I. What is tolerance?
A. definitions:
1. "negative" or traditional tolerance: recognizes & respects others beliefs and practices without sharing them, or, to bear or put up with something not liked.B. origin2. "positive" tolerance: every single individual's beliefs, values, lifestyles and truth claims are all equal. there is no hierarchy, no truth greater than another
-example: Ronald McDonald is the son of God.
2. practically: "love" without truth
C. the virtue for a man with no convictions Chesterton
1. ironically it's those who preach tolerance that may
actually be the least tolerant
-usually those who preach it usually already agree with it.
2. tolerant of everything but "intolerance"
II. What is judgment?
A. definitions:
C. What is it the world often sees in Christians?
D. What should they see?
III.
What is Love?
A.
definition:
1 Corinthians 13.4:
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act
unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take
into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails"
B. actions
1. God?
3. inside the church...and outside
1 Corinthians 5.9: "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves"a. moral purity in the church, but then discipline for restoration