An Infuriating Sermon on Tolerance
Channel: firefly4f4
Date: 2012-09-09

Transcribed from "The Guardian" (Charlottetown, PEI, Canada)
Saturday, August 18, 2012

"A question of tolerance"
Guest Sermon By Rev. D. Blair Sorrey
Special To The Guardian
=======================================
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34

It is clear that in 2012, Christianity is under attack like never before.  One of hell's most insidious methods of undermining the Gospel is to label followers of Christ "intolerant" and out of step with "conventional" behaviour and ways of thinking.

I want to address this deception and no, I will not be checking my Bible or my brains at the back door.

Webster's dictionary defines tolerate as "to recognize and respect other's beliefs, practices, etc. without sharing them" and "to bear or put up with someone or something not especially liked."  The Bible states plainly in Romans 12:18 "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

Paul also said in Galatians 6:10 "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

Traditional tolerance is perfectly compatible with such scriptural commands because it differentiates between what a person thinks or does and the person himself.  We are taught to respect the rights of others to make a choice even though we may strongly disagree with that choice.  Jesus Christ loves every one of us equally but his word declares clearly his loathing against our sin.

What we are seeing today, however, goes beyond the normal meaning of tolerance.  Society has moved into the unbiblical belief that  "truth is relative to the community in which a person participates.  And since there are many human communities, there are necessarily many different truths."  This promotes the notion that to be truly tolerant, you must now give your approval, endorsement, and sincere support to the beliefs and behaviours of others no matter how completely wrong you feel they may be.

As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I have a big problem with this, especially when I see others beat the drum of tolerance and yet they show none towards the Bible and my Christian faith.

We are seeing this hypocrisy pop up on a regular basis as society falls deeper and deeper into moral depravity.  A fourth grader in the U.S. made the mistake of bowing his head over his lunch to whisper a silent prayer.  That act resulted in a trip to the principal's office and a warning that he would be disciplined if he tried to pray again -- even silently.

Christians all over the world are being killed because of their faith, and it seldom makes the headlines.  However, if someone dares to state a Biblical point of view as a restaurant owner did recently south of the border, then they are mocked and publicly castigated.

"Friends," Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  There is indeed absolute truth.  Basic logic insists that two contradictory ideas cannot both be true.  The Bible makes it clear that all values, beliefs, and lifestyles and truth claims are not equal.  It teaches that the God of the Bible is the true God (Jeremiah 10:10), that all his words are true (Psalm 119:160) and that if something is not right in God's sight, it is wrong (Deut 6:18).

Society today is basically saying: "what I am equals what I do."

Scripture however does not teach that what we do is equal to who we are.  When Isaiah wrote, "You[sic] iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Isaiah 59:2), he made clear distinction between who we are and what we do (our iniquities).  Thank God that what we do is not the same as who we are, for otherwise God could not have separated our sins from us and thrown them into the sea of his forgetfulness.

The United Nations Declaration of Principles on Tolerance says: "Tolerance ... involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism."  Isn't it ironic that the proponents of the new tolerance are so dogmatic about dogmatism and so absolute in their opposition to absolutism?  In other words, any system that believes in absolute truth is by definition guilty of intolerance.  You don't have to say anything.  If you even think there is an absolute truth, then you are intolerant, and thus an appropriate object of intolerance.

This is why the proponents of toleration have no problem being intolerant towards Christians, because we believe in Biblical truth, one God, man's sinfulness, and the evangelism of other faiths.

It will come as quite a shock to these folk when they have to bow their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.
=======================================
Rev D. Blair Sorrey with the United Pentecostal Community Chapel.  This guest sermon runs in The Guardian every Saturday and is provided courtesy of Christian Communications.


TheFeltBeGone's response:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CV7ggRIEJpfg-Z1ZVPCdYFSMeWqI4FS8hgxLZ8Q0FCA/edit