slut" or a "whore," but did the opposite, addressing her with respect when He called her a, "dear lady." In contrast, notice how they call Russell Brand a "pimp," and the homosexuals, "fags," and claim that the despicable behavior that the members of WBC show others is actually "loving," while being polite, civil and refraining from name calling would be "hateful."

Russell Brand Interviews Westboro Baptist Church

The end result of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman where he demonstrated real tolerance? Many Samaritans believed and were saved.

The end result of the encounter between members of Westboro Baptist Church and Russell Brand where they demonstrated no tolerance of any kind? No one is even remotely interested in becoming as hate filled as these two representatives from WBC.

Despite the attempt by Westboro Baptist Church to redefine the meaning of the words "love" and "hate," no one is really fooled. We all know loving behavior when we see it, and we all know vile, filthy name calling when we see it. Whether or not these WBC people really are believers, their behavior does not imitate that of our Lord.

Christians are called to be tolerant of the beliefs and behaviors of others. We are not commanded to accept ideas we believe to be in error nor endorse behaviors we believe are wrong, but we are commanded to treat others with kindness, respect and civility. 

Make no mistake, this culture is NOT tolerant of our beliefs, but that does NOT mean we return the favor.

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44)

Now THAT is tolerance.

We are charged to give this world a message of Truth and grace while being genuinely loving, gentle and kind. Both because it is the right thing to do, and because it is the only way to truly reach this generation.

Let us all go, and do likewise.