2 Timothy 3: 1-5 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing
to do with such people. (NIV)
This scripture was written by the Apostle Paul over 2,000
years ago and when we look at the condition of the world today, we can say
these things happening right before our eyes. There is a way of thinking that is the foundation for what we see today and it is called anti-Christ thinking. Anti-Christ simply means any idea or lifestyle that is against Jesus Christ. One of those ideas that is prevalent in our society today is Tolerance and Acceptance. Too many people want to excuse the practice of sin with slogans like “God loves everybody” “Do what feels good to you” “Do you” and “Don’t judge” So I want to address this idea of Tolerance and Acceptance.
If I told you 60 years ago, (the 1950s), that there would be a concerted
attempt to remove Jesus Christ from every aspect of American life, you would
say I am crazy. Yet today, a teacher can lose her job by talking about the historical Jesus in
public schools. There are people who want the phrase “in God we trust” be removed from the US dollar bills. Also several states are removing the “Ten Commandments” and
any Biblical symbols from courthouses.
If I told you 60 years ago (the 1950s) that a day would come when men
could marry men and women marry women in America, you would say I was crazy.
But in 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States made this the law of the
land. This is in total contradiction to the God’s Word which defines marriage
as between one man and one woman. The society has its views and God has His view as written in His Word. Obviously more and more secular leaders in power no longer believe the pledge of allegiance that America is no longer "...one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"
What is happening to America? Where are we going? We are in
moral decline and perhaps we can no longer be considered the moral leader of
the world. We, along with South Korea, are the countries with the most
Christian missionaries around the world. But our moral decline is threatening
our position. We promote the gospel via TV more than any other country so we
are a target for the enemies of Christianity (i.e. kingdom of darkness). Satan already has the world and he is
after the church. I want to join others to sounding the alarm but also to state categorically
that this environment is fertile ground to stand up for the gospel and win
souls for the Kingdom of God.
In order to understand what happening, I need to identify
some of the false anti-Christ ideas that are influencing this moral decay. Anti-Christ
simply means any idea that is against Christ.
Authority of
the Bible – Society says that Bible is outdated, is written by man, and is
one of the holy books. But the Bible says in 2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Religion – Society
says that all religions are the same and all lead to salvation. And we all
serve the same god. God, Allah, Buddha etc. are all the same. But
the Bible says in Deut.
8:19 “...if you by any means
forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship
them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish."
The world says that truth is relative and there is no absolute truth. Our culture has done a number on the idea of truth. It teaches that truth and morality are relative which depends on the individual. In other words, there is no such thing as absolute truth. But the Bible says in John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Note Jesus is not one of the ways - He is the only way. Jesus said it and Christians believe it and that settles it for us.
Role of
personal relationships – pleasing people and what’s popular is the way
to advance in society. But the Bible says in Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men,
or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should
not be the servant of Christ.
Spirituality and Oneness with a higher consciousness, the
universe, force or spirit. None of this is the same as the God of the Bible.
Tolerance and Acceptance – Christians
must accept other beliefs because those beliefs are popular and
accepted by most of society, otherwise you are intolerant, hateful and
bigoted. But the Bible says in John 14:15 If
ye love me, keep my commandments
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While Christians can recognize the right of others to have different beliefs, we cannot allow those beliefs to go unchallenged for one simple reason: it is not loving, and Jesus calls us to love.
Acceptance and Tolerance:
One of the first excuses people use when they want to
justify sinful activity is that God loves everybody. Of course they are correct,
God does love everybody. However God also hates sin and wrongdoing and cannot have it around
Him. If you are linked to sinful practices, you will feel the penalty when God judges the sin because you are connected to it. He requires confession and repentance (which is acknowledgement of sin and change of
direction). But people and society want Christians to tolerate sin. Now tolerance means to recognize that people have different
beliefs and that they have a right to do so. However, tolerance in America can
now mean accepting that other beliefs are true even if they go against the
Bible. In other words, Christians must accept beliefs and practices that the Bible says
are wrong, evil and even an abomination. Christians cannot accept sin as
legitimate, even if it is the law of the land such as the law approving abortion.
