Love vs. Tolerance

I was driving in the car this morning thinking about the difference between love and tolerance. It seems as if we live in a culture that constantly talks about tolerance. We see bumper stickers that say "coexist" with every letter representing a different faith. We hear messages that say we should tolerate others no matter what their beliefs or preferences.

I understand where this comes from, I really do. We don't want people to go around discriminating, oppressing, or hurting others just because of the color of their skin or because of their beliefs, but I don't think that tolerance is the right message. Tolerance can be taken to an extreme - most advocates of tolerance would say we shouldn't "judge" based on someone's sexual preferences. But, almost everyone in society would agree that there are some sexual behaviors that should not be tolerated (i.e. teachers sleeping with students, etc.) no matter how much someone might "believe" in that behavior. It's as if those who proclaim tolerance want us to tolerate certain things but not others. Is that really tolerance?

I think that is a major issue, but I think the greater danger of tolerance is that it lacks relationship. We were created for relationship. In the church we know this so dearly, but even the world around us knows this. That's why we live in "communities." The real danger of tolerance is that it suggests that relationships don't matter. Tolerance says, "You can do whatever you want and it does not matter to me."

Personally I'm not ok with that, and I believe there is a better way. In 1 John it tells us that we love because He (Jesus) first loved us. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to love one another. Love says, "You can do whatever you want and it does matter to me." If we truly love someone their actions do matter to us. Our love for them is not dependent upon their actions, we love them no matter what, but we most certainly care what a person does and does not do.

My hope and prayer is that those who have received love (The Church) can show love to the world around us so that we can find a better way to live.

Holiness Unto the Lord

In the Church of the Nazarene, the phrase "Holiness Unto the Lord," is often referred to as our motto or anthem. It is at the heart of who we are. We believe that God has called everyone to "Be Holy for I am Holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). We also believe that God always equips us to do what He calls us to do. That means the call unto holiness is not just a goal to be aimed for, a hope to be longed after, wishful thinking or anything else along those lines.

The call to holiness is what God expects for His followers. God expects His people to be holy. Not because we have any innate goodness in ourselves, or not because we have the will and determination to live holy lives, but rather, because He makes us holy when we allow Jesus to be our Lord and the Holy Spirit to sanctify our lives. Romans tells us that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is at work within you and me when we are united with Christ. If you ask me, that's a lot of power at work in our lives.

I've always believed this about holiness, but this morning as I was reading in Numbers, I realized something. Sometimes I struggle with places in the Old Testament where God tells His people to go into the land He promised them and chase out or kill all of those living there. That just seems a little harsh.

In Numbers 31 God tells the People of Israel to take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. The instruction from God are to kill everyone except for virgin girls. We are told that there were 32,000 virgin girls. That means a lot of people were killed. I was struggling a little bit with this as I was reading this morning, and then all of a sudden it hit me. God is desperate for His people to be Holy! God loves everyone, and desires that all should know Him, but that is also why God is so passionate about His people being holy. The world knows God's holiness through His people (see Ezekiel 33 for an example).

Sin has a way of corrupting everything it touches. Just as a moldy grape can make a whole bunch bad, sin of one can spread to many so very, very quickly. So, God will do everything in His power to keep His people Holy. I think that's why in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus says, "It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

As I pause this morning to think about all of this, I am so thankful that God is so desperate for our holiness. God loves us so much that He will go to great lengths to save and sanctify us. God can and will make us and keep us holy if we allow Him to have His way and His will in our lives. I am thankful for a God like that.

A Step Ahead

So I was thinking about leadership this morning. I've come to believe that one of the greatest things a leader can do is to call people to be just a little further ahead of where the are. Really, the word "leadership" suggests exactly this. By definition, a leader most often goes ahead of those he or she leads.

When I was in seminary I had a wonderful pastor who modeled this for me. He would often talk about our church and say, "We are a church that ..." It took me a while to realize that often when we said, "We are a church that ..." he was often talking about us being a church that we weren't quite yet. He wasn't talking about something that was way different than who we were as a church, just a step ahead of where we presently where. Amazingly, our church continued to move, one step at a time.

In college I led a group of friends up Mt. St. Helens. Most people did quite well on the climb, but there were a few who really struggled, especially over the last mile. So I walked with them, I told them not to look up, but simply to look ahead and focus on where they would place their foot next. And, when all was said and done, they made it to the top, one step at a time.

The most challenging part as a leader is to be patient with your people. Often leaders see the big picture and work so hard to get our people to see this picture as well, but that is a very frustrating endeavor. Instead, if we help our people take one step at a time towards where we are going we can often get there much faster and with less difficulty.

This also means that a leader doesn't have to know every step to take, just the next one. So what's the next step for you, and what's the next step for your people? That's where you begin.