Apathetically Tolerating Intolerance

When I say the word "tolerance", likely a bunch of different definitions enter your brain. To avoid any controversy, I will use the definition that I found on dictionary.com (we really need to invest in an actual dictionary). This website defines tolerance as, "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from ones own". I think that's a pretty good definition of the word...now, we can move on!
There's a problem in our churches, homes, communities, and Christian circles. The problem is countless people tolerating intolerance. This is especially upsetting within the church walls. The church is a place that should be filled with tolerance, and acceptance. Unfortunately, that's not often the case. Now, I realize that the church can't control the actions of its members. People have free choice, and can say and do what they want. The problem is, we let a handful of intolerant people, say things, do things and act in ways that should not reflect the rest of the congregation, and yet through our own inaction we tolerate it. We allow and tolerate intolerance.
This must stop! Now, I realize I already defined the word tolerance, but I just want to clarify that I'm not meaning that everyone in church must believe the same things, and even accept every belief. I'm certainly not saying that we should let heresies be preached and just sit back and tolerate that...I'm not saying that we must allow people to live in sin. What I am saying, is that we need to accept people, and tolerate people from all walks of life, and listen to what people have to say. People don't immediately change when they walk in the doors of a church. It takes time. It's too bad that churches are often the most judgemental and intolerant places in the world. People walk in the door, and they are judged. If they have a bible in one hand, a cross around their neck, a shirt and tie (for women, a dress that goes past the knees and doesn't show any cleavage), and nice dress shoes, we accept them. They are holy and good. On the other hand, if a person walks in with a Marilyn Manson shirt on, a mohawk in their hair, earrings all over their face, spiked wristbands on their wrists, tattered jeans, flip flops, and smell like marijauna, we immedately judge them as doomed, and hell-bound. We probably don't even say hello to them. We stare at them, make them feel uncomfortable, talk about them behind their backs and then wonder why they don't return the next week for a sermon that they really needed to hear about Jesus' Love and Forgiveness.
Now, not everyone acts in this way. Not everyone is intolerant of change, or intolerant of people who look or act different, or who believe something a bit different, or who read from the KJV instead of the NIV. But the problem is, the people that don't think those judgemental thoughts, don't do something about those that do. Instead of talking to the "satanic sinner" ourselves, we assume someone else will. We stay away, think to ourselves 'how good it is that this person is going to experience the love of Jesus'...but we never let them see it firsthand. We are apathetic, and through that apathy, we allow those who are intolerant to act in ways that make outsiders feel uncomfortable, unloved, and judged. Our inaction keeps people from feeling the warmth and love of Jesus. Our apathy tolerates the intolerance.
So this is my challege to you. Don't tolerate intolerance! Don't allow it. I'm not saying control what others say and do, because that becomes just as intolerant. What I am saying, is...don't be so apathetic. Don't wait for "others" to talk to the outsider. Don't assume "others" will welcome someone else, or that "others" will give someone with a differing opinion or belief a chance to speak their mind. Be the "other". Welcome someone, say hello, ask them about what they believe, where they are from...anything. Be the tolerant person. You don't have to agree with them, but at least give them a chance. If enough people do that, then those who are intolerant won't matter...because they will remember the love and warmth of the few. Stop tolerating intolerance. There's a reason why the media, and why non-Christians view Christians as judgemental, closed, sheltered and intolerant...because we allow those type of "Christians" to leave the lasting impression. It's wrong, and it needs to stop.

Widen the Road!

