Christian tolerance

[Student Nurse]

So if Christians are supposed to love everyone, how come they usually are intolerant of differences? Such as:

- homosexuality
- liberal politics
- abortion

all of those other heated issues. Usually I see Christians diagnosing people who practice these and other lifestyles that they view as "wrong" (he "turned gay" because he did not receive love and support from his father or he was emotionally traumatized in his childhood) (she had an abortion because she is a sinner and wants to take the easy way out in life). If the bible is true, and they god that they serve is real, then aren't they supposed to love everyone regardless on their beliefs or actions?

[pyrite]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

[Confused]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

Your fear for you father was a fear of disappointing him. Some fear their parents because of a physical beating etc..... I dont say that fear is a bad thing, personally I think love is much much worse. But the fear spoke of here is eternal hell. How can you claim you truly love someone if your motivation for that love (while it may not be the reason you love Him now) was out of fear. If it is a God of fear, then the NT is invalid, if it is a God of love, then the OT is invalid. Regardless, faith is earned by respect, not illusions or threat.

[methylatedghosts]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

Your fear for you father was a fear of disappointing him. Some fear their parents because of a physical beating etc..... I dont say that fear is a bad thing, personally I think love is much much worse. But the fear spoke of here is eternal hell. How can you claim you truly love someone if your motivation for that love (while it may not be the reason you love Him now) was out of fear. If it is a God of fear, then the NT is invalid, if it is a God of love, then the OT is invalid. Regardless, faith is earned by respect, not illusions or threat.

I agree with you here. Love is in no way "bettered" by a fear of that which you are to love.

[pyrite]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

Your fear for you father was a fear of disappointing him. Some fear their parents because of a physical beating etc..... I dont say that fear is a bad thing, personally I think love is much much worse. But the fear spoke of here is eternal hell. How can you claim you truly love someone if your motivation for that love (while it may not be the reason you love Him now) was out of fear. If it is a God of fear, then the NT is invalid, if it is a God of love, then the OT is invalid. Regardless, faith is earned by respect, not illusions or threat.

I agree with you here. Love is in no way "bettered" by a fear of that which you are to love.

it can be, depending on the nature/severity/basis of that fear. does my own experience in the above example not illustrate this?
Confused, i agree that fear of hell is a very poor basis for loving God, but a more general fear of God's authority is what i'm talking about

[Easyrider]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

Exactly. The Bible says God disciplines those he loves to build more Christ-like people. So the remark from Confused that, "Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead," is incorrect. It's not an either / or, it's both love and a respectful fear, as one has with a regular father. The alternative is for God to let his children run amuck and never correct them to be better, which isn't a very positive thing for one's fellow citizens of the world.

[methylatedghosts]

Exactly. The Bible says God disciplines those he loves to build more Christ-like people. So the remark from Confused that, "Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead," is incorrect. It's not an either / or, it's both love and a respectful fear, as one has with a regular father. The alternative is for God to let his children run amuck and never correct them to be better, which isn't a very positive thing for one's fellow citizens of the world.

But I have never needed to fear my dad. I love him, but have never in my life needed to fear him. It is not necessary to fear someone to have a good relationship. And who says that fear of God prevents people "running amuck"? Can that not happen out of love? Are people so incapable of simply not "running amuck" that God has to make sure we fear him? Thats hardly very good parenting on his part.

[pyrite]

Exactly. The Bible says God disciplines those he loves to build more Christ-like people. So the remark from Confused that, "Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead," is incorrect. It's not an either / or, it's both love and a respectful fear, as one has with a regular father. The alternative is for God to let his children run amuck and never correct them to be better, which isn't a very positive thing for one's fellow citizens of the world.

But I have never needed to fear my dad. I love him, but have never in my life needed to fear him. It is not necessary to fear someone to have a good relationship. And who says that fear of God prevents people "running amuck"? Can that not happen out of love? Are people so incapable of simply not "running amuck" that God has to make sure we fear him? Thats hardly very good parenting on his part.

how do you know you wouldn't have benefited from this kind of healthy fear as a child, despite the fact that you got by fine without it? your relationship with your father may have been even better

[Ed]

Before i start, this seems to have sparked a quoting war...wow-though i personally think it wastes space thus keeping quoting to a min may lead to more debate as opposed to retorts or dwelling on what they said as opposed to the issue at hand.

