Tolerance?

[SeekingJC]

I've been accused by well I guess former friends at this point that since becoming Christian I am far more intolerant then I used to be. After praying and reading some bible passages I started thinking that indeed I am intolerant and for darn good reason. I wanted you all to chime in but first lets define and clarify a few things first.

First to define tolerance: (I took the liberty of bolding/underling the things I thought were important)

tol·er·ance /ˈtɒl

ər

əns/ Show Spelled [tol-er-uh

ns] noun 1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions,practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

4. the act or capacity of enduring; endurance: My tolerance of noise is limited.

5. Medicine/Medical, Immunology . a. the power of enduring or resisting the action of a drug, poison, etc.: a tolerance to antibiotics.
b. the lack of or low levels of immune response to transplanted tissue or other foreign substance that is normally immunogenic.

Second some synonyms for tolerance:

Permissiveness, allowance, flexability


So I think being intolerant is a really really good thing. I have had a long hard road to get to walk with Jesus and I will NOT let anyones actions or opinions get in the way of that. I wasn't born into a Christian family (not that there's anything wrong with that, praise Jesus if you were you're lucky) I had to search for many years.


For example, I won't sit by and say it's okay for a friend of mine to be a homosexual. It's not that I hate my friend far from it I just know how important it is to be right with the Lord and wish for him to be as well. So I talk to him about it.

Or be ridiculed because I think it's a waste of time to sit at a bar for hours on end getting plastered and suggest something better to do.

Like talking with my new age friend about God and Jesus and having him tell me "Well in a past life I was there and thats not what Jesus said." Yes he actually said that and I had to walk away.

I could go on but it seems my pool of friends is drying up and it hurt for a while but now I know why and I'm okay with it. I don't need those types of influences on my life. I realize that it hurts people to be faced with a true believer in Christ our Lord. They are faced with truth and its scary for most people. They don;t want to be told or shown by example what they are doing is wrong and thats exactly what they experience when faced with a true Christian.

I think thats the worlds problem, tolerance. We have to tolerate different and hateful faiths, tolerate corporate greed, tolerate government corruption, tolerate sexual immorality, and when we don't we get called names like; zealots, bigots, and worse. A kind of bully tactic to get us to take it. I'm done tolerating garbage that's fed to me, I'M FULL!!

Okay I guess my rant is over...did anyone experience this when they came to Christ?

God Bless

 

[MrsAsghar]

When I accepted Christ, it was my mother and sister who are nonbelievers, who could not accept or understand. Me having a relationship with Christ, drove a wedge between us and divided my family. And God even warns us of that in the Bible that in some, that will happen. I have been told many times that I have a "holier than thou attitude" because of my choice in following Christ and allowing Him to have total control of my life.

I have tried many times over the years to reconcile and to try to have some sort of relationship with them, but it has never worked out. For my own health, I had to leave these toxic relationships alone and "shake the dust off my feet" and move on. I forgive them and wish it could be different, but it will never change until they accept Christ and understand for themselves the wonderful change within from having a real relationship with Christ.

I pray for them always.

 

[Nuns_n_roses]

We have to be tolerant. It's part of what God has called us to do. Jesus befriended people others shunned. On the other side of the coin...

I think it's fine for you to vent. Many people will end up cut out of our lives because of how we believe and they won't accept it but that's ok. We grow and sometimes that includes out-growing our friends. In every circumstance where that has happened to me, I was able to look back with clarity on the situation and see that it was Divine Intervention. We have beeter influences and friends in our future!

 

[SeekingJC]

We have to be tolerant. It's part of what God has called us to do. Jesus befriended people others shunned. On the other side of the coin...

I think it's fine for you to vent. Many people will end up cut out of our lives because of how we believe and they won't accept it but that's ok. We grow and sometimes that includes out-growing our friends. In every circumstance where that has happened to me, I was able to look back with clarity on the situation and see that it was Divine Intervention. We have beeter influences and friends in our future!