"...But small is the gate, and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it"

Matthew 7:14

This past week I began a Rob Bell book "Jesus wants to Save Christians". I am a big Rob Bell fan...it seems that he says what I am thinking...and he pushes the limits sometimes. He's not afraid to stir up some controversy...which I think is really healthy. In chapter 4 of the book (The chapter is called "Genital Free Africans"...I just had to put that in here, sorry..carrying on), he spends a lot of time talking about how the early church was so focused on, "the way things have always been done". It was against the law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile, followers of Christ had to be circumsised, everyone had to be baptised, sabbath had to be followed to the letter, and the list goes on and on. But Rob Bell focuses on some people who went against the grain. Phillip baptises an African Eunuch...as Rob Bell says, "you can't mess with the good if you don't have any". In other words...this person couldn't be circumsised, and yet Phillip still baptised him as a believer in Christ. Peter visits the home of a Centurian, a home filled with Gentiles, something that according to Jewish law was forbidden. There are many instances of people in the bible going against the religious leaders of the day.

Anyway, this book got me thinking that...it wasn't just like that for the early church. Today, there are many Christians who are doing their best to enforce the law, who are trying to keep things the way they have always been. It starts for people who want to become Christians...according to many they have to give up smoking, drinking, swearing...they have to dress a certain way, pray a certain way, get baptised, remove their tatoos, take out any piercing that isn't in their ears (or all of them if they are males). The list goes on doesn't it? I'm sure we all know people who are constantly judging other believers or new believers. Then they begin to enforce the rules of the church...the music must be only at this volume, the drums can't be too loud, the tempo can't be that fast, we must sing 3 hymns and 1 modern chorus, the sermon must be within 25-35 minutes, we can't have a woman pastor, children must be excused from the service, everyone must wear this type of clothing, no smoking within 100 feet of the church parking lot...the list continues. Now, fortunately I attend a church that is very willing to "accept the unacceptable". Our church is right next door to a rehabilitation center for recovering alcoholics...we get a lot of struggling people in our doors. Thank GOD we don't have anybody judging them...but the reality is, most churches have somebody like that...many churches are made up entirely of people like that. And it's awful.

My point is this...as the verse says at the start of this blog post "Narrow is the road that leads to life". I believe that...there is one way to get to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Unfortunately, I believe that many Christians make the road too narrow. They add on all of these requirements that aren't only unbiblical, but they are ridiculous. I think we have to be very careful to not make the Narrow Road too small. Here's my opinion on all of this...if a person loves Jesus, and believe that Jesus was (and is) the Son of God...and that Jesus was resurrected from Death, and they do their best to follow the instructions of Jesus...then they are on that narrow path. I think that when we reach heaven we will be very surprised at 1)who made it to heaven, and 2) who DIDN'T make it. A lot of these "law makers", I believe will be a part of the "depart from me" group, while many of these "law breakers" will be in the "Welcome my good and faithful servant" class. Can someone be a smoker and a Christian? Of course they can. Does it matter if they wear an AC/DC shirt to church on Sunday? Not really. People need to get off of their high horse and rip up their rule book (Their personal rule book...not the Bible, just to clarify). We need more Peter's and Phillip's. More people who aren't afraid to go against the current religious understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable; hang out with Gentiles, baptise a Eunuch, and touch someone unclean. The bible says the road is narrow...it's not impossible to find.

I Doubt I'm the Only One Who Doubts

Lately I've been reading the book "The Case For Faith" by Atheist turned Christian Lee Strobel. In the book, he raises 8 common "barriers to faith", and interviews 8 prominent Christian thinkers, teachers and philosophers. I'm not going to talk about all of them, I'm only going to focus on one of them today, but just to settle all of your curiosity (as I'm sure you are just eager to know), the 8 stumbling blocks to faith are:
1) Evil and Suffering exist...so a loving God must not
2) Miracles contradict science, so they aren't true
3) Evolution explains life, which eliminates the need for God
4) I can't worship a God who kills innocent children
5) It's offensive to claim that "There's only one way (Jesus)"
6) A Loving God wouldn't send people to hell
7) The History of the Church is very violent and oppressive
8) I have doubts, so I can't be a Christian.

