- G.K. Chesterton
Tolerance. It's a word we hear a lot today. The cry for tolerance is deafening. People must tolerate political differences, religion, sexual orientation, drug use, and morality. If you do not show tolerance, you are swiftly ostracized as a bigot, or worse, a fundamentalist.
Now, there is little wrong with tolerance in itself. As Catholics, we should look past race, religion, and other differences to see the Christ inside of everyone.
The problem comes when we are asked to tolerate sin: to allow the "marriage" of homosexual couples, to respect a woman's "right" to chose death for the human child in her womb, and to stay silent as debauchery, pornography, and vulgarity are protected as expressions of free speech.
No, sin must not be tolerated. It CANNOT be tolerated. The works of the Enemy should not stand unmolested. We should vigorously attack the manifestations of sin within the bounds of God-given authority. We need to hate sin.
Does that then mean that we should hate the sinners too? The junkies, the gangsters, the abortion clinic workers, the immoral rappers, the arrogant businessmen and politicians? Don't they deserve to be punished for what they have done? Shouldn't we avoid them so as not to compromise ourselves?
Brothers and sisters, the answer lies in Scripture. When Jesus saw the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned (John 8), he did not praise the actions of the crowd as being just. Nor did he stand by as her sentence for death was carried out. Jesus confronted the crowds with the inconvenient truth. "'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'" (John 8:7). Jesus turned the mirror back onto the crowd. They were just as guilty as the woman, perhaps even more guilty. The less publicly scandalous sin of pride is far more deadly than the sins of the flesh.
So we should love the sinner. Jesus Himself ate with tax collectors and prostitutes (Luke 7:40 is a fine example of this). Jesus looked beyond sin and saw the light of God within them, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. He embraced them, not for their sinfulness, but for their brokenness. Jesus is a Healer, and not just of physical maladies.
Indeed, some of the greatest saints began as the lowest of sinners. Saint Augustine lived with a woman out of wedlock and embraced the heresy of Manichaeism. Saint Francis was the modern equivalent of a frat boy. He went to parties and dances without number. They were not damned for their sins. They were saved and redeemed by their repentance and the unfathomable mercy of God.
But if we are to love the sinner, should we then tolerate sin? The Word of God has an answer for this as well. Upon entering the Temple in Jerusalem during His ministry, Jesus saw the people who were "buying and selling" (Matthew 21:12). They were defiling the Temple. This is the only time in the Gospels where Jesus became angry. He "overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves" (Mark 11:15). What we must remember, however, is that Jesus did not attack the sinners themselves. He attacked the devices of sinfulness to end their defilement of the Temple.
Therefore, we must love the sinner, but attack the instruments of sin. Our war is against the culture of death. We are trying to save the sinners, not to condemn them. Love the sinners and hate the sin.
No, we are not called to tolerate sinners. We are called to do so much more.
Deus Volt!
No comments:
Post a Comment