According to our culture, tolerance is one of the key virtues of today. Those who do not tolerate other ideologies, beliefs, worship practices, sexual preferences, and choices in life are considered to be intolerant. 

It doesn't stop there. Those who are labeled as intolerant are also considered to be racists, bigots, and haters. This is the reason that many "Christians" are shy away from confrontation on these issues and will not speak out against false religions, or stand on biblical truths, because they do not want to be outcasts from society. 

If you listen to me long enough you will find that I do not care if I am an outcast or if people consider me to be intolerant. I am not looking to deliberately offend anyone, but if the truth of God's word offends, then it shouldn't be a surprise because Christ himself told us that they hated him, and if we proclaim truth, the world would hate the followers of Christ too. 

The original definition of tolerance and the way in which the word is used now are quite different. Originally, tolerance meant to acknowledge that others have differing beliefs and accept that it is their right to do so. In this way, Christians are to absolutely be tolerant. Recently, tolerance has come to mean accepting that those other beliefs are true—something Christians absolutely cannot do. Unfortunately, the world no longer defines "tolerance" as acknowledgement that others have a differing belief. It has come to mean full acceptance of those beliefs. Of course this definition makes no logical sense because to embrace this type of tolerance precludes any personal opinion or belief. 

Christians are not to endorse religious beliefs that run counter to what the Bible teaches. It amazes me in our culture today that many Christians are doing everything they can to please and appease the world while being a follower of Christ. Christ told us in Matthew 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."

Now Christ obviously did not come to purposefully divide and cause dissention, so what does that mean. Simply put, the truth of God is dividing. The word of God is polarizing. You either believe it, by faith, or you reject it, there is no middle ground. I can take you to people right now where fathers hate sons and mothers hate daughters because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth divides. The kingdom of light is in conflict with the kingdom of darkness.

As Christians, we are often called narrow-minded and prejudice because they believe that there is only one true way to receive eternal life but is this “one way” belief of our own origination or imagination? No, this is what Jesus said; “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). 

He never said I am one of the ways, I am one of the truths and I am one of the ways to eternal life; rather He said that He is the way, the truth, and the life and there is no other. If we believe that there is only one way to be saved, we only believe what Jesus said and this is Jesus’ teaching, not ours. If people disagree with us about this, it is really their disagreeing with Jesus. 

Clearly, this is what the Scriptures teach, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13). This necessarily means that if someone calls on the Lord’s name they will be saved. The antithesis of this must also of necessity be true; “Whoever does not call on the name of the Lord will not be saved.” There is only one name given to men, women, and children by which they can be saved and that name is Jesus Christ’s (Acts 4:12). It should not amaze us that Jesus is the only way to be saved but considering the sinfulness of mankind, it is amazing that there is any way to be saved at all!


Is there Objective Truth?
I’ve heard this statement frequently; “Well, that may be true for you but that is not true for me. What you believe makes it true for you but it doesn’t make it true for me.” The problem with tolerance as it is now meant is that it rejects the possibility that objective truth exists. The Bible teaches that truth does exist, that God is truth, and that we are to follow in His truth. John 1:14 and 17 says that Jesus, who came from the Father, gives us truth. John 8:32 and Romans 6:16-23 says that the truth sets us free from the control of sin.

The Bible is also clear regarding those who hide or distort the truth in the name of tolerance. Romans 1:18 says whoever suppresses the truth will receive the wrath of God. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says that our mission is to teach others of the truth about Him. First Corinthians 13:6 (NIV) says, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." John 14:6 says that Jesus is the truth. While Christians can acknowledge the right of others to have different beliefs, we cannot allow those beliefs to go unchallenged for one simple reason: it is not loving, and Jesus calls us to love (Luke 10:25-37). 

It's inevitable that the world will call believers intolerant, but we can mitigate the damage by being intolerant in the way God tells us to. First, we must know what we believe (1 Peter 3:15). Second, we need to know how to teach what we believe. Second Timothy 2:23-26 says:

But avoid foolish and unlearned debates, knowing that they create strife. 24 The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be gentle toward all people, able to teach, patient, 25 in gentleness instructing those in opposition. Perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

In the heat of the moment, faced with personal attack and rejection, it's easy to forget the reason we speak truth. It is not so that we'll be proved right and vindicated, but in the hope that the truth will set another free.

