Jesus and Tolerance

This weekend we debated (I lost) watching "Intolerance" the silent film from 1916. I will watch it by myself later this week, but as I recall from my days studying the history of movies, my issue with the film is that I was left wondering that the problem of intolerance cannot be solved by mankind becoming uncritically tolerant. This morning I was chatting it up with someone who felt that Christians are considered amongst the most intolerant of people. I disagreed to the point of intolerance, and pointed out the Lord's intolerance of Sin, and maybe our problem is that we do not communicate the message as well as He would like us to.

Posted over at To All theWorld this radio sermon was from 1959 and given by Billy Graham in which he takes on the following points:

1) The Way Is Narrow.
2) Jesus was narrow about the way of salvation.
3) Our Lord's Intolerance.
4) Playing Both Sides.
5) Jesus was intolerant toward hypocrisy.
6) Jesus was intolerant toward selfishness.
7) Jesus was intolerant toward sin.

This is from the first point,

"If you should ask a man the direction to New York City and he said, 'Oh, just take any road you wish, they all lead there,' you would question either his sanity or his truthfulness. Somehow, we have gotten it into our minds that "all roads lead to heaven. You hear people say, 'Do your best,' 'Be honest,' and 'Be sincere—and you will make it to heaven all right.'
But Jesus Christ, who journeyed from heaven to earth and back to heaven again—who knew the way better than any man who ever lived—said, 'Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it'" (Matt. 7:13,14).

And this is from the last point,

"He was tolerant toward the sinner but intolerant toward the evil which enslaved him. To the adulteress he said, 'Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more' (John 8:11). He forgave her because he loved her; but he condemned sin because he loathed it with a holy hatred.
God has always been intolerant of sin! His Word says: 'Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil' (Isa. 1:16).
'Awake to righteousness, and sin not' (1 Cor. 15:34). 'Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts …' (Isa. 55:7).
Christ was so intolerant of sin that he died on the cross to free men from its power."

What Billy Graham was seeing as the new "tolerance" might have been something that contributed to the changes of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's.  

Never mind me, I'm just another intolerant $@&.

Read it all at Robert S.Munday's blog, To All theWorld.