Challenging the Modern Definition of Tolerance

Especially that tolerance has changed over the years, that it started with just enduring or allowing something to be there, but not being supportive of it. 

Ladies and gents, Welcome to Voices of Life, the podcast with topics related to the apostolic faith in the 21st century. Let's talk about what interests you here on Voices of Life. 

Hello and welcome back to a new episode of Voices of Life. We are very pleased to have you back and today we have prepared a topic and that is tolerance. And we want to talk about what does it mean to be tolerant? Is it something that God wants from us? And is God tolerant? 

And all those questions. And the reason why I brought this topic up is because during my young years, I mean, I am still young, but so even now actually, I'm a lot of times confronted with people telling me that I have to be tolerant. And a lot of times they do so not even clarifying what it means or tolerant of what. And I have the feeling that a lot of young people nowadays, or not only young people maybe, I don't know, a lot of people are feeling like the world wants them to be tolerant. And so that's why we want to clarify those questions today. 

To start off, I would like to give a brief definition of what I think tolerance means. Because nowadays when people tell you you have to be tolerant, a lot of times they want you to support whatever thing they put into the room. They want you to agree with it, they want you to have the same opinion. But for me, or not only for me, if we look where it actually comes from or maybe talk to older people how it was back then in their ages, it simply meant I have an opinion that is maybe different from yours and you have a different opinion, But I tolerate it, you know, that you have that opinion. Can someone help me with the German word, dulden? 

Do we have an equivalent? It's more like... 

Allow it? Yeah, allow it and let it happen, but I'm not accepting it. 

Yeah, I'm not accepting it, but I'm just allowing it to exist. And that's what it meant originally. So it actually means you have an opinion that does not support something, that says something is bad maybe. And then you keep that opinion, but you still allow that something to exist. And that's a very basic definition of being tolerant, but it's not complete yet Because that act of allowing it also has its borders and borders are limits and limits are different factors. 

1 factor can be time. There's a time during which we tolerate things or for which we tolerate things. And also the question of what, like, there are certain things that we tolerate or things that we tolerate to a certain extent, and then the question is where is the limit reached? And maybe from Here someone else can take it on. 

Yeah. That was a long definition already, but I do agree with what you said, especially that tolerance has changed over the years, that it started with just enduring or allowing something to be there, but not being supportive of it, I think. 

And the other side is not expecting you to be supportive of it. But today it's like they expect from you, you have to support my opinion. Yeah, it's not just... My truth, excuse me. 

Yeah, it's not just enough to talk about it and also maybe to even discuss about it, because if you have to accept and support every other opinion, every ground for discussion is being taken away. Because then you're unable to discuss something if every opinion is right, and you cannot really express it anymore in that way. 

But how can you really be tolerant towards every opinion? Because there might be contrary opinions. So you have to accept this 1 and support it, and then maybe next week there's somebody else and he has a completely different opinion that is contrary to the other 1, and you still have to tolerate it and support it as well. So you can't do it. You cannot support this guy and then say later on, I support you as well, and that means you are actually against the guy that you supported first. 

Yeah, that's why it's not really sensible that nowadays that definition has changed in the way it has. 

Yeah. That leads us to another point that we talked about before or thought about in our preparation is about the subject of truths, that there is not this truth and that truth. And even in English, it sounds even more strange than in German, that something is true and something is truer and the truest, Because you can't have something that is more true, because if it's true, it's true. If it's false, it's false. And so not everybody can have their own truth. 

But Pastor, you said that in our German episode as well, that it's just more opinions that everybody has from experiences, viewpoints. And an example that came to my mind was, maybe you all still remember that, that dress, that gold and white dress? 

I do. 

Black and blue. You don't Remember that? No. Feel younger now? Yeah, there was a picture. 

Maybe some of our listeners remember that picture. And you looked at it and some people saw it golden and white, and others saw it blue and black. And that was such a big discussion. It was all over the social media, oh it's black and blue and I'm team golden. And this was just a viewpoint, a point of view was different and it was different opinions, but for those people that said it was golden and white, it was their truth in that moment. 

And for the other ones it was, yeah, it's black and it's black and blue, but there was actually a truth because the dress was, I don't remember which color it was. It was a color, a certain color. They showed the original, it was blue? No, I don't know. So your team knew that it was blue. 

