Pondering

1 John 4:8

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

With very few exceptions, unbelievers with whom I’ve discussed faith reflexively believe that Christians should be “loving and tolerant.” And why not? Jesus was loving and tolerant, right? Jesus preached a message of love and tolerance, right?

It depends on how one defines “love and tolerance.”

Was Jesus loving and tolerant when in front of the other disciples He forcefully rebuked Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23)?

Was Jesus loving and tolerant when He said to the religious leaders, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:33)?

Was Jesus loving and tolerant when He fashioned a whip and chased women, children, and the elderly out of the temple courts who were there simply to buy sacrifices for Passover: “And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables” (John 2:15)?

Was God “loving and tolerant” when He destroyed the earth with a flood (Genesis 6:9), sent plagues upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7:11), turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26)? Will God be considered “loving and tolerant” when Christ returns and the the earth along with those who rejected His Gospel invitation are destroyed (Revelation 16:17-21)?

The answer to all these is, “Yes.”

But how? How can all this be considered “loving and tolerant”? Generally speaking, when an unbeliever asserts that the “real” God and “real” Christianity are loving and tolerant they mean they want to live a life on their terms without interference from God. Moreover, they demand that “real” Christians accept and applaud beliefs and behaviors that contradict God’s ways; that “real” Christians are not interested in “preaching” (i.e., sharing the truth in love), but instead joining humanity in its quest for independence from God.

Funny how unbelievers hate being told what to do, then turn around and tell us what to do.

But here’s the real point. God IS loving and tolerant. Without His patience, grace, and mercy I would not have been able to write, nor would you be able to read, this post:

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (i.e., a change of mind that results in following Him)” (2 Peter 3:9).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).

This is not a license for biblical Christians to be mean people. Having been transformed in Christ we more naturally see others through the lens of “But by the grace of God go I.” Instead, this is a call to stand firm in how GOD defines love and tolerance. We can be compassionate AND subscribe to God’s word—they are not mutually exclusive.