So if Christians are supposed to love everyone, how come they usually are intolerant of differences? Such as:

- homosexuality
- liberal politics
- abortion

your initial question is the easiest one to answer ever-Christians are meant to love all people-irrespective of their differences.they are however called to hate sin.should one be living in and embracing sin-that is when christians oppose-and note, to the condoning and accepting of sinful practices, ideas etc .not the people who don't know god and thus don't understand why its wrong.

If the bible is true, and they god that they serve is real, then aren't they supposed to love everyone regardless on their beliefs or actions?

yes we are.and we should.some may not, they have lessons to learn from god.by the way, you cant judge the truth and the perfect god by the imperfect.you cant belittle the word of god(the bible) just because of the incapacities of the people who haven't learnt the correct way they should respond-out of love.

such labels exist due to our initial aversion to these things.though some of them are out of place and i admit wrong-they shouldn't be used and its the flaws of the people displayed there, not any "flaws "in the message of Jesus.

May the name of Jesus be glorified!

[Confused]

I know of no scripture which tells us to fear the Lord for our own good. Rather, I remember the passage “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Luke 12:4 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead. Sure, you got my vote.

fear and love can be powerful allies, i dont believe them to be mutually exclusive..

i had a fearful respect for my father when i was young, which drove me to do good in his eyes, to make him proud.. i feared his 'wrath', but never hated him for it, as his discipline was balanced and fair (i had a very good father). even when he spanked me or hit me with a belt when i was really bad or disobedient, my respect for him never wavered.
in fact my love and respect for him was enriched by the standards he held, and the fact that he held me to my word (and his own), without ever going too far.
maybe this is the fear Easyrider speaks of? my fear of God enriches my relationship with him as it did my father

Exactly. The Bible says God disciplines those he loves to build more Christ-like people. So the remark from Confused that, "Ok, so lets not love him, lets fear him instead," is incorrect. It's not an either / or, it's both love and a respectful fear, as one has with a regular father. The alternative is for God to let his children run amuck and never correct them to be better, which isn't a very positive thing for one's fellow citizens of the world.

I was being sarcastic, guess bad idea. I am not saying that one shouldn't fear disappointing those we love. My daughter cleans her room when I ask her to because the idea of me being upset with her is enough to make her entire world come crashiing down. But she understands why not cleaning her room would upset me. She also knows that even if she did upset me I would still love her. When we try to compare this with God, we are asked to do what He wishes, with no reason why, and if we upset Him, He may still love us, but He will condemn us to hell nonetheless. He will turn His back on us. Something I would never do to my children. I tell them there are times I don't like what they do, but I will always love them and never turn away from them. Apples and Oranges-just like God and Dad. Both fruits-both parents. But Apples aren't oranges and God isn't dad. Gods punishment doens't fit the crime in my opinion.

[Ed]

When we try to compare this with God, we are asked to do what He wishes, with no reason why

There are reasons-to name one-for our own good.

and if we upset Him, He may still love us, but He will condemn us to hell nonetheless. He will turn His back on us. Something I would never do to my children

he still loves us but there is no way to the father except through the son-Jesus.
we are forgiven through him, by the price He paid for us.

Gods punishment doens't fit the crime in my opinion.

unfortunately, thats the punishment for willingly rejecting God.He is perfectly just and people only get what their sins deserve(death, separation from god)should they not accept the way he has made (bec he loves us) for us to get to him=jesus.

I realise the analogy with your daughter but i need to ask you one thing.do you realise the relationship humans have with God?
All have sinned and thus cannot be in god's presence for he is holy.
thus there are two possibilities
1.we accept the way god made for us to get to him-to be with him.(Jesus)
or
2.we don't accept the sacrifice-which He made because he loves us so much.If we don't, then we are choosing to be apart from God
hell is an eternity apart from god-a terrifying prospect to say the least.

May Jesus be glorified!