Tolerance is not a virtue
As a minister, I am “duty-bound” to accurately present the content of the Bible. A true call from God will result in a desire to help people understand Scripture and apply it to their lives. But a faithful opening of timeless Scripture can generate some visceral pushback from audiences today.
When I call out sin, point out errors in interpreting the Bible, or suggest that biology rather than emotions should dictate the discussion on human sexuality, I’m told that I need to be more tolerant. What exactly is tolerance in today’s society?
Tolerance is a manufactured, secular, socially manipulated and weakly constructed excuse for a sentiment. It is not a Christian virtue, a Fruit of the Spirit (Ephesians 6) or a command of Jesus. Only the “sparkle creed” suggests otherwise, and it is not a religious orthodoxy; it is a perversion of a traditional Christian statement of faith.
What is tolerance? The way the world imposes and enforces it, tolerance is a fabricated counterfeit of Christian love and genuine human compassion.
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Instead of, “Let me help lift you out of your mess,” tolerance says, “I support your right to live as a disaster.”
A life-changing encounter with the Son of God promises, “You don’t have to stay this way, there’s a better, higher Way to live.” Tolerance says, “I embrace the fact that you’re broken. I will agree to underwrite the lie you can't ever change.”
Instead of offering hope, rescue and peace, tolerance says, “I celebrate the falsehoods you've been told. I will also lie and tell you that the fatal, degrading, noxious Hell you’re living in is a valid, ‘alternative lifestyle.’”
The recipe for tolerance could be, “two parts guilt, a dash of pity, one-part spiritual blindness, with heavy doses of naivete. Mix in all oblivious ignorance available.” It is never the path to freedom; it is a guarantee of further torture, deeper debauchery and spiritual slavery.
Tolerance traps individuals and emboldens groups into a spiral toward physical torment and eternal death instead of telling them they can be free and have a new life in Christ.
I grew up on a North Carolina farm that my family operated successfully for 68 years. Any farmer can tell you if you tolerate weeds, you don’t get more compliant weeds. Weeds won’t agree to give your crops equal room, water, and sun. If you tolerate weeds, they grow faster and spread more. Weeds must be eliminated, have their roots exposed to the sun, and be uprooted and replaced with something better.
If you tolerate weeds, sin, the alphabet mafia, defund police, abortion as “healthcare,” legalized drug use or accept any form of lawlessness, the only thing you guarantee is more and worse lawlessness (Romans 4:7).
Jesus said that the increase in tolerance and various forms of lawlessness are signs of the last days (Matthew 24:12). Ignorance is another sign that we are nearing the end (1 Timothy 4:1-4; 1 Peter 3:3).
We have the Bible, and for those who admit it, we have medical science and human biology; the facts are irrefutable. We cannot claim ignorance, only compliance. We don’t have any biblical basis for being the world’s version of “tolerant.” Avoid that slippery slope; it leads to moral and societal destruction.
The world will get darker and darker. We are commanded not to cooperate with the darkness and evil but to expose and avoid it (2 Corinthians 6:14). We can either be a brighter light in the darker dark or agree to spread the lie that the definition of dark suddenly changed — dark isn’t really dark.
Redefining sexual perversion in the name of tolerance is still perverse, degenerate, immoral and depraved. The only difference is that now, “pride” has three months of celebration on the calendar.
As an ordained minister, I am called to be a light. But this responsibility is also on the shoulders of all Christians. Christ’s church is a messenger with an assignment to courageously spread truth in a world of lies.
We must be bold and speak facts when it’s not considered tolerant. Scarred, bleeding and under fire, I’d rather be a doctor of souls on the front lines of the war than a satisfied spiritual mortician watching the world die in darkness.
Tolerance is a polite way of saying, “I’m OK that people will spend eternity in hell.” God forbid.
Dr. Alex McFarland is a youth, religion and culture expert, author of more than 20 books and is heard live daily on the 200+ stations of the American Family Radio Network. He is Director of worldview for Charis Bible College, Woodland Park, CO, and co-hosts the “Truth and Liberty” TV broadcast. His website is, alexmcfarland.com.
