The Beauty of Intolerance: Setting a Generation Free to Know Truth and Love by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell

Author:Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Christian Theology, Apologetics
ISBN: 9781630589400
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press
Published: 2016-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

chaPter 7

KNOW THE TRUTH AND

SPEAK IT IN LOVE

TXT_Beauty of Intolerance.indd 129

10/9/15 2:19 PM

TXT_Beauty of Intolerance.indd 130

10/9/15 2:19 PM

“Homosexuality is sinful,” Todd stated emphatically to his son. “It’s not the way God designed us—it’s unnatural.”

“Can you hear yourself, Dad?” Chad countered, shaking his

head in disapproval. “You have no right to judge like that. You’ve

got to accept people for who they are.”

Is Chad right? When his dad claims that homosexuality is a sin

against God’s design, is he passing unwarranted judgment? Does he

have a right to make such a judgment? How about Renee’s father?

He stated that it was flat wrong for her to sleep with her boyfriend.

As Christians, can we be so definitive or dogmatic as to claim other people are wrong for what they do or say or believe to be true about themselves?

First, what Renee and Chad were reacting against most was

the way their fathers were coming across to them. Renee felt that

her dad was disappointed in her as a person. He made it quite clear

she was violating what she was taught. Chad felt that his dad was

attacking his friend’s brother and rejecting him for who he was.

There weren’t a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings in the room with

either family. Reactions and accusations normally escalate into

emotional hurts when parents become emphatic and aggressive in

expressing their beliefs. Such interactions rarely end well.

What we as parents want is to help our young people see why

certain things are wrong and for them to make right choices in

life. Yet in sharing the truth with our young people, especially on

the bigger and highly controversial issues like sexual behavior, it’s easy to focus more on the dos and don’ts and fail to consider the

feelings involved. More often than not, emphasizing the rules tends

to deemphasize the relationship. Whenever we share the truth with

our young people, or with anyone else, for that matter, it is more

effective when expressed in the context of a loving relationship that THE BEAUTY OF INTOLERANCE — 131

TXT_Beauty of Intolerance.indd 131

10/9/15 2:19 PM

has the other’s best interest at heart.

The apostle Paul wrote that we are to “speak the truth in love,

growing in every way more and more like Christ” (Ephesians

4:15). Moral truth was meant to be experienced in the context of a

loving relationship. All of God’s truth comes from his loving, holy

character and is meant to provide for us and protect us. He wants

us to know that following his truth is always in our best interest

(Deuteronomy 10:13).

The very reason we should want our young people, or anyone

we know, to follow the instructions God has given us is because

that is what is best for them. That is what love is about—it looks

out for the best interest of another person. But does our love give us the right to make judgments about another’s beliefs and behavior?

Caring deeply for someone seems to be on the opposite end of the

spectrum from judging his or her behavior.

TO JUDGE OR NOT TO JUDGE

What does scripture say?

Judge not, that you be not judged.

(Matthew 7:1 nkjv)

If cultural tolerance had a theme verse, Matthew 7:1 would be

it—a direct command, from Jesus no less, that we are not to

judge others.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.