I get what you're saying and to clarify I'm not specifically talking about being intolerant towards my fellow man I'm more looking to the persons or groups actions or words. You know love the sinner hate the sin. When I read the bible Jesus was VERY intolerant of what people did and/or said. He even tossed over tables to make His point perfectly clear. I just feel we as Christians need to embrace our convictions and not just go along to get along when we know something to be wrong or false.

 

[Nuns_n_roses]

I get what you're saying and to clarify I'm not specifically talking about being intolerant towards my fellow man I'm more looking to the persons or groups actions or words. You know love the sinner hate the sin. When I read the bible Jesus was VERY intolerant of what people did and/or said. He even tossed over tables to make His point perfectly clear. I just feel we as Christians need to embrace our convictions and not just go along to get along when we know something to be wrong or false.

I hear that! I do think there are boundaries we need to establish. Lines we need to draw and show we will stand for what we believe. I also believe Jesus alone has the right to judge, but because I am imperfect I do not. We are the same.

 

[hattiebod]

I am sorry you have been loosing friends, it not an easy thing to deal with. I find it useful to continuously and prayerfully look at my life and see it reflects the fruits of the spirit...are we being gentle or are we haranguing others to 'be as we are' to look at things same way as us. If we are gentle, long suffering, patient, kind....we will make friends, and not lose too many. When I was newly saved I was a total zealot and banged everyone I met over the head with my Bible it was not at all productive but most of my friends and family were very tolerant of me....because they loved me. I am no less fervent in my love for my Lord but I have grown...a bit.... and see that I am to love is His way. Yes Jesus did over turn the tables in the temple, but that was not His common way of behaving and it was not a situation reaching out to the lost....He was dealing with hypocrisy in the temple. Jesus tells me I am to be known for my love. It is tough.....i fail but a sign for me that I am on the right path is that my faith continues to grow and I continue to make friends with the unsaved. God is so good I do not join them in activities I do not want too but I am not in the Amish, there are so many things we can do together, as we laugh and have a good time. Just last week i was asked to play on the tennis team....i played with them for a few weeks......they know i am a Christian, i do not hide it! God continues to open doors for me. Being a Christian for me is a lifestyle, sharing the gospel for me is a 24 hour a day purpose, hope and mission We are indeed a seperate people but how can Jesus reach the lost if we seperate ourselves from them? God Bless you, <><

 

[gb9]

the problem with tolerance is that people use it as a mask to do what they want to do. this is not what it is supposed to be. we can tolerate different views and opinions but to do what the world does and call wrong right and stick a tolerance label on it is dead wrong.

 

[SeekingJC]

Hi Hattie!

I know you probably can't tell from the posts lol but I am a very kind and loving person. I think there is a difference between patience/long suffering and being tolerant/intolerant. Like my friend the new age guy who said he knew Jesus physically knew him in a former life. I listened to him and talked to him about it calmly and he finally said so you're not even going to try to see it from my point of view?
I was patient and kind and I love my friend even know he's severely misguided but I will not tolerate what he trying to get me to believe. As I'm sure most on here wouldn't.
Tolerance to me is not about how I treat the person but how I treat what they do and say. It's not a judgement on them it's a judgement for myself. Like now my friend knows I won't be swayed by his opinions on "new age spirituality" and truthfully we had to walk away because he started getting agitated I wouldnt change my position at all so better to walk away.

 

[agentmom]

You will find that the most intolerant people, are those demanding tolerance from you. Jesus speaks long on hypocrisy, and a lot of hypocrisy comes from those preaching tolerance. It usually consists of tolerance of SIN, and calling you a bigot if you don't agree.

I've always said, the USA doesn't need more tolerance. We tolerate way too much, already.

 

[MidniteWelder]

You will find that the most intolerant people, are those demanding tolerance from you.

So true, wise deduction

 

[Lucy68]

Sorry to hear about your struggles with your 'old' friends. It's just a fact, though, that when we are transformed by the Holy Spirit, the 'world' will hate us. Jesus said this out-right... It will hate us because it hates Him.

Some people see having convictions as being intolerant and unloving. But a person without convictions is swayed by any wind in any direction. Christians convictions are based on the truth which gives us a much-needed anchor. Good for you for being determined to remain God-minded .

