Title: Speak Up! / Topic: True Tolerance
Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35; John 7
Scripture: 2 Kings 23:24, 25
24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
Observation: Judah wasn't a democracy and didn't necessarily allow it's people to practice freedom of religion. These verses struck me because they provide such a contrast to our society today. Josiah knew that the God of Israel was the only true God and kicked the practitioners of the false religions out of Judah. There was no concern about being "tolerant" of others' religions.
Application: One of the greatest watch words of our day is tolerance. And the definition of the word has changed over the last couple of decades. Tolerance used to mean that we didn't punish or cast out from our society those that held opposing beliefs to the majority of people, but that everyone still advocated for their own beliefs with vigor. Now it is more that tolerance means you let others practice their beliefs with no commentary at all. It is considered very bad manners to try to convince someone that their religion isn't correct. Those that would try to evangelize others by sharing their faith are considered to be bigots and zealots and are given the label of being "intolerant". We need to get back to the true definition of "tolerance". We need to speak the truth and share and defend our faith with passion while still having a loving attitude toward those who believe differently from us.
Prayer: Father, help us to share our faith and the truth of Your Word passionately. May we show Your love to all men whatever their beliefs may be. Let us speak up with the power of Your Spirit so that others may have the choice to be set free by Jesus. Thank you that we do have the freedom of religion in our country. Help us all to reject the lies of the enemy that would intimidate us from sharing our faith for fear of being labeled intolerant.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 Comments:
Cynthia,
It is so true that it is getting harder to advocate for the gospel without being slanderously labeled and libeled. Political correctness has become The Emperor's New Clothes and everyone is encouraged to play along. I do believe the day is coming -- and not too far off -- when there will be serious consequences for advocating the true gospel. But that is nothing new. Most of the original disciples were killed because of their testimony and Foxes Book Of Martyrs is filled with stories of hundreds of believers whose testimonies resulted in their punishment and even death. May we be strong to speak up in spite of opposition. Good word!
Michael
Post a Comment
<< Home