Of Rainbow Flags and Sociocultural Tolerance

We exist in a paradigm of madness. Epic madness. Cultural madness. Epic cultural madness that keeps escalating as the days go by. 

We live on the edge: we live in a season, time and age where we seem to love applauding freedom while, apparently, we campaign for and support bigotry. We carry separate black and white flags (not mosaics of black and white) and demand every other person to think we are accommodative; that we are both black and white. That is nonsense. Nobody can be both black and white - all at the same time. Nobody. That is being almost blind to color!

In this present global culture, one can be sure that whenever we crave to be understood as fully accomodative, we are mostly hot in pursuit for acceptance or out running away due to fear. We seek acceptance at all costs but at the expense of our morality and spirituality. We want to agree with everyone - EVERYONE - to agree with us. Even when we know we are stupid in whatever we are saying or supporting, even when we doubt it ourselves, even when we don't believe in whatever we would like others to believe in; yet still, we all want acceptance for our frailed ways that are deeply rooted in imbecility. This is not how a person saved by the priceless gift of God's Son should "adapt" to the world around him/her.

But is it necessary that PEOPLE should agree with us or that they should learn to tolerate us, or that we should agree with them? Again, is it good that we should tolerate people or push them to agree with us? Or even more, should we be so tolerant that we lack an independent opinion on any matter whatsoever?

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The dictionary definition of tolerance is; a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior or the willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others. Tolerance seeks to get a balance between two worldviews without arriving at the same conclusion on a matter. Tolerance is fragile ground:

 It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it - Aristotle

When you raise the issue of tolerance today, it is likely to bring about a discussion on the following  worldviews/philosophies; 

        1. Relativism (especially moral relativism)
        2. Secular humanism
        3. Postmodernism
        4. Christian universalism
        5. Secular humanism and
        6. Religious tolerance

The average Christian would argue that they have never heard of the above philosophies. They may even accuse me of being too wordy to no good end... But if we would simplify all the "wordiness" and say that Christianity is being attacked today from all angles of (a) world views (b) personal opinions and preferences (c) intellectual arguments (d) secular inclinations (e) social and cultural systems, I bet we would all agree that it is facing its own pile of challenges from today's sociocultural systems (the interaction of different elements of culture together with  is the patterned series of interrelationships existing between individuals, groups, and institutions and forming a coherent whole...)

So, with the argument that the Christian worldview (also called the Biblical worldview) is facing challenges (i.e. it is being debated against, being ridiculed, being "done away with" and being annihilated so-to-say) and opposition (i.e. being refuted, being downtrodden and being "edited" so-to-say) from various sociocultural systems, it emerges that we should consider how to interact, deal with and be gracious towards those around us.

The Bible instructs us to do the following while dealing with the world;

Colossians 4:6 (ESV): Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV): Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

and the following while dealing with fellow believers in Christ;

Ephesians 4:2 (NASB): ...with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love...

Both cases involve a certain degree of tolerance that is expected from the Christian.

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When issues that require a certain level of tolerance arise today, we are caught in a web of first wanting to answer the following questions;
1. Are all people tolerant?
2. Are all people capable of tolerance?
3. Are all Christians supposed to be to be tolerant?
4. Are all Christians capable of tolerance?
5. To what level should tolerance (or lack of tolerance for that matter) be exercised?

The above questions help us in our struggle (or lack of struggle for those who have achieved such a level of grace) with wanting the Christian to become a more tolerant person (and not necessarily an accommodating person) towards current sociocultural changes in the world.

Note: I'll use the current wave of news and reactions since the Constitution of the American people legalized gay marriages in America (USA) this week to elaborate my point.

The rainbow pride flag representing gay pride. Source: Wikipedia

Tolerance would mean the following things to a Christian wanting to deal with such a big change in a sociocultural system:

1. That although we as Christians disagree with most of the things that happen in our cultural contexts (i.e. gay marriage because the Bible says so), we have every right and freedom to rebuke, correct and speak against them using the Christian worldview (because this is our platform and belief system) while not being judgmental of the perpetrators.
2. We should also try to bring to their senses "our Christian brothers and sisters" who choose to wave rainbow flags in support of sin. Read the following post to see one reaction from Kevin De Young of TGC towards Christians who are choosing to wave rainbow flags in support of the gay marriage ruling by the court in the US: 40 QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIANS NOW WAVING RAINBOW FLAGS. 
3. We should pray for the perpetrators of such things. Yes, they will always rant and complain that Christians are extremely intolerant (forgetting that they too practice intolerance by denying us the freedom to talk about what we stand for and what we are against without pointing fingers); but that should not reduce us to a people who have not learned form our LORD on how to "bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them..." (Romans 12:14, ESV).
4. We should not pull out the "holier than thou" flag from where it has been lying since we got saved and start waving it in their faces! This, we should not do. But we should want to reach out to them as a people created in God's image and loved by Him that He died for their sins and ours (sins which include lying, gossip, homosexuality, anger etc - and of which most of us are guilty.)
5. We should not be accommodating towards sin and supporting it in any way lest we grow lukewarm and displease our LORD, but we should call out against and rebuke sin in love. Here is one great article to help us do so: Should We Oppose Sin and Religious Error? Does "Judge Not" Mean We Should Not Rebuke Evil?
6. We should remember that we cannot - if we are true disciples of Christ - agree with everyone on everything. (I guess, we should get used to this already because the world's volatility is escalating at a rapid pace.)

All in all, tolerance to a Christian is something we grow into as the Holy Spirit directs us. There are limits to every act of tolerance and a certain balance between rebuke and tolerance we should not only learn for the sake of the world but even for our own fellowships and congregations. May He lead us to do His Will even in these last days.

Bonface Morris.