THE SIN OF TOLERANCE
At home and abroad, the American people plead for broad-mindedness,
tolerance and charity. Abroad, our ambassadors use all of their powers
to influence warring parties to come to the conference table in a spirit of give
and take. There is a sense in which the world needs broad[mindedness and
tolerance; and certainly we all need understanding and charity. However, in the
realm of Christian experience there is a need for intolerance in certain areas.
In some things Christ was the most tolerant, broad-minded Man that ever lived-
but in other things He was one of the most intolerant of men.
TOLERANCE CAN BECOME TOO STRETCHED
One of the pet words of this age is "tolerance." It is a good word, but
we have tried to stretch it over too great an area of life. We have
applied it, too often, where it does not belong. The word "Tolerant" means "liberal",
"broad-minded" , "willing to put up with beliefs opposed to one's
convictions: and "The allowance of something not wholly approved".
Tolerance, in one sense, implies the compromise of one's convictions, a
yielding of ground upon important issues. Hence, over-tolerance in
moral issues has made u soft, flabby, and devoid of conviction.
We have become tolerant about divorce; we have become tolerant about
the use of alcohol; we have become tolerant about delinquency; we have become
tolerant about wickedness in high places; we have become tolerant about
immorality; we have become tolerant about crime and we have become tolerant about
godlessness.
In a book about what prominent people believe, sixty out of a hundred
did not even mention God, and only eleven out of one hundred mentioned Jesus.
There was a manifest tolerance toward soft character and broad-mindedness
about morals, characteristic of our day. We have been sapped of conviction,
drained of out beliefs and bereft of our faith.
The sciences, however, are narrow-minded.
There is no room for careless
broad-mindedness in the laboratory. Water boils at 212 degrees
Fahrenheit at sea level. It is never 211 degrees or 210 degrees, but always 212. Water
freezes at 32 degrees; it is never 33 degrees or 31.
Objects heavier than air always are attracted to the center of the
earth. They always go down, never up. I know this is very narrow, but the Law
of Gravity decrees it so, and science is very narrow.
Mathematics is also very narrow-minded.
The sum of two plus two is
four, never three-and-a-half. That seems very narrow, but arithmetic is not
broad-minded. Geometry is also narrow-minded. It says that a straight
line is the shortest distance between two points on a plane. That seems very dogmatic and
narrow-minded, but geometry is intolerant.
A compass is narrow-minded.
It always points to the magnetic north. It
seems that is a very narrow view, but a compass is not very broad-minded. If
it were, ships at sea and planes in the air would be in danger.
If you should ask a man the direction to New York City and he said ,
"Oh just take any road you wish, they all lead there," you would question either
his sanity or his truthfulness. Nevertheless, we have somehow gotten it
into our minds that "all roads lead to heaven." You hear people say, "do your
best," "Be honest," and "Be sincere-and you will make it to heaven all right."
But Jesus Christ, who journeyed from heaven to earth and back to
heaven again, who knew the way better than anyone who ever lived, said, "Enter
by the narrow gate; for wide is that gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the
gate and difficult is that way which leads to life, and there are few who find it"
(Matthew 7:13, 14).
JESUS WAS NARROW MINDED ABOUT THE WAY OF SALVATION
He plainly pointed out that there are only two roads in life. One is
broad-lacking in faith, convictions and morals. It is the easy, popular, careless way. It is the way of the crowd, the way of the majority, the way of the world. He
said, "There are many who go in by it." But He pointed out that this road,
easy though it is, popular though it may be, heavily traveled though it is,
leads to destruction. And in loving, compassionate intolerance He says, "Enter
by the narrow gait... Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which
leads to life'
His was the intolerance of the pilot who maneuvers his plane through
the storm, realizing that a single error, just one flash of of
broad-mindedness, might bring disaster to all those passengers on the plane.
While flying from Korea to Japan, we ran through a rough snowstorm.
When we arrived over the airport in Tokyo, the ceiling and visibility were
almost zero. The pilot ha to make an instrument landing. I sat up in the cockpit
with the pilot and watched him sweat it out as he was brought in by ground
control approach. A man in the tower at the airport talked us on.
I did not want these men to be broad-minded. I wanted them to be
narrow-minded. I knew that our lives depended on it. Just so, when we
come in for the landing in the great airport in heaven, I don't want any
broad-mindedness. I want to come in on the beam, and even though I may be considered narrow
here, I want to be sure of a safe landing there.
Christ was so intolerant of our lost estate that He left His lofty
throne in the heavenlies, took on Himself in the form of man, suffered at the
hands of evil men and died on a cruel Cross of Shame to purchase our
redemption. So serious was our plight that He could not look upon it lightly. With the
love that was His, He could not be broad-minded about world held captive by its
lusts, its appetites and its sins.
Having paid such a fabulous price, He could not be tolerant about men
and women's indifference toward Him and the redemption He had wrought. He
said, "He who is not with Me is against Me" (Matthew 12:30). He also said, "He
who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).
Christ spoke of two roads, two kingdoms, two masters, two rewards,
and two eternities. And He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14: 6). We have the power
to choose whom we will serve, but the alternative to choosing Christ brings
certain destruction. Christ said that! The broad, wide, easy, popular way leads
to death and destruction. Only the way of the Cross leads home.