That's my truth. 

I think it was white, but light. 

Wow. But I don't know anymore. 

But there was also a certain truth, The dress was a certain color and there was nothing to argue about that. In the end, it was that color and that's it. 

And I think it's very interesting how easily you can deceive people and manipulate them. So they think, for example, it's blue, the other 1 thinks it's black, and is absolutely convinced about it. And the same is with some of those songs. Let's say you have some English songs, and I saw the clip on, I think it was on Facebook or so, there was a guy, I don't know, I remember his name, but anyway, he had some songs, he played it to the audience, he was a comedian, he played it to the audience, and then he said, well, I used to hear the following. And it was wrong, of course, If you have the lyrics in front of you, you knew he was wrong. 

But if you have not the lyrics in front of you, and he tells you what he used to hear, then all of a sudden you hear it as well. And so we are so easily deceived and think, well, that's it. And that's the way, in my opinion, that the devil also works. He's manipulating people. He's telling people things, and they believe, oh, that's the truth now. 

That's what I see. That's my perspective. And a lot of people base their truth on their perspective of things. But there's only 1, and that is God, in my opinion, that has all the perspectives there is. And he knows everything. 

He knows the past, the present, and the future. And so he has... When he says something, it is true. And it's not based on a certain perspective. It is an absolute truth when God speaks. 

Anyway, God, in my opinion, is the truth, because the Word of God says it. And the Word of God that He wrote down and gave to us is also truth. And so that's the standard for us. I think we were talking about finding the right standard, because everybody has their own truth. And they all say, my truth is as equal as your truth, which is not Possible. 

Yeah, and more than that, by doing that they also put their own truth on the level of God's truth. And that really shows how messed up it is to have those alternative truths and each has his own truth. And because in the end God's truth is equal to all those different flawed human truths. Which is blasphemy actually. And that's really a thing of our times and that is also connected to this tolerance thing. 

Because they say, how can you say this, you know? Well, because it's the truth. And they say, how can you know it's the truth, you know? Yeah. That's really something that has to deal with it a lot. 

And often times tolerance is also in a sense to not have any absolutes or borders. For example, when anybody has an opinion about something and you kind of agree, somehow go with it, it's all right. But as soon as you take a real stand for something, for the truth you believe or the truth you know is right, it becomes your offensive and they feel offended by it. Like, oh, how can you say that? It hurts my feelings. 

But oftentimes, if you say the truth and it hurts your feelings, maybe it's good that it does, because it brings you to a different viewpoint and a different thinking process in all of it, in case of just being, oh, I feel offended by it, I won't accept it, leave me alone. 

That is 1 of the big words today, feel. I feel like I'm a woman, I feel whatever I feel, and it's not based on facts anymore. It's not, sometimes it's not even based on some perspective, Sometimes it's just a feeling. 

You can discuss with people as long as you want. If they feel this way, they feel this way. And you can't win a discussion if you talk about feelings. There are facts and no facts. And If you put feelings into the facts, then there's no end to the discussion. 

And that's what people are basing their life around. They're building their own world like a god, building their own world, and saying, oh, I feel, like you said, like a woman. I feel like this certain drug takes me to a next or a better level, or the universe is telling me I have to go, or I have to do this, or the vibe of a stone can make me feel good, or makes me feel sad, or makes me feel strong. All these things are just based on feelings and there's no fact that a stone or the universe can actually do something in this type of way. But still, because you feel it, it's the truth. 

So that's, So you can't really win a discussion. 

There's a guy called Ben Shapiro, he says, no facts don't care about your feelings. 

Yeah, but that's the truth. 

There we go, that's the truth. 

But that's the truth in there, 

Yeah. And that's why we also base beliefs that we have, or even opinions, I would almost say, to certain things you do or don't do on the word of God, Because otherwise it would just be our opinions. What we think is good, what we might feel is good, but when we base them on the word of God, there is certainly, most certainly a right way and a wrong way. Especially when it comes to the subject of salvation or living as a Christian, there are ways to do things, they are written out, and ways to not do it. It's the same as, for example, doing a surgery, a brain surgeon, he has a right way to do the surgery and there is a wrong way. 

