Loving intolerance
by Marnie Deaton
In this day and age, it’s often difficult for Christians to speak out about other people’s actions. Our culture’s current love of tolerance causes some Christians to so fear being offensive that we avoid speaking out at all. However, Christians live under a different moral code than unbelievers. Christians are not called to be tolerant. Instead, Christians are called to be loving. The truth is, it’s not really loving to sit back and watch in silence while our friends or family (or nation) make immoral choices. This is because, without fail, immoral choices are destructive. A Christian’s goal is not necessarily to change people’s behavior. The goal is to speak the truth in love in order to at least give fair warning and possibly offer another way.
Once, when I was taking heat for disagreeing with a certain politician, a friend of mine reminded me of the example of John the Baptist. +John spent time telling people to “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” But it wasn’t just the children of Israel that John spoke to or about. Herod, the ruler of that area, had John arrested because of Herod’s relationship with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, Philip. For John had been saying to him, “it is not lawful for you to have her.” As explained in Matthew 14, John was confronting Herod about his bad behavior and Herod threw him in jail.
I imagine that tolerant Christians discussing a modern day John the Baptist would say something like this: You know, I know John means well, but I’m afraid he is turning people off. After all, everyone knows Herodias was in a bad marriage and its good to see that Herodias and Herod have finally found some happiness with each other. +John just makes Christians seem intent on being judgmental. +Why can’t he realize that he is offending people with that “black and white” moral standard he keeps talking about?
I hate to say it, but thank goodness John was hanging out in the wilderness and wasn’t preaching in the church. That repentance message of his would offend the very people we are trying to reach.
However, that is not what Jesus said about John. What Jesus said to the crowds about John was, I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John (Luke 7:28).
John didn’t necessarily change Herod’s behavior. But, he did speak the truth. I think, at the very least, that leaves us some room to tell people about the statistics below. As I said, immoral choices are destructive. You might find some anecdotal stories about well-adjusted homosexuals and/or bachelors who have sex with multiple women yet never contract one STD and live fulfilling lives as they flit from lover to lover, but the statistics tell a different story.
Rather than list all the arguments, it seemed easiest to just make the point and then refer you to web sites+that record the actual statistics.
Marriage:
Monogamous marriage is the safest place for women and children:
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/marriage/children.cfm
Acceptance of Homosexual marriage and Civil Unions results in a decline in overall marriages:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/660zypwj.asp
No-fault Divorce laws caused the US divorce rate to increase+by 250 percent over a twenty-year period from 1960 to 1980:
http://www.stolenvows.com/TwiceAdopted.htm
Abortion and Birth Control:
Bible Verses and Abortion
http://www.abortion-and-bible.com/#excuses
Abortion and Increased Breast Cancer Risk
http://www.abortionbreastcancer.org/
Abortion and increased depression, substance abuse, Post Abortion Syndrome
Contraception:
Birth Control Comparative Failure Rates
http://www.contracept.org/risks.php
Oral Contraceptives and Increased Breast Cancer Risk
http://www.bcpinstitute.org/brochure2.htm
From womenshealth.about.com: Oral contraceptives (OCs) first became available to American women in the early 1960s. A correlation between+estrogen and increased risk of breast cancer has sparked continuing controversy about a possible link between OCs and cancer. However, in spite of this concern, the convenience,+effectiveness, and reversibility of action of birth control pills (which are popularly known as “the pill”) makes them the most popular form of birth control in the United States.
This fact sheet addresses only what is known about OC use and the risk of developing cancer. It does not deal with the most serious side effect of OC use–the+increased risk of cardiovascular disease for certain groups of women.+http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/thepill/a/oralcontrcncrri.htm.
Drug Resistant STDs:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/216219/new_drug_resistant_std_is_causing_alarm.html?cat=5
http://atdn.org/simple/resistance.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5387438/
Homosexuality:
Hate Crimes-homosexuals are 244% more likely to be the perpetrators of violence against other homosexuals than were heterosexuals.
http://familypolicy.net/papers/?p=553#ixzz0RxSJyKUZ
Medical Consequences of Homosexual Sex
http://www.biblebelievers.com/Cameron2.html#references
http://www.lifeandlibertyministries.com/archives/000101.php
Effect of anoreceptive intercourse on anorectal function (or, do homosexual men damage each other to the point that they need to wear diapers?)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8459377
The point, at the end of the day, is that when Christians keep quiet, we might avoid being offensive but we also avoid being loving. If immoral choices bring pain, then it is loving to let people know about it. Jesus, and more specifically, forgiveness through Jesus, is the only way to take care of that pain, not only in this world, but also in the life to come. You can find out more here.
