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Those Messy Gray Areas
* Daniel Taylor's article on tolerance ["Are You Tolerant? (Should You Be?)," Jan. 11] recalled a line from Oswald Chambers: "There never was a more inconsistent Being on this earth than Our Lord, but He was never inconsistent to His Father. The one consistency of the saint is not to a principle, but to the Divine life." The easy answer to tolerance is to see issues in black and white. Taylor's admonition to practice unconditional love often leads us into the messy gray areas where it turns out we find the face of Christ as we serve our brothers and sisters. And that love is never understood by either side as the Cross demonstrates; but take heart, the One who died on the cross understands and empowers.

Bob Martin
Walnut Creek, Calif.

We must be mindful of the fact that we are Christ's witness in our society. If every Christian were to demonstrate the love of Christ, to every sinner, the often flippant use of the word intolerant would become powerless in silencing the voices of many thoughtful Christians. Let us not become accepting of sin, but in all cases certain to temper our outrage with love.

Joseph C. Wise
Milligan College
Milligan College, Tenn.

It is amazing that the misunderstood and ambiguous charge of "intolerance" can compel so many to oppose Christianity. Taylor correctly showed that we have two weapons against tolerance. One is education. If national discussion of tolerance could be brought about, many would recognize its self-contradictory nature and flee from it. Our other weapon is love. Christians need less hating of sin and more loving the sinner. By showing Christ's love to homosexuals or abortionists we will enact more moral change than a thousand social agendas will.

Jonathan M. Friz
St. Louis, Mo.

* This issue is not as easy to sort out as those on the extremes seem to find it to be. Taylor's pointing us in the direction of Jesus' example is wholly appropriate and proper.

Those who were the target of Jesus' most virulent condemnation were not the most obvious and notorious sinners. They were the biblicists who rightly knew and taught reverence and obedience to Scripture, but whose self-righteous judgment had no mercy. As Eugene Peterson interprets Matthew 7:4-5, "Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor."

Ron Schooler
Los Angeles, Calif.

* The answer to the question depends upon how one defines tolerant. In some of the categories that appear on your cover, the proponents of those items claim to be seeking "tolerance," but what they are really looking for is affirmation. Anything less, they call "intolerance." For them to consider one "tolerant," an endorsement is usually required.

Christians are seen as "intolerant" unless they agree with homosexuality, abortion, divorce, and so on. Such is cultural surrender, not "tolerance." The meaning of tolerant has been changed right under our noses.

David Block
Carrollton, Tex.

* I agree wholeheartedly that Christians in our culture (myself included) too often lack a real love for those with whom we disagree, and that lovelessness sabotages an otherwise effective witness of God's people to effect change.

Having said that, I was bothered by the tone of the article in one respect. Taylor argues that "the single most enlightening story for thinking about God's attitude toward tolerance is the gospel story of the woman caught in adultery." The problem is that this woman was truly broken and repentant. In many, many other situations where our Lord confronted sin and evil (exhibiting his lack of tolerance), He used words like "you hypocrites"; "you blind guides (and fools)"; "you snakes … you brood of vipers." The point is: While loving the sinner, God's law is inviolable, and his truth never changes. It's not us judging sin; God has already judged it.

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March 1 1999, Vol. 43, No. 3