LOOKING TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP JESUS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. 18 No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].

Friday, January 25, 2008

Tolerance or nonsense

Acts 4:13-20 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (14) But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. (15) But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, (16) saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. (17) But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” (18) So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (19) But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, (20) for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Peter and John were told by the rulers , elders, and scribes to speak no more about Jesus. Why? They did not want the message about Jesus, that Peter and John were proclaiming to spread any further because their religion and their beliefs were being challenged. Their message about Jesus was a message that was in conflict with their religious dogma and it threatened their power. Peter and John were making exclusive truth claims. Peter and John boldly stated that they were compelled to obey God and not men and continue to proclaim the truth.

This truth is also under tremendous attack today in our post-modern culture. Truth is deemed relative and hard to know for certain. Freedom of religion has been a hallmark in America since the beginning of the country, and tolerance is the concept that freedom of religion rests. Religious tolerance means to have a permissive attitude toward beliefs that you do not agree with and consider wrong. However, an ever-growing number in our post-modern society consider this view to be intolerant. Since many claim truth is relative, it is considered intolerant to believe your truth is correct and someone with a different truth belief is wrong. Post-modern thinking asserts that two conflicting religious views must both be considered valid in order to be tolerant. This nonsense is pervasive in our country as most political, media and university leaders all affirm that accepting the validity of conflicting religious beliefs is necessary to be politically correct and tolerant. Perhaps this illogical nonsense reached a pinnacle when Bill Mahr said on the Bill O’Reilly show, “I hate it when people tolerate intolerance.” There you have it. The only thing left not to tolerate is intolerance. Bible believing brothers and sisters we are considered intolerant for not affirming other religions as being valid and true. Many that claim to be Christians have already adopted this PC view. For example, Larry King loves to ask Christians of all stripes if Jesus is the only way to salvation. It seems very few will say without reservation yes Larry that is true, and many will openly assert that God is so loving and big that he surely has provided many ways to salvation. The result of this politically correct gobbly gook is that everyone who claims Christianity as the only truth and only way are marginalized as fundamentalist, conservative, literalists, born again, intolerant, etc. Further those holding these views are called dangerous and in many cases compared to being as dangerous as Islamic Jihadists.

We are now faced with the same decision that Peter and John faced. Are we going to conform so as to be acceptable by the world or are we going to listen to God? The pressure to conform is increasing as we speak.

What do you think?

10 Comments:

Blogger jazzycat said...

We should always remember when our culture speaks of diversity and tolerance, they are not speaking of tolerating politically incorrect diversity. Ask Ann Coulter or the many conservative Christian and political speakers that are banned from speaking at universities. If you are judged intolerant by the PC police, then you are not to be tolerated.

Their kind of freedom of speech is a sham because it is based on conformity to their standards.

January 25, 2008 11:03 AM

 
Blogger jazzycat said...

We recently saw first hand how the views of Bluecollar contributors are tolerated. This should not surprise or baffle us and should be expected.

January 25, 2008 11:06 AM

 
Blogger mark pierson said...

I wonder if today's Christian, myself included, would be as bold and uncompromising in the proclaimation of the gospel as were Peter and John here. No, today we think that we can be more conversant with the haters of God than were first century Christians, who went on to die for testifying of the gospel, as well as righteousness, self control, and the judgement to come.

Yep, it seems we know more about how to communicate the gospel than did they. The Baptist was shut up into prison, and hated by Herodious, for testifying that the union between her and Herod Antipass was adultrus.

January 25, 2008 11:26 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On the subject of political correctness, what I find particularly disconcerting is the great number of people who believe what the mainstream media tell them. I have not watched TV [cough] "news" [cough] for years now, but I hear enough of it at the top and bottom of every hour on conservative talk radio to know what's being fed to the masses out there. And then I visit some secular (craft-oriented) blogs, and it's shocking what people believe! The drivel of empty talk (“time for change,” “audacity of hope,” “economic recession,” “global warming,” “environmental crisis,” etc.)

I really liken it in my own mind to Hitler's propaganda. To me it’s really not altogether different. I can better see how people were swayed at that time so easily against the Jews. Look at what people buy into today - global warming, perceived need for federal government to take care of their needs, governmental health care, perceived inequities of races and sexes, and perceived inequity or unfairness against anyone who is not a white, Christian male.

Sorry; I know that this is all a side issue to the post, yet not unrelated, and it saddens me so very deeply to see this in my time, my culture, my country. And yet, I begin to think back to other times and cultures and history how very much more difficult it must have been to see the same things.

That we would all have the boldness of Paul and Christ’s disciples, for time is short, and we are but vapors.

January 25, 2008 1:19 PM

 
Blogger Baptist Girl said...

When we tolerate, we end up compromising the Truth and then it is just not Truth anymore.

Spurgeon said.."Constantly we hear of proposals for union, and truly these are welcome where mere technical matters divide true Christians; but what is the use of pretending to create union where there can be none? There is another matter which needs to be thought of as well as union, and that is TRUTH. To part with truth to show charity is to betray our Lord with a kiss. Between those who believe in the eternal verities and those who constantly cast doubt on them there can be no union. One cried of old, 'Is it peace?' And the answer was a sharp and true one. We render it thus -- 'What hast thou to do with peace while departures from the truth of God are so many?' The first question is, 'Are we one in Christ?' And are we obedient to the truth revealed in the Scriptures? If so, union will necessarily follow: but if not, it is vain to clamour for a confederacy which would only be an agreement to aid and abet each other's errors."

Cristina

January 25, 2008 1:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"What fellowship has light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14b

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." - Ephesians 5:11

Cristina,
Excellent quote.

January 25, 2008 4:51 PM

 
Blogger jazzycat said...

Susan & Cristina,
Great point and Spurgeon quote.

The Bible is very clear that Christians and their message will be hated by the world. This was vividly illustrated by two long rambling comments that I deleted recently. Both are real actual examples that affirm the view taken in this post.

Let me say the purpose of this post is to help Christians understand exactly the opposition we are facing with the post-modern secular world-view.

January 25, 2008 10:16 PM

 
Blogger jazzycat said...

Diversity and PC tolerance on display. The following is from a Pilot Tribune newspaper article ..........

"The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed.
When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins.
The prayer asked of "Victory over those who disbelieve," and "Protection from the great Satan" among other things."

Those who disbelieve would be all non-muslims and the great satan is the USA. Hmmmmmmmmm.

January 25, 2008 10:41 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jazzy,

I am late to reading this latest comment of yours, but it's amazing (not particularly surprising) that this prayer in the Iowa legislature has not been widely covered by the media.

Had it been a Christian prayer for forgiveness of our sins as a nation, you can bet it would have received wider attention.

I weep for our nation, and thank God for His sovereignty. All the more reason to have that eternal future perspective of which you wrote on your blog.

January 27, 2008 9:48 PM

 
Blogger jazzycat said...

2-1-08
The following confirms that tolerance is only for acceptable PC speech...........
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was heckled by protestors during a speech in San Francisco Thursday.
Members of the anti-war group Code Pink shouted down the former Arkansas governor during an address before the Commonwealth Club.

February 01, 2008 8:25 AM

 

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