Christian Tolerance, the Public Square, and Homosexuality: Day 28
Author: Andrew Comiskey
November 10, 2020
‘It is important to be
clear about the definition of tolerance and its place among Christian virtues.
While tolerance may be a virtue in many instances, love holds a superior place in
a Christian worldview (1 Cor. 13:13). Love and tolerance overlap but are not
identical concepts. The Bible describes a God who loves the entire world but
does not tolerate sin. In fact, in the few instances when words that could be
translated as tolerance or intolerance occur in the biblical text, they
generally appear in contexts that condemn tolerance of wickedness and
immorality in the midst of God’s people. Rev. 2:20 is a case in point: “But I
have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a
prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and
to eat food sacrificed to idols” Of course…Jesus’ injunction against judging
(Lk. 6:37) and His chastisement of hypocrites who were eager to take the speck
out of another’s “eye” but blind to the log in their own (Lk. 6: 41, 42) are
two texts that come quickly to mind...Nevertheless, the biblical data should
give a person pause before trumpeting tolerance as the central Christian or
biblical virtue.
Toleration of immoral sexual practice was a vice, not a
virtue. So, rather than elevate tolerance to the highest position, one
might do better to lift up one of the Christian virtues that Paul cites as
fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22, 23…Unlike the word tolerance, none of these
virtues implies any reduction of moral resolve against sinful behavior. If
same-sex intercourse is indeed sin, then an appeal to tolerance is largely
misplaced.’ (The Bible and Homosexual Practice, pp. 27, 28)
‘On matters of public
policy, Christians should work toward a society that
neither prosecutes nor
promotes homosexual behavior. In effect, this means, positively, that
Christians should support the decriminalization of homosexual behavior and full
prosecution of crimes against homosexuals. At the same time,
the church
should oppose any attempts to make “sexual orientation” a specially protected
class, or to grant to same-sex relationships status and benefits comparable to
those married couples receive.’ (The Bible and Homosexual Practice, p. 491)
Here Gagnon challenges the
‘judge not’ anything or anyone posture that prevails in the world today. Though
we all ‘tolerate’ persons in their becoming who God made them to be (fits and
starts in route!), we realize at the same time that we’ve a hand to play in
helping that beloved one to shine (or deflect) His light. We strive to activate
all of our faculties to encourage the best in them. That means we discourage
sinful barriers to their becoming. What are friends for? We must make righteous
judgments, first about ourselves, then those we love! Temper this with what one
pastor said to me: ‘For each one correction, give five encouragements.’
But get real with the ‘Jezebels’
in our churches ‘who lead God’s servants into sexual immorality.’ As Gagnon
points out, we don’t tolerate false teachers; we correct them plainly so that
they do not mess with the sheep! Like Jesus who purged His Father’s house of
robbers, we can seek to do the same with bearers of false mercy who are all
inclusion, no repentance, when it comes to sexual sinners. We fuse compassion
and holiness with Jesus’ Kingdom; our Savior encounters us kindly while
insisting we leave old lovers behind.
Rightfully, Gagnon urges
us to ‘neither prosecute not promote’ gay stuff in the public square. I love that.
Our western culture has decriminalized all kinds of adult consensual sin,
sexually-speaking. We don’t, and we shouldn’t, scapegoat same-gender stuff. Yet
nor do we make room for ‘gay’ special interests, as if possessing a tendency gives
one ‘protected’ status. Unlike gender and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identities are
neither inborn nor immutable.
Though our Supreme Court
disagreed with us in its ‘gay marriage’ decision in 2015 and in its June 2020
‘Bostock’ rule, we soldier on in the truth. Gagnon helps us here to forego the
now common habit of allowing LGBTQ+ groups to form, often in Jesus’ name (at
Christian schools etc.). Don’t tolerate that! When we do, we feed the monster
of LGBTQ+ everything. Give an inch, they take a mile. In humility, broken by
our sin, make righteous judgments.
‘Jesus, help us to
tolerate what we must, correct what we can and endow it all with a spirit of
godly encouragement for what is good, true and beautiful. Thank You that You
are helping us to discern truth from falsehood, real mercy from fake. Grow us
in holy love that makes You glad and makes us helpful for Your Kingdom.’
‘Jesus, show us Your way
through the uneven, deeply divided ground of our nation. Please compose and restrain explosive
hearts. Use us as instruments of Your
peace. “O blood and water which gushed
forth from the heart of Savior Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, we trust in
You.”’
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