I saw a bumper sticker on a car with the symbols of all the different religions that spelled out coexist. The author’s intent of this design was meant to create tolerance and unity in the world.
I heard the Holy Spirit say,“ love is greater than tolerance.”
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ( John 14:26)
Some may see this sticker as a very tolerant peaceful message. It is true we must all coexist together in this world created by God. The word of God gives us the answers how we can coexist in a society, and it is not by our own power or might or being tolerant or a false type of unity, but by keeping the commands that God has given us. “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
The Apostle Paul prayed this prayer for the Ephesian church which is applicable for the church today. “May you have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”
God is love and He has given us the biblical definition in His word.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have no love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body have not love, I gain nothing”.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails”.(1st Corth.13:1-8)
We read this scripture, and we quote it, but do we meditate on the words, are we being transformed by the love of God? When we meditate on God’s Word, the words have a profound impact on our lives. We find peace, strength, and encouragement—all essentials in our relationships with God and others.
Some people have left their first love and stopped following Jesus as the way,, the truth and the life, they have been falsely led into a practice called syncretism. This is the process of combining religious belief systems to create a new system or incorporating new beliefs into an existing religious tradition. While many Christians condemn the practice, they perceive it as eroding the foundation of Christianity. Christians continue to borrow from other religions. According to Pew Research 30% of American Christians believe in reincarnation, although it contradicts several core Christian beliefs. We have Christians that combine their faith with Buddhism, calling themselves Buddhist Christians, and claim that both religions are peaceful. Chrislam is a syncretistic movement that seeks to incorporate parts of biblical Christianity and Islam into a unified religious practice. Chrislamists argue that Christians and Muslims serve the same God and that certain theological distinctions should be emphasized to create harmony. This movement has evolved in numerous regions over the past several decades, especially when Christianity and Islam come together culturally.
The Old Testament says that Israel was meant to be a “holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). They were told not to mix their worship of Yahweh with the idol worship of other nations (Deuteronomy 6:13–15). These warnings remind us that God’s people couldn’t “tolerate” idolatry since it could lead them to harmful thoughts and actions. But God told His people to be friendly and fair to foreigners living among them (Leviticus 19:33–34), which shows that keeping worship pure does not mean being unkind to outsiders.
Tolerance asserts that all religions are one, whereas love asserts that we are one in Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The gospel message of preaching of the cross the power of God unto salvation continues to become an outdated message and will continue to become archaic in the eyes of many. Jesus said, “when the son of man returns will he find faith on earth”. Tolerance negates what Christ accomplished on the cross for us.Tolerance allows us to retain our old nature, whereas God’s love freed us to become new creations in Christ. Tolerance takes the easy way out by not acting or saying anything, which can lead to a superficial relationship that lacks depth and commitment.
There are Christians who have tolerated false prophecies. These false words have never come to pass, but because of the popularity of the false prophet, they seem to overlook the lies.”Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” . When another mature believer calls the false prophet out, they are ridiculed and called names We need discernment in the body. Some even go so far as to deconstruct their original faith and change the Bible to tolerate their sins.
In Revelation 2:20 , Jesus rebukes the church in Thyatira for tolerating false teachings: “But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” This indicates that tolerance should not extend to practices or teachings that contradict core biblical truths
The difference between being loving to people and rejecting sin helps us understand what biblical love is: standing firmly on God’s moral truth while giving everyone mercy and hope. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? ( Micah 6:8).
God’s love requires obedience, selflessness, and sacrifice, only made possible through Christ and perfected by the Holy Spirit. “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us”.
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. ( 2nd Timothy 2:25)
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28). Love is fearless. Love tells us the truth, and the truth sets us free.
The prophet Jeremiah is a great example of a true prophet that lamented over the condition of God’s people. He was obedient to God and actively engaged with them, by telling them the consequences of their condition, if they continued in their sin before God. He was not haughty or full of pride; he wept and lamented for them and stood in the gap as a voice. The biblical record shows that Jeremiah suffered greatly to tell them the truth and was persecuted by the very hands of the people he loved. If we truly understand the truth, we will fearlessly pursue sharing it with urgency as the season comes to an end. We need to remember that the hearts of men cry out to God for a better way.
The Apostle Paul instructs Timothy, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine.” This passage underscores the need to balance tolerance with a commitment to biblical truth.
My friends, tolerance is nothing more than sacrificing love on the altar of unity; true unity is only in Christ.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—it was His goodness that led me to repentance. His unconditional love for me and you, not contingent on my human merit, was freely given. It was His sacrificial love and His willingness to lay down His life for us, we were the joy that was set before Him.. John 15:13 states, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends.”
The world needs to know this Gospel message, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” ( John 3:16-21). .
Are you willing to love or just tolerate? We have found the truth in Christ and His finished work on the cross for us.. We are salt and light, a royal priesthood on earth, who should love beyond the shallow waters of tolerance.
In Christ, Kim Gallovich.