Each of the chapters were interesting in their own way, but I am going to focus on the last one...the chapter about doubts. Perhaps it's because it was the last chapter I read, but this chapter meant the most to me. Not saying that the others didn't mean anything...they did, but this one really spoke to me. What I loved about this chapter is, it didn't hide the fact that there are doubts. In fact, it claims that, most Christians have doubts, and struggle with doubts on a consistent basis. I definately needed to read that, as I, like most other Christians, deal with doubts.
A great quote, founmd early on in the chapter is by author Os Guiness (I read some of his stuff at Bethany...he's a great thinker). He says, "The shame is not that people have doubts, but that they are ashamed of them." Powerful stuff...and I think it's something that we all need to remember.
I'm not going to go too in depth on this, I just want to encourage all of you out there. I'm sure that you are dealing with some doubt, of some sort. Either you are a Christian and you struggle with doubting if God really loves you, hears your prayers, cares about you...fill the the blank. Or, you are a non-Christian, who perhaps, for whatever reason, have doubts about God. Maybe one of those 8 things listed is keeping you from accepting. PErhaps, as a Christian you are dealing with that stuff too. All I have to say is...it's ok. There are many biblical heroes who dealt with doubt. Abraham doubted, David did (read through the Psalms...most of them are laments, complaints and doubts...only about 40% of them are actual Praise psalms), and even Jesus closest friends, his disciples doubted. That's where faith comes in though. When you have faith, the doubts don't matter. You may not fully understand why things happen...but you can have faith that there is a reason.
Don't be ashamed of your doubts, or afraid of doubting. Question things you don't fully understand. IT'S PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO QUESTION THINGS YOU READ IN THE BIBLE OR HEAR AT CHURCH! The issue is, when you question it...don't just write it off as wrong, search for the answer. Some answers may come easy, others may not be answered...but don't let a few doubts hinder your relationship with God. In fact, it often takes times of doubting, to gain faith.
That's my thoughts for you...I realize it's not much..it's just an encouragement for those doubters out there. You're not alone...and it's ok.

It's All About The Now

There's a Kokanee commercial on now, which I'm sure you've all seen with the slogan "It's All About The Now". At first, this may seem like a selfish slogan, but, in reality, I believe that it is a slogan that is relevant...and one that Christians need to take to heart.
If most Christians were to make a commercial with a similar slogan, I believe that the slogan would go something like "It's all about Heaven!". Christianity is a religion that, unfortunately, has become focused on the future instead of the present. Christians are always living with the mindset of heaven. How many of you have heard slogans like, "I'm just passing through!" or "This isn't really my home...Heaven is my home". Those sayings are metephorically true, however they really miss the point of what being a Christian means. Being a Christian isn't just about a free pass into heaven. It's a lifestyle, a relationship with God. If Christianity was all about heaven, then once we became a Christian we would go straight to heaven, but, as we know...seeing as we are still on earth, that's not how it works.
People who are so focused on the "end", miss great opportunity here on earth. Let's put this into a little analogy here. Imagine that you are on the vacation of your dreams. Let's say you are in the Bahamas, during the warm, beautiful summer. Sitting on a lawn chair looking out over the ocean, with a drink in your hand (make it whatever you want...martini, beer, pepsi, coke, water...your choice! I'll go with a rum and coke for myself), and having the time of your life. But soon after you settle in for the vacation, you start thinking about life when you get home. You think about the work you will need to do, the people you need to see, the bills you have to pay, the items you need to buy...all these things that you need to do AFTER your vacation. If all your time was spent thinking about "after I get home", then you will not enjoy the vacation at all...or at least significantly less than someone who fully takes in the relaxation and beauty of the Bahamas. Now, i don't want to say that this life is a vacation and heaven is doing work and paying bills, but I do think you get the point. If you are so focused on heaven, and what heaven will be like, then you will miss out of incredible opportunities here on earth.
So let's take a lesson from Kokanee, live in the now...not focused on the "to come". Yes...it's ok to think about it, and to get excited for heaven...but don't let it consume you so much that you neglect the here and now. That's my opinion anyway.