The character traits of Jesus Christ, commonly called the fruit of the Spirit, are listed in Galatians 5:22-23---love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As God's men, the Holy Spirit works in our lives to produce these characteristics. Conspicuous by it's absence is another characteristic---tolerance. Isn't tolerance a good thing and something that we should manifest in our lives?
If we read the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), we see that both a priest and a Levite--men who should have had compassion for a man who had been beaten and robbed and left for dead--recognized the need of the injured Samaritan but chose to ignore it. They knew the man needed help, they had the means to help, but allowed him to remain in his hurting state.
Tolerance has the same result. It says I see that you are dying spiritually. It says I see that you are lost and have no hope and no future. Tolerance says what's right for you is okay--even if it separates you from a holy God. Tolerance isn't a fruit of the Spirit because God, in his infinite mercy and love for us, wasn't content to tolerate our sinful and broken state and He did something about it. Our Heavenly Father would never have allowed his one and only Son to die on the cross to pay our sin debt if tolerance was a part of who He is.
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before we make "tolerance" a bad thing, we should define it.
ReplyDeletewhile you make some very good points, let's be careful to accurately interpret. there is plenty without creating new content by implication or conjecture.
I totally agree. Tolerance by definition is freedom from prejudice. It is also the character, state or quality of being tolerant. Tolerant, by definition, means 1) being disposed to tolerate beliefs or views and 2) indulgent. By exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we can completely eliminate prejudice in all of its ugly forms. It also strikes me that God chose not to include tolerance as a fruit of the Spirit because He doesn't want our beliefs and views to be clouded by evil thoughts, self-centered motives or a general disregard for the well-being of others.
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