Tolerance and Free Speech

6 + 3 = 9 but so does 5 + 4

The way you do things is not always the only way to do them.

The Bible says in 1 Cor. 12 that there are diversities of operations but the same Lord that worketh in all.

I can tolerate that which may be different but yet still yields the same results being orchestrated by the Lord.

To balance this out in the words of Stephen Prothero, "Both tolerance and respect are empty virtues until we actually understand whatever it is we are supposed to be tolerating or respecting.

For example: I tolerate your right to free speech. However, I do not tolerate your intolerance towards my right to free speech.

So before I tolerate what you are doing, I will take the time to examine your motive, mindset or ideology to see what the outcome of following you will be.

I will not follow you into a ditch.

Your mindset or ideology will lead people towards God or towards the devil, towards hate or towards love, towards unity or towards division, towards truth or towards lies, towards morality or towards immorality, towards righteousness or towards unrighteousness, towards God-centeredness or self-centeredness, towards what is right or towards what is wrong.

So next time you post something on Facebook, look at the above and see what you are leading your followers towards. Because one day we shall all stand before the Lord and our opinions will not mean a thing. We will simply be judged by every idle word we have spoken (Mt 12:36).

This word idle means useless. Think about that the next time you decide to voice your opinion. Will God say on judgment day that you were part of the problem or part of the solution?

Written by Troy Nichols 02/09/2017