God's Tolerance: Part 1 - Tolerance is Not Permission

     As a person living in this world, I must be tolerant of certain things that I believe to be wrong or at least less than best. I simply cannot function as an individual by speaking out or being argumentative with everyone with whom I disagree. However, does that mean that I need to agree with or accept to be right those things that I believe to be wrong?

      As a Christian, I feel like I am being asked to tell people living in rebellion against God that they are ok and that my opinions may not be true for them. This issue has caused me to begin a tolerant pursuit of truth. This means that I am committing to being respectful to those that disagree with me while I seek to learn truth. Being that I am fully convinced in the existence and resurrection of Jesus; my pursuit starts with Him and those who recorded His teachings. This includes the historic events caused by His life and beliefs of those who followed Him. Though my pursuit begins there, it also includes the many other academic disciplines present today.

     As we come here today, each of us hold certain beliefs. Those beliefs are often challenged by changing life situations or new information. What I am hoping, is that we all are looking to base our lives on truth and not mere opinion. As a Christian pastor, my desire is to help you understand truth about God. I am not going to hound you in every area of your life that I think needs growth. That’s God’s job. However, I do want to share with you that God is tolerant, but that does not mean that He is permissive. To help us with this, consider the words of Pastor Jonathan Parnell as he states, “Now, as political and newsy as it may seem, the main thing to understand about tolerance is this: It is profoundly theological. Yes, tolerance is defensible based on mere reason, and no, you don't have to be a Christian to practice it — or even a theist. But the firmest ground for why we would bother being tolerant goes back to God.” (Pastor Jonathan Parnell http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/no-one-is-more-tolerant-than-god)
     The main thought of this message is the idea that God’s tolerance is not permission. Though it is not permission, it is full of grace and mercy in the hope of repentance. It is not rude or condescending, and it never says the one in rebellion is unloved. One Old Testament story reveals how God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection of Him when asking for a king in 1 Samuel 8-10. Here we can discover two truths about God’s tolerance. When thinking these through, remember that tolerance means that those in disagreement are not hostile or harmful to each other.

     In 1 Samuel Chapter 8 we read of Israel’s desire for a king. They were suffering at the hands of the Philistines and believed the answer was a king to deliver them. In Chapter 9, God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection and allowed Samuel to choose Saul as King. Pay close attention to verses 15-18 and you will notice two important truths. First, God remained faithful to hear their prayers for deliverance. Second, God remained faithful to restrain them.

     Moving to Chapter 10, we discover that God was tolerant of Israel’s rejection and worked in the heart of the leader they had chosen over Him. One surprising merciful act was the fact that the Spirit of the Lord turned the heart of Saul and allowed him to prophecy in verses 6-9. Following this, the people celebrated God’s tolerance perhaps thinking that they were right all along. They may, like many of us today, saw God’s merciful tolerance as permission to remain in rebellion free of its consequences. A simple reading of the rest of the story told in 1 Samuel reveals that our rebellion always has negative consequences in the end.

     This truth leads us to a New Testament thought. God’s tolerance is not to be mistaken for a lack of justice and judgment. To grasp this idea let’s quickly consider the words of 2 Peter 3:1-13. The first thought here is that those who misunderstand God’s tolerance forget about His past judgments. Also, seen here is the overall goal of God’s tolerance that in turn should be ours. The goal of God’s tolerance is that those in error would repent. This becomes very serious because God’s tolerance will end. Therefore, we are to live in holiness and godliness.

     Because of the seriousness of the topic and the place of tolerance in our world today we should be on a tolerant pursuit of truth. I would hope that even those who are not following Christ desire to live in truth. Living in lies is counterproductive to a life most desire to live. Finally, we at Yucaipa Church of the Nazarene are to be tolerant for the same reasons God is tolerant. May God help us be tolerant in the hope of repentance and true unity beneath His truth.