Should a Christian be tolerant of others' religious beliefs? Yes, in the classical sense. The Bible teaches that many will reject God. We should be prepared to accept that, as well as the fact that those who reject God will reject His followers. Christians should not be tolerant in the modern sense. We should not endorse the belief that all religions lead to God, that truth is a personal construct, or that everyone's beliefs are valid. Jesus is the truth. Christians are called to tolerate – and even to love – people without accepting their false beliefs.

If we understand that it is not our responsibility to save people who are lost and outside of saving faith, we should be more understanding of the beliefs of others. Without the Holy Spirit to reveal a person’s need for the Savior, there is no way that we can convince them by arguing that their belief or religion is false. No person will ever argue their way into God's kingdom. It is not our responsibility to save anyone…it is their response to His ability, although it is our responsibility to tell them. We can point them to Christ but God alone does the saving (John 6:44) 

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). The point Paul is making here is that we cannot convince people that they are wrong. We can tell them about Jesus and point out that their sins have the wrath of God abiding on them. We can tell them that Buddha is not the way to be saved but until the Spirit of God convicts them of their sin and convinces them that Jesus is their only hope to be saved, they are “not able to understand.”


Acceptance is primary in our culture. This is especially seen in the LGBT lifestyle. Not accept someone who participates in a homosexual lifestyle is pure evil in the eyes of the world. A persons religious beliefs are no different. However, I will not accept that homosexuality is an alternate lifestyle. I will only accept that God is pleased with marriage between one man and one woman. I do not and will not accept that there are multiple ways to get to Heaven. I will not accept that there is salvation in any name other than through Jesus Christ. While I stand firm on those beliefs, I do not hate those who believe in or practice those things. 

When thinking about beliefs that are different than ours, many Christians fail to see what is most important. Is our goal to see them come to Christ? If so, then how will will we win them with arguing, ostracizing them, and writing them off? We would be in this same state of disbelief in Christ except the Spirit of God revealed these things to us. We are in no way superior to those who don’t believe. We are only in a better position on the coming Day of Judgment and that is only because Jesus became sin for us so that when the Father sees us, He sees Jesus’ own righteousness and not our sinfulness (2 Cor 5:21). That is not something that we did but it is what God has done. For those who believe in Muhammad’s way, Confucius, Buddha, Mormonism, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, we must realize it is only by the grace of God that we are not in the same belief systems ourselves. When we understand that salvation is fully a work of God and that God receives all the glory for our being saved, we will be more tolerant of those who differ in their beliefs. If we understand these things, we can tolerate others; indeed it should motivate us to pray for them so that their blindness can be removed so that they are able to see the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Conclusion
We can accept a person's right to believe whatever they choose without compromising what we believe. We can also do this without arguing, fussing, and fighting. Just because I refuse to verbally or physically fight with someone over their religious beliefs doesn’t mean that I agree with what they believe. And for the record I need to say this to a whole bunch of people. Just because I disagree with someone's religious beliefs, that doesn't make me a racist, bigot or hater. We have got to relearn something in our society that just because we disagree it doesn't mean we have to hate each other. 

Yes, there are some people that I will not fellowship and cannot walk with in this life, but we should still love people, even those who disagree with us. There is hope for everyone. 1 Corinthians 6:11 tells us that "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." That means that no one is outside of the saving arms of Jesus Christ. Conversion can happen and they can be changed. But I will guarantee they will not be changed if we argue fuss and fight with them and write them off. We must still share with them that Jesus is the only way but if they don’t believe in Him, then all we can do is pray that the Spirit of God reveals this to them. This doesn’t lesson our responsibility to proclaim the gospel but we should understand that it takes the Word of God, from a person of God, mixed with the Spirit of God, to make the children of God, and for the glory of God.