 

[santuzza]

I, too, went through a similar experience. A good Christian friend advised me that God was replacing my non-believing friends with believing friends. He was right.

But remember, because your friends are not saved, you CANNOT measure them by the same ruler you would believing friends. They have no moral compass to keep them in line.

My advice would be to not "preach" at them and tell them what they are doing "wrong." You should simply (!) concentrate on your own walk and study the Word so that you mature in your own faith. Your friends have certainly seen a difference in you, and perhaps at some point they will be drawn to Christ because of your witness. But in the meantime, you need to find new, Christian friends who can become your most intimate friends.

 

[iTOREtheSKY]

Like most others I went through the same. Many friends thought I'd changed & not for the better. I would still spend time with them,but because I didn't drink anymore or carry on as they did,using profanity,etc...they thought I was trying to act better than them. I think some of it was just conviction of the Holy Spirit upon them. I admit sometimes I was a bit zealous & I can see as a new chirstian how it would seem to some of them that now I was intolerant of their lifestyle. To some degree I was,but may have not come across in perhaps the loving way Jesus would have. I lost a few friends along the way,but some got saved,and some still are not believers but I still keep in touch with them now & then,and we've come to an understanding. Plus I have matured so much since then with how to accept the sinner but not the sin. I think we should have a bit more intolerance as christians...so many other religions & groups do,but they try to disguise it with false tolerance. When push comes to shove,I think there's just certain things you cannot tolerate as a believer. This however does not mean being cruel & condemning to those that are in sin. They are lost & blind...just like we were once before. If one walks in The Spirit of The Living God with humility,then a Godly tolerance will lead us in truth.

 

[maxwel]

The problem with tolerance is often just the word itself.

Society has intentionally created a huge error of equivocation -
giving the word several very different definitions,
and then using those different definitions interchangeably.

If the word has a lot of different meanings, how can you disagree with it?
You can't!
Someone sticks the word tolerance on absolutely anything, and if you don't like it,
you lose by default.. because the word has multiple meanings which are swiflty
swapped back and forth like waves lapping at the beach.

I refuse to discuss anything politically correct with anyone unless we define terms,
and talk much more specifically about what we actually believe.

If you allow people to use silly words, and define those words in silly vague ways,
then you set yourself up to lose every single discussion.
This is never done in real debate, philosophy, or logic.

Okay...I'm done.
: )

 

[Iluv_Jesus]

Christ is important in our lives and We as Christians are is bound to be Holy. Christ is available to all who seek Him. Our job is just to be a good example. We are also called as Christians to love sinners. Jesus never forced His ways on anyone. No, He just showed the way. He always loved sinners and corrupt tax collectors. Pray for the concerned friends. Because advise will get one nowhere. One will be scorned for giving advise. Rather pray and let the power of the Lord Jesus work in the concerned person's life. A Christian is born to serve. A Christian is there to love and forgive. Show tolerance and respect. Not for the values that are wrong against Our God. But for the humanity in our Non -Christian brothers & sisters.It's not a Christian's job to judge and pass judgement. If a Christian's kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, then what happens here is not our Concern. Only thing to do is pray for those who lack knowledge and lead a life of Christian example.

 

[maxwel]

The dictionary definition of a word tells us very little.
Usage always determines actual meaning... as words and language constantly change.

Here's how the word "tolerance" is actually used in our society (more or less):

1. Tolerance = being polite
2. Tolerance = allowing people to do whatever they please... even if it may harm themselves or others
3. Tolerance = allowing people to do whatever they please without even having the right to politely disagree

This is how the word is actually used.

It is clearly absurd to say, "What do you think of tolerance?"
It depends on which of these definitions you happen to be using,
and what particular law or moral issue you're applying them to.

I NEVER use the word tolerance in a discussion.
Never.
The word has been intentionally injected with a whole range of vague and even contradictory meanings.

If someone wants to talk about a specific issue, I make them talk about the specific issue with real words...
not vague, nebulous words that can mean everything and nothing all at the same time.

