Tolerance to Triumph Love’s Upheaval from the series, A Journey Through 1 John
When you hear the word “tolerate,” what exactly do you think of? Maybe you think of an openness and respectfulness to those who differ from you, whether that’s religiously, politically, etc. For others, you might think of the human body’s ability to tolerate pain or to resist the effects of certain medicines. I tend to think of tolerance as the act of putting up with something that I’m not fond of. Whether it’s meat sauce on spaghetti, a rain delay amidst a baseball game, or the barista at the coffee shop who routinely messes up my order, these are all things or people that I put up with. I don’t dislike them per se or think they are an inherently bad thing or person; I just tolerate them. In a lot of cases that isn’t a bad thing. But what about when it comes to the church? More specifically, what about when it comes to the disciples of Christ that we call our brothers and sisters? Should we just put up with those who we don’t agree with (or even like)? In the letter of 1 John, we are told that “we should be called God’s children” (3:1) and that as God’s children, we have a simple test that is set before us: will we love our fellow Christians (3:10)? And how exactly do we move from simply tolerating some of our brothers and sisters to genuinely loving them in word and deed? My prayer is that we will wrestle with this together, for “the one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light” (1 John 2:10).
Caleb McCaughan, Minister
Tolerance to Triumph Love’s Upheaval from the series, A Journey Through 1 John
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