Bigotry Against Christianity

A LOVING FATHER PUTS A FENCE UP

An analogy about God’s laws might help. I am a father. I love our five children. When our kids were small, we lived on a busy street. The first thing I did when we moved in was get a fence built. That fence provided boundaries for my children, and the reason beyond the boundary was not restriction but affection. I was not trying to take anything good from them, but attempting to keep bad things away.

As long as my children played within the boundaries of the fence they were free to play whatever games they wanted and do pretty much whatever they liked, as long as it was not dangerous or harmful.

In Christianity, God is also a Father. His principles for what we should do and not do are like pickets in a fence. And the details are the way his kids safely have fun in the enormous yard of life he has provided them to enjoy. Admittedly, many Christians do a bad job talking about their Dad and their yard and their fun. They get obsessed with the fence. To the neighbor kids on the other side of the fence, they seem intolerant and unloving and not fun at all. And no one ever wants to come over and play with kids like that.

PRACTICAL TOLERANCE

Dr. John Frame is one of the most respected and revered scholars within the evangelical world today. After earning degrees from Princeton, Yale, and Westminster Theological Seminary, Dr. Frame has served as a professor for decades, most recently at Reformed Theological Seminar. His monumental written works are essential, and have helped define and establish orthodox Christianity in the modern world. I asked him what tolerance should look like today. In a gracious personal reply, he pointed out that “Every individual or group accepts some beliefs, practices, and people in various ways, and rejects others. So, we are all tolerant and intolerant in different ways. It is unreasonable, therefore, either to favor or to disfavor tolerance in general.” He adds, “So when someone says ‘some Christian groups are too intolerant,’ we need to find out more specifically the nature of the complaint. What groups? What are they ‘intolerant’ of? How do they express this intolerance? Is this kind of intolerance good or bad?”

When people start flinging mud at us, we should pick it up and get a good look at it. Maybe put it under a microscope and study it. Frame suggests that we analyze tolerance through a three-part grid.

Should we tolerate perspectives? Of course. We cannot expect Christians and non-Christians to think the same. But like Dr. Norman Geisler said in a personal interview with him, “We should respect those whose views differ from ours, even if we believe they are false.  They have a right to be wrong.  Freedom of thought demands that we respect views that differ from ours.  But no valid principle demands that we accept contrary views as being true.”

We cannot agree when facts are false. Geisler adds, “Opposite views cannot both be true.  For example, if atheism is true then theism is false and vice versa.  Likewise, if Muslims are right in claiming that Jesus did not die for our sins and rise from the dead three days later, then Christians who say he did are wrong.  Both views can’t be true.”

Should we tolerate practices? When it comes to other religions and alternative sexualities and such, it depends on what we mean by tolerance. No Bible believing church can sanction a prayer meeting lead by Buddhist monks. But say you move next door to Buddhist monks. Of course you should love them and be the best neighbor you know how. You can still hope they would meet Jesus and walk in repentance.

Should we tolerate people? Absolutely. It’s where the Bible talks about loving our neighbor. So somebody says, “Are you tolerant?” You say, “Well, I really love people, and I’m willing to live in relationship with people that I really disagree with as long as we can be open and honest. I can talk to them about what I believe, and I would like to see some things change in their life. And maybe they would like to see some things change in me.” I have friendships and loving relationships with all kinds of people that disagree with me on all kinds of things.

But as Frame pointed out in a personal interview I conducted, different situations might demand different levels of tolerance. “In the church, for example, we might welcome someone to our worship service, but refuse him as a member.” We might have different standards of tolerance for people who attend compared to worship leaders, preachers, or board members.