Is “Intolerance” a sin?

If we listen to the outcry against many Christians today it is common to hear people say that we are an “intolerant” lot. I do think as I process this accusation through the lens of scripture and let God be the judge on these things we might discover that many Christians are not really “intolerant” enough!
In Revelation 2:20 Jesus rebuked one church for being too “tolerant” of things which are false, such as false prophets. In Revelation 2:2 Jesus commended a church for being intolerant of EVIL.
There are very few times this word is found in the bible, so these should help us to get some insight in this matter. From a biblical perspective I think Christians must get a balanced view on the subject. I also think that many who do not like the views of Christians should be more honest about what they are saying. The truth is that everyone of us are “intolerant” of some things. For example, most Americans on either side of the political, social, or racial spectrum would say that they have no tolerance for murderers and rapists. Almost everyone would say this is evil and should not be tolerated.

If we think about this realistically, the very ones who cry out that Christians are “intolerant” are quite intolerant themselves toward the very people they are hurling this accusation at.
If Christians are going to learn to have a biblical world view about society then it is important to learn to “hate” in a biblical way and to “love” in a biblical way. This may sound silly to some, but not to those who are willing to explore what the scriptures have to say about these matters.
The Psalmist David in just one Psalm addressed both of these things. Two times in Psalm 119 David said he “hated every false way” and one time in that Psalm he said he “hated lying” and another time he says “he hated vain things.” Now we would need to study the Bible to learn what things we need to learn to hate. When a person comes to Christ this process begins. Before coming to Christ we hated certain things and we loved certain things. What happens from the moment we begin our journey we learn to “hate many of the things we once loved and to love many of the things we once hated.” This is exactly how it should be too.
To be clear, I must say we must not treat others with a hateful spirit at all. All mankind is created in the likeness and image of God and should be treated with dignity regardless of whether we agree on certain things or not. But to say that we cannot hate certain things that God tells us we should hate is quite unfair. This is especially so when it becomes apparent that the very ones who say Christians are hateful are often more intolerant themselves. This should not surprise a Christian however because Jesus actually taught his disciples that we should expect to be hated by others in this world the more we identify with Christ.
I also see in Psalm 119 that David said there were certain things that he now loved. Seven times in that Psalm David said that he loved God’s word. He loved the “precepts” “the law” “the testimonies” and he talked about how it important it was to love “thy name” talking about God.
Since God says quite a lot on this subject it would be wise to learn what God loves and hates and to get in line with God on these matters. One day we will all stand before God and the only opinion that will matter then is God’s. We cannot vote our way into heaven by a majority vote. We must be chosen by God and we must choose for God and His Son. If we don’t love God here and love his Son, then one day we will be rewarded with getting to live for eternity without Him. In the end we all get what we want. If we love fellowship with God and Christ while we are here there will much more of that in eternity. The opposite will be true to those who say “No” to God now, because they just do not love what God loves and they do not hate what God hates. So as believers let us be careful that in all our efforts to not offend others we offend the very one that gives to us life now and immortality later on. Loving our neighbor is the second of the great commands, but loving God must always precede that just as our Lord instructed in His Word, telling us that this is the first and foremost of all His commands.

Things to think about.

Dan McKenney