There are many wrong ways actually to do the surgery and so there is also even in everyday life there are right ways to do things and there are wrong ways to do things and well the surgery is now not based on the Bible, but it's based on experience, based on what probably is written in some kind of medical book. And they're based on that and know, okay, this is the facts, this is how we know it's right and it's working. 

Let's go back to the old times when you were still in school and they taught you math. 1 plus 1 equals 5, right? 

Yeah, sure. That's how 

I feel. 

I guess, you know, 

somebody defined it in the beginning and now it is 1 plus 1 is 2. And everybody knows it, hopefully. And it's not 1 plus 1 is whatever. 2 point what's... Union 5 and whatever. 

So they are absolutes, yes. All right. 

Sorry. 

But sometimes people come to you and say, well, for the sake of love, you have to tolerate certain behaviors, certain sins. I think we also mentioned it already, our God, he is not tolerant against sin. So he is Gracious, of course. He gives us time and a room and a space so we can get our lives straightened out and bring everything back in order and turn our ways to God. But sin eventually will be judged by God, because He's not tolerating it. 

He's holy and He's not tolerating any sin. So there can't be any sin or flesh in His presence and survive. So it's only because of His love and His grace that we are not punished right away. Maybe somebody of you wants to continue on that. 

That's right. It's also a sentence that always sticks with me. God loves the sinner, but He does not love the sin. So it's God's grace, like you said, that leads us. I think there's even a song about it. 

I'm not sure if that's written in the Bible. I think it is, that His kindness leads us to repentance. So He loves us as a person that much, I mean, that He died on the cross for us. That was the beginning of having true forgiveness of sins, and it's the possibility for us now to have that forgiveness because of His kindness, because He leads us to that place, because He loves us, and also because He hates sin, and He knows the effects that sin has on every person's life. Of course, in the beginning it feels great, but after a while it leads to destruction. 

In the end, it leads to permanent death. It leads to spending eternity in hell, instead of heaven with him. 

For example, when you have little kids, they enjoy sweets. And all they would like to eat would be sweets, sweets, sweets. But as a responsible parent, you would say, no, that's enough for you. And they wouldn't like it and they wouldn't understand it. But if you would continue giving them sweets because they want sweets, eventually they will get sick and maybe even die after a while. 

So sometimes we, as a parent, have to prohibit some things because of their well-being. And that's the same with our God. So He knows what is best for every 1 of us. And His ways are always best, and of course they are so much higher than our ways. And that's why sometimes He says some things to us and corrects us, and we don't like it and it hurts sometimes, but we better obey because that's the best for us, for our spiritual life, for us in total. 

Yeah. And that also shows us again how we should be, because in the end we want to imitate Christ God. And in a way, He allows people to do things that they do for a certain time. He also wants us to have that same grace that He has on them and not condemn them or judge them or whatever, fight them for it. But instead, he wants us to have that mercy that means, like he's telling us maybe, don't do this or stop eating the sweets or whatever. 

He can include that we also should tell them, better don't do that, you know, like warn them, like stopping a little child from running onto the street when cars are driving there, but It also means to love them. And if we love them, we will pray for them, like you said, pray for your enemies and the ones that persecute you. And so that's something that we are to do, just like he's doing it, showing love to the person by praying for the person, maybe giving good advice, or definitely giving good advice. Because if you just love the person, and it's all feelings again, like we said earlier, then maybe you don't dare to tell the person what is actually true, you know, that something is not right. But you always, if you really love the person, you also tell the person. 

I think I heard a preacher once talk about that. If you love your friend, you would not let him drive towards a cliff and just let him die and drive off it, but you would warn them in a way that they react to it. And that's the picture that we might have sometimes because we know, based on the Bible, okay, this lifestyle leads to a life in eternity with God in heaven, or this life leads to eternity in hell and torment and pain, and we as friends or family members or whoever is in our lives, that we say we love, we want to share those news that we receive, those good news, this gospel, that there is a way to spend eternity in heaven with God, that we want to do the same and pass that on in love, like you said. Like Justin also said in our German episode, I really like that. Not go with swords and shields and just hit it on their heads and try to convince them. 

