Intolerance: A Christian Virtue

Culture in this first part of the twenty-first century might be described as "politically correct" or "tolerant." According to this paradigm a garbage man is a "sanitation engineer," a short person is "vertically challenged," and a thief is "ethically disoriented." Inclusive cultural practices can border on the insane when traffic signs are printed in 5 languages and also marked in Braille!

Tolerant rhetoric can even seem as though it belongs in the evangelical Christian church under the scriptural colors of "judge not lest ye be judged." That is, many feel as though the church should make no judgments and that "love" prohibits intolerance. Surely no true Christian desires to unnecessarily judge anyone, but if professing believers tolerate what God does not the culture has infected the church rather than the church affecting the culture.

Many Christians oppose divergent moral behavior (at least in theory). In the name of "grace" or "mercy," however, these believers will tolerate doctrinal divergence. Though the apostle Jude admonished first century Christians to "contend earnestly for the faith" perhaps most of us prefer to comfort rather than to contend. In tune with Jude, however, Paul also implored the church to be intolerant toward doctrinal divergence:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:17-18).

Respected expositor James Strong writes that the term mark them as used in Romans 16:17 means "to take aim at." Now, could the apostle of grace and mercy, Paul, possibly intend to teach believers to "take aim at" leaders within the Christian church? Such a notion might seem offensive when viewed through today's politically correct, "tolerant" viewpoint. Paul, however, demonstrated that Christian intolerance can be a virtue in 2 Timothy 2:17 when he openly rebuked Hymenaeus and Philetus whose teaching "will spread like gangrene."

Can you imagine the reaction a preacher today might receive if he said that another Christian leader's doctrine "will spread like gangrene?" It's easy to believe that Paul's intolerance was probably always directed at some fringe teacher. Kindly consider, however, another example of Paul openly rebuking the most prominent church leader of early Christianity:

But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? (Gal 2:14).

Paul openly criticized Peter in Galatians chapter two because when popular teachers are teaching error others are set adrift. Intolerance toward doctrinal blunders isn't harmonious with modern "coexist" dogmas, but it is biblical. Because of Jesus' manifest intolerance of errant doctrine the believers at Pergamum didn't need to guess as to whose teaching they should avoid. "You also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans," warned Jesus, "which thing I hate." (Rev 2:15).

In stark opposition to the practices of modern Christianity where tolerance at the expense of doctrinal purity is considered a virtue. In scripture though, Jesus expects His church to exercise the virtue of intolerance toward errant teachers and their dangerous dogmas. By merely being tolerant of an errant teacher within the church at Thyatira the Christians there earned an open rebuke in the eternal record:

But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols (Rev 2:20).

Just as the wayward doctrines of Jezebel (and even Peter) led the early Christians astray, teachers within the Christian church today go unchallenged though they too teach doctrines which cause the people of God to stumble. Contrary to the milquetoast tolerance dogmas so popular today the lost virtue of Christian intolerance is needed like never before because popular leaders with worldwide platforms stumble the servants of Christ and go unchallenged.

About the Author

Take a look at Daniel LaLond Jr.'s open letters to Chuck Swindoll and to Dr. Tony Evans. LaLond's book, The Lying Promise, exposes popular, but mistaken teaching inside the contemporary Christian church. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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