The State of the Church: pushing the limits of tolerance

21 October 2018

2 John 1:6-11; Revelation 2:18-29

“What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.”  Attributed to John Wesley (but doubtful he actually said it, according to some Wesley scholars).  Yet the phrase makes so much sense and has been sufficiently vetted by history that it deserves our attention – especially as we struggle to determine when and where to draw a line between what can be tolerated and what must be firmly rejected.  Let’s be clear, however, that we are talking about the boundaries of the Church; the institution and its congregations.

We have spoken briefly about “tolerance” and “diversity” as key words of the modern culture and embraced by the Church to one degree or another – some churches and denominations very tolerant or striving to be so, some not so much and not trying.  If we know the true meaning of these words, they pose no threat to the Church’s witness and can even broaden the Church’s reach.  Yet we must recognize and understand our limits.

If we allow and embrace the human culture’s understanding of these words, the ideals expressed become a significant threat not only to the Church but to those who need to hear The Truth – the Truth being that repentance – turning from sin - is a necessary component of salvation.  It is not a concept created by the Church as a means of controlling people; it is a necessary Truth spoken by The Truth Himself (Matthew 4:17).  That is, we can be saved from our sins, but we will never be saved in our sins.

Given that this Truth is being repeated to the Seven Churches – and to the Church universal as a whole – we must realize repentance is not – IS NOT – a “one-and-done” proposition.  It is the perpetual challenge of The Lord’s people throughout the ages – especially given that “what one generation tolerates, the next embraces”.  The Church must be always vigilant not because we must choose sides in the so-called “culture wars” and become stuck in this age, but because we are going somewhere and must always move forward beyond the culture’s conflicts.

When I think of “diversity”, I imagine a color-blind, money-blind, class-blind people.  This is the society envisioned by Martin Luther King who “dreamed” of a day when his own children would be judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.  A society informed by The Word, delivered by the faithful Church.

Even as we recognize the “diversity” of opinions when it comes to religion and politics – both striving for righteousness but with differing ideals - we are being no less faithful to The Word when we acknowledge that we do not think alike.  Yet as Wesley did actually say, “We can all love alike”.  And “love” means drawing a line in the sand.

When it comes to “tolerance”, what are the limits for the Church?  When we “tolerate” something, we acknowledge the reality of a thing.  “It is what it is”, we say.  We don’t reject or embrace; we only realize a vast gulf between the Church and human culture.  There are some things, some beliefs, some practices in the human culture we can do nothing about (“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world”, Ephesians 6:12). 

Meaning?  If we choose to battle against these things on our own according to our own ideals and beliefs, we will lose not only the battle but very likely our own souls.

It isn’t necessary to take a stand on every single thing – until that “thing” blurs a line, infiltrates and undermines the fundamental teachings of the Holy Church, and reduces sound doctrine to “whatever the majority wants”.  Our Holy Father does not submit, nor give in, to human desire.  And the boundaries of what is acceptable to the people of The Lord are not changed from First Testament to New.  “I am The Lord; I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).  Do you think perhaps this being among the last recorded words of the First Testament that the stage was being set?

For too many today, tolerance is the only real virtue and intolerance the only real vice.  The message to Thyatira goes against the grain of the modern culture by setting limits to tolerance in the Church – to the point of intolerance.  The main criticism of the Church of Thyatira is they have tolerated – allowed – something that should not be tolerated and must never be.  The “angel” (the “messenger” – human or celestial?) of the Church has failed to hold the people entrusted to his care accountable to the Eternal Word.  It is not unlike the failing of Aaron in the wilderness with the golden calf (Exodus 32:21-24).

This ideal St. John – and St. Paul (1 Corinthians 5:11) – wrote about in not only discouraging association, but actually prohibiting such associations as becoming partakers in the “wicked works”, in whatever form these associations and works may have taken.  To these apostles, there were necessary “lines in the sand” which must never be crossed.  To do so would not only subject one to temptations not easily resisted – especially when the majority seems to demand or accept it - but it would also compromise the moral authority and integrity of the Church as a whole – the “leaven which can leaven the whole loaf” (Galatians 5:9).

Like all the churches being addressed in The Revelation, Thyatira was a diverse region.  The Church was in a position to make a positive impact on the area but, as The Lord warned the Israelites before crossing the Jordan, there were temptations and “other gods” that might prove too compelling to resist.  In Thyatira, this seems to be the case.  Some had not only fallen away from The Truth; some went so far as to follow a lie and try to make it “truth”. 

One of the gravest temptations in reading The Revelation is to try to distinguish between “us” and “them”.  These letters are addressed to specific churches in a general region, a people whose time is long past.  Yet the parallels between “them” in the ancient Church and “us” in the modern Church are striking.  The issues they faced were the same issues the Israelites faced in their new land, and these are the same issues we face in our time and in our land.  As it is written in Ecclesiastes, “… there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9).

I wonder, though, if it is enough to seek out and identify demons before we’ve asked for Wisdom.  We hear plenty about what is wrong, and we even have the uncanny ability to decide who is to blame for all the “wrong” we face.  It’s those cursed liberals or conservatives – depending on which “side” of this ungodly, unjust culture war we’ve chosen to stand with.  And we have decided – for ourselves – that whatever it is we choose to believe and what practices we choose to follow must be right.  And curses are they who do not believe in and trust US!!

In the end, we must realize it is The Lord who has drawn a line in the sand.  What was required of His people in the wilderness and in the Promised Land is what is still required of His people in our own “exodus” as we find our way Home.  We have been freed from the chains and the shackles of our past and must never go back – for the Promise is still ahead of us.  And forward we must go … together.  Amen.