And this is something that just came to my mind that actually happened before. That people tried to force belief in Christianity upon others. And it still happens today in some places that religion is trying to be forced, or faith is trying to be forced on people. And this is not the way to go, and this is not the way Jesus would do it, but do it in love and try to warn them in love, hey, there is a better way, there is a different way and different possibility. 

And there's also for us, not just love, it's also an understanding that sinners are captives. They are captivated by sin. They don't know that they are not free. They think they are free, but they are controlled by sin and by this world, by the spirits behind this world. And that's why sometimes they act the way they act, they talk the way they talk, or they think the way they think. 

And for them it's normal, for them it's okay, and they don't see that they are deceived by the devil, of course, by the spirit of this world. And because we know that, that also helps us to show love to them and not to condemn them. And that's what we are not doing. We are not judging people. We are just, I would say, we are just judging, let's say, the deeds, the acts, and say, well, that is according to the word of God. 

It is sin and it's not okay. But we are not judging in form of condemning those people, because that's not our business. God is doing that, it's not us. 

That's right. 

We have to show understanding to people, Because they're not alone sinners, we are sinners as well. We're just blessed that we got to know God and his grace and his mercy and his love. And that love and grace we should share as well to the people out there who are actually looking for a type of love. But they're finding it in drugs, or in the same sex, you could say, or in other things. And they go so deep into it because they can't find that love that satisfies them. 

But we have that love that satisfies them. And it doesn't help if we force it to them and 

say, Hey, we got that. 

We got that. We got that because the other things are also forced on them as well. Oh, we got that drug for you. We can help you out with the drug. We got whatever we have. 

We have this situation for you to use this situation. But if we, like we said, show love and understanding. I know you're struggling and you're looking for something, but hey, I got something for you if you have questions. Come by the house, meet my family, for instance, and just let's talk. Let's understand the problem that you have or that we as human beings have. 

And I think that's an effective way to actually show the love towards the people. 

Yeah. It's actually ministering. 

Yeah. Okay. I didn't want to go that deep, but yeah. Yeah. Jesus did the same. 

Amen. 

He was not just teaching and preaching. He spent time with them. He was loving them. He had fun with them. He understood them. 

And people even accused him because he's sitting with sinners and having a good time with him, or even sinners have a good time with him. And sometimes I ask myself the question, if there are sinners around us, can they also enjoy our presence and have a good time among us? Not sinning, but having a good time among us. Not feeling condemned and accused of. Because usually when people get to know you, then they understand what you stand for, they know your faith, and they know it. 

And then when they are around you, They know that according to your opinion, to your faith, they are sinners and so on. But still, can they be comfortable around you? I'm not talking about that comfortable that they don't see a need to change. 

Just after 

a while they need to see that they need to change, of course, but the sinners around Jesus, they were impacted by Him. 

In a positive way. Because from his behavior and his words they still saw, okay, I know what I'm doing is not right and I know He would tell me if I ask Him, but He still is there for me and He still takes care for me. And that's where we see that what God wants of us is actually something really different from tolerance, because tolerance also means that I just don't care. Yeah, you do what you do. I don't care. 

But as Christians, we deeply care for the people and about their lives. So, it's really not tolerance what God wants from us. Sorry. It's really that we stand for truth, but also show love and show grace the same way that He does it. 

That He did towards us, actually. Yes, exactly. And still is doing it 

Every day. To each of 

us, because none of us would be here, 

because we failed and we failed more than 1 time. I did. 

It's the same with the topic of forgiveness. You know the Bible story, when God said, well, I forgave you, so you have to forgive others. In other words, God is gracious to us and tolerates, for a certain time of course, certain behaviors, so should we also be towards other people. Show them grace. Amen. 

Amen. I think 

we have said what we wanted to say or talked about what we wanted to talk about. Thank you very much for this talk and also for you for listening. We hope you will tune in next time when we will talk about another topic and if you want leave a comment or like if you can and if you haven't make sure to press that button that you follow us and the ring bell notification bell that you get notifications when we post something new and then we are very excited to have you next time here as our listeners and hope all the best wish all the best and God bless you. Bye bye. 

God bless you. 

See you soon. 

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