Last week I attended the National New Church Conference in Orlando, Fl. At this conference one of the speakers presented the idea that Tolerance is a cheap alternative to Grace.
Tolerance is such a popular phrase today. It seems that the only thing that isn’t tolerated in many circles is intolerance. But is tolerance just a watered down version of Grace? Tolerance seems to say that I accept you where you are. Grace says I accept you where you are, but for your own best interest I will not leave you there. Tolerance can often enable destructive behavior. Grace tolerates people with destructive traits, but doesn’t allow those traits to be kept around.
How can we be people who give grace without just giving tolerance?
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8 comments:
I've been hanging out in the sermon on the mount for some months now. How does your grace & tolerance thoughts tie into judge not... & remove the plank from your own eye first?
Bottom line is love. If we love our brothers in christ, we extend grace by walking beside them in correcting destructive behavior. If we love people outside the church, we do not judge, rather we offer tolerance because they do not have an understanding of christ.... This doesn't mean we don't share Christ-we do, by modeling His love for them first.
Did Christ offer grace or show tolerance to the pharisees?
In last Sunday's sermon I mentioned that I thought tolenrance was a weak concept as well. It seems to me it is just putting up with people who are different than you. God, on the other hand, calls us not to tolerate people who are different than us but to live in community with them: to share lives, stories, food, and worship.
People suffer from the disease of "stuckness" all the time. It is pretty common. Tolerance is ok with other people being stuck. Tolerance shrugs its shoulders and says "whatever" to being stuck. The difference with grace is that grace calls people out of the stuckness. It is possible to love and accept others where they are, walking with them, and at the same time not being content and calling them to something better. Calling them to true freedom. Calling them to as the Switchfoot song so beautifully puts it "A New Way To Be Human." I believe that Jesus not only came to save us from our sins and death, but he came so that he could show us how to truly live. That is a message that when mixed with grace, not tolerance, will change lives. I know it changed mine.
I see it more the way hoosier does. I think tolerance has an inherent humility. When we speak of grace there seems to be an underlying assumption that we know what's best for people and we are the judge of their actions. Tolerance however admits that while we might not agree on certain issues, my position could be wrong and I accept you.
May God in his perfect wisdom give me grace. May people in their flawed opinions give me tolerance.
Hoosier- I like your point about not judging those outside the church- it seems like a biblical notion. I think Christ's grace for the pharisees didn't allow them to stay the way they were. It would be easier for him just to walk away from them.
Charlton- from my experience the only way to experience community with others is with a heavy dose of grace.
Cromer- I too think switchfoot did a good job of taking Paul's idea of the second Adam (JC) and putting it into lyrics.
Layman- I dont think knowing whats best for people is the same as judging people. I know its not best for certain friends of mine to stop abusing alcohol, but I am not pretending to be better than them. Sometimes we are just too close to the situation to grasp the bigger picture. What say you?
I say that assuming we know what's best for people is arrogant. When we assume the position of the one responsible for handing out grace we have taken the role of God in that relationship. Furthermore, I agree there are certain situations where what's best seems to be more obvious, like your alcoholism example, but the majority of times it is much more complex. Whether or not you want to admit it, when you examine someone else's life and decide what is best for them, you are making a judgment. Jesus seemed to be most angry with religious people who were intolerant of the "sinful" behavior they saw in others. Besides, even if you had an infallible sense of what was best for those around you, how exactly would you "not allow those traits to be kept around?"
Couldn't tolerance be the door that opens to grace? For those who need it?
Sarah-
First of all this Grace=Tolerance things seems to be just an exercise in semantics.
Grace is tolerant and invite people in to the way of Jesus. So yes I agree.
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