Peter was reflecting Christ's teaching when he said, "Nor is there
salvation in any other, for there is no other name [than Jesus Christ] under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Paul taught the
same: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
The popular, tolerant attitude toward the Gospel of Christ is like a
person going to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves play a
baseball game and rooting for both sides. It would be impossible for an
individual who has no loyalty to a particular team to really get into the game.
Baseball fans are very intolerant
...in both Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you
would cheer for both sides in Los Angeles or in Atlanta, someone would
yell, "Hey you, make up your mind who you're for."
Christ said, "You cannot serve God and mammon...no one can serve two
master" (Matthew 6:24). One of the sins of this age is the sin of
broad-mindedness. We need more people who will step out and say unashamedly, "As for me
and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15)
JESUS WAS INTOLERANT TOWARD HYPOCRISY
He pronounced more "woes" on the Pharisees than on any other sect
because they were g given to outward piety, but inside they were a sham. "woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" He said, "For you cleanse the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and
self-indulgence" (Matthew 23:25).
A counterfeit Christian, singlehandedly, can do more to retard the
progress of the church than a dozen saints can do to forward it. That is why
Jesus was so intolerant with sham!
A great church leader said that the greater need in the church today is
for church members to live what they profess.
In the outstanding book, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, Formality and Hypocrisy came tumbling
over the wall into Christian's path. They were going to Mount Zion and were
searching for a short-cut. When they came to the hill called Difficulty, they shrank back. The hill was steep and high, and nearby were two roads leading
downward into an enticing valley. The name of the one road was Danger,
the name of the other road was Destruction. Formality and Hypocrisy chose the easy
roads, which led them into impossible woods and swamps, and they were heard of
no more.
Sham's only reward is everlasting destruction. The hypocrite has
nothing but the contempt of his or her neighbors and the judgment of God
hereafter. They is why Jesus said ,"Do not be like the hypocrites" (Matthew 6:16).
JESUS WAS INTOLERANT TOWARD SELFISHNESS
He said," If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself"
(Luke 9:23). Self-centeredness is the basic cause of much of out distress in
life. Hypochondria, a mental disorder which is accompanied by melancholy and
depression, is often caused by self-pity and self-centeredness.
Most of us suffer from spiritual near-sightedness. Our interests and
our energies are too often focused upon ourselves.
Jesus was intolerant with selfishness. He underscored the fact that His
disciples were to live out flowingly rather than selfishly. To the rich
young ruler He said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven..." (Matthew 19:21). It
wasn't the giving of his goods that Jesus demanded, but his release from
selfishness and its devastating effects on his personality and life.
He was intolerant of selfishness when He said, "For whoever desires to
save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will
find it" (Matthew 16:25). The "life" which Jesus urges us to lose is the
selfishness that lives within us, the old nature of sin that is in conflict with God.
Peter, James and John left their nets, but Jesus did not object to nets as
such; it was the selfish living they symbolized that He wanted them to forsake.
Matthew left the "custom seat," A political job, to follow Christ. But Jesus
did not object to a political career as such; it was the selfish quality
of living which it represented that He wanted Matthew to forsake.
So, in your life and in mine, "Self" must be crucified and Christ
enthroned. He was intolerant of any other way, for He knew that selfishness and
the Spirit of God cannot exist together.
JESUS WAS INTOLERANT TOWARD SIN
He was tolerant toward the sinner, but intolerant toward the evil which
enslaves the sinner. To the adulteress He said," Neither do I condemn
you, go and sin no more" (John 8:11). He forgave her because He loved her; but He
condemned her sin because He loathed it with a holy hatred.
God has always been intolerant toward sin!
His Word says: "Wash
yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My
eyes. Cease to do evil..." (Isaiah 1:16).
"Awake to righteousness, and do not sin" (1 Corinthians 15:34)
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts..." (Isaiah 55:7)
Christ was so intolerant toward sin that He died on the cross to free
men and women from its power. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life" (John 3:16). Sin lies at the root of most of society's
difficulties today. Whatever separates a person from God disunites that person from
others. The world problem will never be solved until the question of sin is
settled.
The Cross is God's answer to sin.
To all who will receive the
blessed news of salvation through Christ, it crosses out- cancels forever- sin's
power.
Forest rangers know the value of the "burn-back" In fighting forest
fires. To save an area from uncontrolled fire, they carefully burn away the
trees and shrubs to create a safety barrier. When the forest fire reaches that
burned-out spot, plants and animals standing inside the area protected by the
burn-back are safe from the flames. Firs is thus fought by fire.
Calvary was a colossal fighting of fire by fire. Christ, taking on
Himself all of our sins, allowed the firs of sin;s judgment to fall upon Him.
The area around the Cross has become a place of refuse for all who would escape
the judgment of sin. Take your place with Him at the Cross; stand by the
Cross; yield your life to Him who redeemed you on the Cross, and the fire of
sin's judgment can never touch you.
God is intolerant toward sin.
That intolerance sent His Son to die for
us. He said "that whoever believes in Him shall not perish." The clear
implication is that those who refuse to believe in Him will be eternally lost. Come
to Christ today, while His Spirit is speaking to your heart!
-- By Rev. Billy Graham
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BROTHER KEITH IS THE WALKING PREACHER 
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