Zero Tolerance!

Tolerance. Acceptance. What are they, and why are so many people trying to push them on us?

It seems that every trip to the grocery store reveals yet another magazine at the checkout stand plastered with the image of the latest Hollywood type to come out of the closet. Most recently, Clay Aiken reports that he is gay, and that he has come out because he cannot lie to his child (who was born out of wedlock and by artificial insemination). Clay Aiken claims to be a Christian, and he says that he is "okay" with his religion and his homosexuality. Most recently, he has asked his fans to be "accepting" of his sexual preference.

Acceptance. There it is again. Tolerance. What is all this about acceptance and tolerance? As far as I'm concerned, Clay Aiken can choose to be of whatever sexual persuasion he wishes. And yes, I do believe it's a choice, not genetic. He can make that choice however he wishes, and I can choose not to accept it and not to tolerate it.

What I have the greatest problem with is that Clay Aiken claims to be a Christian who is okay with the fact that he is also homosexual. I just don't get that. In Leviticus 18:22, speaking to Moses, God said, "Don't have sex with a man as one does with a woman. That is abhorrent." [MSG] God's own words describing homosexuality as "abhorrent." Or, as interpreted in the King James Version, the same passage reads, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." Abomination. Again, in God's own words.

Are we to be accepting and tolerant of things for which God has no tolerance? Not if we wish to follow God's wishes. As He continues in verses 24 through 28, "Don't pollute yourself in any of these ways. This is how the nations became polluted, the ones that I am going to drive out of the land before you. Even the land itself became polluted and I punished it for its iniquities—the land vomited up its inhabitants. You must keep my decrees and laws— natives and foreigners both. You must not do any of these abhorrent things. The people who lived in this land before you arrived did all these things and polluted the land. And if you pollute it, the land will vomit you up just as it vomited up the nations that preceded you." Iniquities, as God describes such behavior, for which they have been punished. And if that's not clear enough, consider the BOLDED text above. God commands us to obey his laws and not do any of these abhorrent things. What abhorrent things? Homosexuality.

Need more? In Romans 1:26-27, we read, Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either—women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches. God has clearly taught us, with no room for misinterpretation, that homosexuality is wrong. By definition, same-sex marriage is then wrong, as it would be the union of two people of the same gender -- which God has said is "abhorrent" and an "abomination."

So what does this have to do with tolerance and acceptance? I'll tell you what. "Acceptance" and "tolerance" are labels that liberals have used to describe such abhorrent behavior to make those of us who are opposed to said behavior (as God has told us to be) appear to be in the wrong. We are wrong because they have attached the labels "tolerance" and "acceptance" to the concept of love. Some have gone so far as to say that Christ taught us to love everyone, and therefore we must love homosexuals, too. The error of their argument is that love does not require tolerance or acceptance.

In John 8, Christ encountered an adulteress. Did he tolerate her sin? Did he accept the fact that she wanted to sin? No. Christ forgave the woman of her sin, but instructed her to "Go now and leave your life of sin." Christ did not say it was okay for her to sin, that he could accept that lifestyle and be tolerant of it. He forgave her and instructed her to give up her sinful lifestyle.

Tolerance was never taught by Christ. It was never directed by God. Obedience, love, and forgiveness. If my spouse were to become addicted to cocaine, would I tolerate it? Would I accept it? Of course not! Cocaine addiction is destructive behavior. Destructive to the addict and to the addict's loved ones. Because I love my wife, I would forgive her for becoming addicted and help her to leave her addiction behind.

This is exactly the behavior that Christ has taught us. He has taught us to forgive, to love, and to hold each other accountable for our sins and to help each other to leave our sinful ways behind.

The liberal labels of tolerance and acceptance are counterproductive to the will of God. Don't fall for it. Instead, stand up for the will of God.

Your comments?

Joe

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