By Rev. Dr. Ed Hird
The late Elie Wiesel, famed writer and holocaust survivor, commented
that there is divine beauty in learning, just as there is human beauty in
tolerance. Most of us as Christians believe
in the value of tolerance even if we cannot define what it means. The Concise Oxford Dictionary speaks of
tolerance as forbearance which means to completely bear with someone’s failings
as you patiently give them time to grow. As Ephesian 4:2 says, we are to be
patient, forbearing and bearing with one another in love. To joyfully tolerate someone doesn’t mean that
we need to agree with them. As Dr John Gottman puts
it, when you honor and respect each other, you're usually able to
appreciate each other's point of view, even if you don't agree with it. You don’t need to be a moral relativist
winking at sin, in order to be biblically tolerant. The joy of tolerance is the
love of neighbour, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Tolerance is also about choosing to
forgive. As Colossians 3:13 puts it, we
need to be forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if you have any
quarrel against one another. Sometimes
our children and teenagers greatly try our patience, particularly when they may
be teasing their siblings. The joy of
tolerance includes setting healthy boundaries while not giving up on painful
people, including our family members.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary also speaks of tolerance as
recognition of the right of private judgement in religious matters, including
the liberty to uphold one’s religious opinions and forms of worship. Our democratic freedoms, like freedom of
thought, speech and assembly, enshrined in our Bill of Rights, are all rooted
in the primary freedom, which is freedom of religion.
The British
Act of Toleration in 1689 was a huge step forward in advancing the
democratic rights of people to freedom of religion. GK Chesterton commented[1] that
tolerance sometimes leads to timidity where people become afraid to even
mention their religious views. True
tolerance doesn’t push religion into a closet but welcomes it joyfully in the
public square. Intolerance is often like
bad breath and body odor; it is difficult to always notice one’s own
intolerance. Sometimes people who pride themselves on being more tolerant than others
end up intolerantly looking down on other people. Dr Timothy Keller commented:
“If you're intolerant of people you think are intolerant, you're still
intolerant. If you are judgmental of people you think are judgmental, you are judgmental.” Sometimes smokers in our postmodern culture
are intolerantly treated like outcasts.
We Christians need to remember to love the smoker even if we cannot
tolerate their second-hand smoke.
Recently we visited all 10,000 homes in the Seymour/Deep
Cove area, inviting people to the March 3rd to 5th Festival of Hope at Rogers Arena with
Franklin Graham. We were impressed by
the tolerant welcome and hospitality of our neighbours. Even atheists would kindly engage us in
fascinating conversations. True tolerance
does not have to agree in order to love.
As Romans 2:4 says, God himself is tolerant, forbearing, kind and
patient, giving us time to change and turn back. My prayer for the Lower Mainland Christian
community is that we would grow in joyful tolerance as we share our common
faith in the one Lord Jesus.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, Rector
St. Simon's Church North Vancouver
-author of Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit
-an article adapted for the Light Magazine and the Deep Cove Crier
[1]
GK Chesterton, Autobiography of GK
Chesterton (Ignatius Press, 1936), 238. https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-G-K-Chesterton-G-K/dp/1586170716
