Tolerance once meant that you loved people and were respectful and kind—even if you had profound differences with their beliefs and behaviors. Now, it has come to mean that you view all beliefs and behaviors as equally valid, and the only thing that society cannot tolerate are those who are intolerant according to this perverse re-definition.
If there is a verse jerked from context and believed by those who reject the Bible otherwise, it is this one, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1). The very ones who scoff at Jesus’ claim in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” are eager to accept His authority on the subject of “judging” others.
Christ’s condemnation of a harsh, judgmental spirit is expanded to mean that we don’t have any discernment or make any moral judgments whatsoever. It is an, “I’m OK, and you’re OK,” theology and morality.
Dare I say it? That’s WRONG!
Tolerance is a virtue when love is shown. It is a vice when truth is sacrificed. That was the problem at Thyatira.
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ (Revelation 2:18-29)
There were many commendable qualities of this church. But, there was the corruption of idolatry and immorality that Christ commanded to be confronted and corrected—or else! You see how wrong belief (idolatry) and wicked behavior (immorality) are inseparably linked.
Take your favorite dessert, and just sprinkle on a spoonful of chicken manure—would you eat it?
That was the spiritual equivalent of Bible teaching at Thyatira—and the bane of evangelicalism today. “Love Wins!” That’s the message that is published, promoted, and praised. The reality is that true love cares enough to remove the lethal poison of false doctrine and confront the deadly peril of filthy deeds—with repentance and redemption in view.
You don’t have to be mean to be moral. You don’t have to be haughty to be holy. You don’t have to be a Bible bully to be a Bible believer. But, you dare not compromise conviction in the name of compassion which is like, “Grape Nuts” cereal—neither one!
We advertise our open hearts, open minds, and open doors. Open hearts should love sinners—as Jesus did. Open minds to receive God’s truth is a desirable quality. Open doors for people to hear the truth that will set them free is great. But the church that is so “open” that you can be comfortable with any kind of idea or lifestyle while sitting in the pew has become a modern Thyatira. You should be welcome to enter and hear the Gospel—to come just as you are--but, to be challenged to leave different. If the church isn’t about making saints out of sinners--what’s the point?
The loving Lord Jesus Christ forcefully said about such a church,
"And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works."
And that’s the truth!
Yours for Truth,
Dennis Thurman, Mission Strategist
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