JDL - Direction Forty-eight - The Intolerant Jesus

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12 (ESV))

The rage of the day is political correctness, tolerance, non-judgement, ecumenism and “agreeing to disagree.” With that in mind, tongue in cheek, we might ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” Would Jesus be politically correct? Would He be tolerant (of sin)? Would He be non-judgmental? Would He join with all the other churches for the sake of ecumenism? Or would He speak the truth in love? Would He speak out against the falsehoods of society? Would He speak out against political correctness? Would He speak out and call sin what it is, “sin”? Would He attack churches for their lack of “doctrine?”

Political correctness means to push us to believe that everything is okay! Everything has to be okay because everyone has a different opinion about what is okay, and if we are to be tolerant of every opinion, then everything has to be okay. Yet, we might add, and notice I say might, everything is okay as long as we are not hurting anyone else, as long as what we do does not affect anyone else. Thus, as long as . . . whatever, we can do whatever we want. But not only are we to be tolerant, we are to say, “How wonderful!” We are to be accepting and even approving.

As Christians we might rightly be offended even at these suggestions. Jesus gave us His Word. His Word tells us what is sin and what it is not. His Word tells us what we are to do and what we are not to do. His Word reminds us there are things that are right and there are things that are wrong. His Word reminds us there are some things that He does not tolerate, namely “sin.”

Our society tells us we are to tolerate others. We are to tolerate abortion, homosexuality, any religion (except Christianity - which we will get to later), cults, sects, and all forms of “sin.” Jesus gives us His Word which says, “we are not to judge others” (Luke 6:37), but which also says what is sin and what is not sin (Rom. 7:7; 1 Cor. 6:2,3). To recognize sin and to call it sin is not to be intolerant, is not to be judgmental, but is to be truly loving, for how can we know what is sin unless we are told, and how can we not sin unless we know that we are sinning?

Many churches are uniting today under one ecumenical flag. To many this is a great thing and a great sign. In Jesus’ day, He was up against a similar ecumenical movement. The Sanhedrin was made up of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes or teachers of the Law. These groups, it appears, joined together and agreed to disagree for the sake of joining together. Jesus was attacked by the Sanhedrin on many occasions and was constantly correcting them and showing them where they were wrong.

If He were here today, “What would Jesus do?” I suppose that He would not be excited about the watering down of theology, the watering down of doctrine in order for everyone to agree, and especially to agree to disagree. I suppose He might even bring in a little common sense and remind us that “you have to stand for something, or you will fall for anything.”

The difficulty we have as Christians is that, because of the nature of our faith that there is only one way to eternal life, there is right and wrong, and there is one absolute authority, we are the ones who are attacked. If only we would compromise and agree with everyone else; if only we would just say that it does not matter what or who is the object of faith but that sincerity of faith is what is most important; if only we would give up our principles, then we could get along.

If your friend had a drug problem, would you let them go on abusing drugs and even encourage them that what they are doing is okay so you could get along? How hypocritical of us to allow our friends to go on worshiping a false god that leads to eternal spiritual death (notice, eternal) rather than care for them and encourage them to have faith in the One person who can save. Living a Jesus-directed life sometimes means suffering for our intolerance knowing that it is our intolerance that may work to save someone who might otherwise be lost forever.

Think About
What can and should you give up for the sake of “getting along”? What can you not and should you not give up for the sake of “getting along”?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the One Way to eternal salvation. Forgive us when we compromise what is important. Help us, even through persecution, to stand firm in our faith in You and You alone, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.