Here is the most sinister thing.
The word tolerance has now been injected with some meanings which are biblical,
and with some meanings which are unbiblical.
So a Christian can neither argue for or against the word as it is currently used.
The Christian, as soon as assenting to use the word at all, automatically loses every discussion.
Doing these kinds of tricks with words is a common thing in politics, debate, and sometimes even in philosophy.

As soon as you assent to even using a stupid word, you are "set up" to fail.

 

[RedTent]

The word tolerance is used in our schools to promote homosecuality, and even to keep murders alive so they can murder again. Our schools ban the teachings of Christ and promote the teachings of tolerance.

God told us to love all He created, to let Him be the judge and not take that on ourselves. He also told us He will be with us and bless us, even to giving us eternal life. But we are to always be able to judge sin. He never said that we will not face trials for His namesake. Everyone of the special disiples He picked died for Him except for John; they laid down their very life for Him.

 

[Batman007]

Alright let me just throw this out there.

Tolerance is accepting that people are different. Tolerance isn't necessarily accepting gladly or celebrating. In fact you can disagree with something and be tolerant about it. For example, I'm not Jewish and I disagree with their beliefs, but I tolerate the fact that they practice Judaism because I accept that their beliefs are different from mine. Jewish people disagree with Christians, but they tolerate Christian beliefs and let Christians practice just as they expect to be able to practice what they want. Except for the intolerant ones.

It's coexisting.

 

[RedTent]

Alright let me just throw this out there.

Tolerance is accepting that people are different. Tolerance isn't necessarily accepting gladly or celebrating. In fact you can disagree with something and be tolerant about it. For example, I'm not Jewish and I disagree with their beliefs, but I tolerate the fact that they practice Judaism because I accept that their beliefs are different from mine. Jewish people disagree with Christians, but they tolerate Christian beliefs and let Christians practice just as they expect to be able to practice what they want. Except for the intolerant ones.

It's coexisting.

We live in a democracy, open to all religions. That means that in order to live under our govenment we must be tolerant.

We, on Christian Chat are of one religion, the Christian Religion. We are trying to keep that religion in a pagan government that operates by tolerance. Each religion feels they are right, but to our way of thinking God created the entire world, pagan or not, under set principle as solid as the fact that the sun rises each morning. We know God will not put up with such as people saying Allah or some such created and runs things. To live under our government, we must tolerate this in our country. God says He won't put up with people not respecting how He created male and female. God created a world of absolute order that demands intolerance of anything apart from that order. God expects intolerance of that from us, too. We are to forgive all people and not judge, but judge sin as sin.

We, as Christians, are asked to live under our government that requires tolerance. We have to do the best we can with that, but God asks us to be aware of what He is intolerant of.

 

[SeekingJC]

Alright let me just throw this out there.

Tolerance is accepting that people are different. Tolerance isn't necessarily accepting gladly or celebrating. In fact you can disagree with something and be tolerant about it. For example, I'm not Jewish and I disagree with their beliefs, but I tolerate the fact that they practice Judaism because I accept that their beliefs are different from mine. Jewish people disagree with Christians, but they tolerate Christian beliefs and let Christians practice just as they expect to be able to practice what they want. Except for the intolerant ones.

It's coexisting.

Hi Batman007,

That's not the type of tolerance I was talking about. Sure I tolerate other religions and beliefs as long as they are not forced upon me. As I would hope others will tolerate mine (which in my very limited experience is not the case). Let me give you an example in a more secular context.

You have a friend that is a rampant drug user and they are slowly killing themselves. Do you A) say "hey that's their business and I have no right to say anything about it" (tolerance) or B) show them you care and try to talk to them about it maybe set up an intervention (intolerance).

I think society at large has put a weird stigma on the two words. If you're tolerant than it means your loving and caring and if you're intolerant you're basically a bigot. This is false. Some of the most influential people in my life are the most intolerant. Are they always right? Of course not but they aren't afraid to take a stand and challenge me when I need it. I thank God for the intolerant people in my life.

God Bless,
SeekingJC