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Writer's pictureBible Brian

Tolerance requires disagreement, and the right to do so


A significant portion of the culture has swallowed the lie that the Church is intolerant because we believe homosexuality is a sin. If you believe homosexuality is a sin, that means you hate gay people.

Ironically, people who say this believe the Christian view of homosexuality is wrong, therefore by their own standard, they are intolerant. In reality, you cannot tolerate what you agree with. If I believe homosexuality is ok, I'm not being tolerant, I'm being complicit. If I think it's good, I'm not tolerating it, I'm endorsing it. The only possible way to tolerate gay people is if I disagree with them!


But as a Christian, I'm not commanded to tolerate gay people. I'm commanded to love gay people. And not the kind of love the radical Left preaches. I'm talking about the kind of love Jesus preached. That's the kind of love that takes no pleasure in iniquity (1 Corinthians 13:6), but is also the kind of love that God demonstrated for us with the cross (Romans 5:8).

God firmly disagrees with your sin. Homosexuality is a sin, it's not the sin. We've all sinned. I've sinned. You've sinned. If Christians disagreeing with something means they're intolerant, they're intolerant of everyone, including themselves. But to disagree with sin isn't intolerant, it's actually loving.


Ultimately, true tolerance requires both disagreement, and the ability to do so. If you demand conformity, you're not being tolerant, you are the bigot. But love is far better than tolerance. Tolerance says "I don't care what you do, just stay out of my way and we won't have conflict". But love says "I care so much about you that even if we disagree, I want what's best for you". A Christian who merely tolerates gay people doesn't care if they're hurting themselves, but a Christian who loves gay people will give them the Gospel, hoping that one day, we will live eternally in God's Kingdom, a place where there is total unity. No one will tolerate each other there, everyone will have a perfect relationship, both with each other, and with God. That's a far better vision than "affirm our sexual habits, or we will ostracise you".

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