We Christians expect others to have different beliefs about
the Bible, God and Jesus Christ. We are not surprised that some people don’t
believe in the earth was created in six days.
But in today’s world, do we Christians get tolerance in
return? The answer is a big fat NO. In April of 2013 a professional
basketball player came out and stated that he was gay. Immediately, the
majority of the media and many leading sports and entertainment people celebrated his “courage”. They asked a Christian sports reporter
to give his opinion and he stated that he was opposed to gay behavior because he believed the Bible.
The reporter was ridiculed as being hateful, bigoted and narrow-minded. In
other words he must not have a worldview that is different. What’s going on here? What about freedom of expression? Are we
Christians now going to be harassed and called names because of our beliefs? The
society is demanding that Christians tolerate and accept beliefs that are
contrary or opposed to the Bible. Christians cannot do that. Our Bible says:
Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they
shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out
your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap
for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner
did their fathers unto the prophets.
Jesus said in John 15:18 If the world hate you,
ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
In other words when the world hates us, we need to remember
they do so because they hated Christ first. What is this now? I am a Christian,
you ask me my view, I give you my view which is based on my belief system the
Bible. And the response I get is that I am narrow minded, hateful and biased.
Are we getting to the place where the Bible will be declared as hate speech? I
am sounding the alarm. Don’t take your freedom of religion for granted. It is foolish to expect tolerance and acceptance from others
toward our Christian beliefs, even if they demand tolerance and acceptance for
their own beliefs. The Bible tells us clearly: if we expect or look for
tolerance from the world – Think Again
- we will not get it.
This tolerance and acceptance of sinful practices is a
growing demand against the Christian faith. But how do we respond to this intolerance towards us? We go to our life manual - the Bible
Matt 5:43-44 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Rom 12:20 Therefore
if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing
thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
So we are to love our enemies and pray for them. We do not play by the society’s rules. Our response to
intolerance must not be anger, fear and hate. Instead, we express the love of Christ
which we have in us. Sometimes too many Christians respond to unbelievers with hate
and so alienate them. This is contrary to scripture. We show love for the person but reject the sinful
practices. Tragically, the our society no longer defines
"tolerance" as the recognition that others have a right to different
beliefs and opinions. It now means complete acceptance of those beliefs even if those
beliefs contradicts our Christian beliefs. But this makes no sense because to accept
this type of tolerance eliminates my personal opinion or belief. Christians are
not to endorse, support or accept any social or religious beliefs that go
against what the Bible teaches. This means that Christians are going to face discrimination
for their beliefs in school, colleges, jobs, courts, media, business, community organizations
etc. The challenges are coming if they are not here yet. I am sounding the
alarm and I know that I am not alone. The Christian is and must continue to
sound the alarm.
The problem with tolerance and acceptance today is that it
rejects the possibility that absolute truth exists. The Bible teaches that
truth does exist, that God is truth, and that we are to follow in His truth. John 1:14 and 17
says that Jesus, who came from the Father, gives us truth. John 8:32 says that the truth sets us free from the control of sin.
The Bible is also clear regarding those who hide or distort the truth in the
name of tolerance. Romans 1:18 says whoever suppresses the truth will receive the wrath of
God. In Matt 28:19-20 Jesus says that our mission is to
teach others of the truth about Him. 1 Cor 13:6 says, "Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth."
So it’s not surprising that the secular society will call Christians
narrow minded, bigots and intolerant. Should a Christian be tolerant of others beliefs? Yes. The Bible teaches that many will reject Jesus Christ. We should
be prepared to accept that, as well as the fact that those who reject God will
reject His followers. Christians should not endorse the belief that all
religions lead to God, that truth is a personal construct, or that everyone's
beliefs are valid. Jesus is the truth. Christians are called to tolerate – and to love – people without accepting their beliefs. So we overcome evil with good and the love in us will win
the unbeliever. We are not giving up on America. Christians will stand up for truth
in love.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "Test all things; hold fast what
is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
