Is It Tolerance or Cowardice?
Lonnie Hendrix
As someone who formerly associated with the Church of God International and continues to have family and friends within that organization, most of you will understand the focus of my posts on that particular Armstrong Church of God. More particularly, for many years now, I have concentrated on the dissonant messaging coming from that group.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the situation within that organization, there is a substantial group of ministers who have rejected the heresies of British Israelism and Current Events Headline Theology. In short, this group is focused on the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ and eternal life in God’s Kingdom. However, there is another prominent group of ministers who embrace both and are insistent that those things be the focus of that organization’s messaging. Unfortunately, the more enlightened group has decided to be very tolerant of, and accommodating toward, the Armstrongist reactionaries in their midst.
Why tolerate messaging which they clearly think is inappropriate and/or wrong? When presented with that question, those ministers often cite the need to keep the peace, preserve the unity of the organization, and/or tolerate diverse perspectives within their membership. On the surface, it sounds reasonable and noble, but it doesn’t hold up very well under the scrutiny of Scripture.
First, we know that Jesus of Nazareth delivered very clear instructions to his disciples about messaging before he ascended into heaven. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read: “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20, NLT) Did you notice the glaring absence of anything regarding currents events or Anglo-Israelism? In other words, NOTHING about warning Israel!
“We’re preaching the right message!” the enlightened protest. “Nevertheless, the reactionaries have their fans, and they’d be upset if we didn’t post their messages!” they claim. The thinking seems to go something like this: “Sure, they’re wrong, but what’s wrong with keeping them happy?” Of course, they would recoil in horror if that same line of reasoning was employed with regards to homosexuality, Sabbath-keeping, or Festival observance! “I don’t personally believe in British Israelism, but what harm can it do to indulge their delusion?” “It’s an unfortunate part of our culture and history.” In the meantime, the other side is shouting: “At least we have the courage to speak the ‘truth’ and confront Israel’s sins!”
All of this reminds me of a story in the Hebrew Bible and another one in the Greek New Testament. In the time of the judges, we read that Eli was faithful to the Lord and didn’t follow the wicked behaviors of his sons; but he did tolerate their behavior (I Samuel 2:12-16, 22-25). How did God react to Eli’s tolerance of his sons’ behavior? We read that he sent a prophet to confront ELI! He demanded: “why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!” (Verse 29, NLT) As a consequence, Eli was told that God would remove his family from the priesthood, and that his sons would die (I Samuel 2:30-36)!
Likewise, in Paul’s first epistle to the saints at Corinth, we read: “I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.” (I Corinthians 5:1-8, NLT)
In both of these instances, the tolerance of someone else’s wrongdoing tainted the “righteous” with sin. Eli and the Christians of Corinth weren’t personally participating in the evil behaviors which were displeasing to God, but they were tolerating or overlooking those behaviors in others!
Finally, Paul told the saints of Galatia: “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” (Galatians 1:6-10, NLT) Clearly, Paul thought that messaging was important. What about you?
