“Okay, on three, we will cut the cake! One…two…three!”
The young couple sliced into the two tiered cake. The pastry chef was in attendance and informed the guests that beneath the frosting, the cake she baked would be colored appropriately: blue if it was a boy and pink if it was a girl.
I was attending my first gender reveal party. This is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning within the last twenty years. The expectant parents will host a party in which the gender of their unborn child will be revealed to the guests. The gender was previously confirmed by ultrasound and/or blood tests.
It was all performed with great revelery. What could be wrong with a joyful revelation of a child’s gender? Enter the woke police who have vehemently launched attacks against these parties, criticizing these parties as a false reinforcement of gender stereotypes. They aver that gender, unlike sex, is not a biological definition but a social construct, determined after birth by the individual.
I understand their viewpoint but it is ironic that groups clamoring for tolerance are the most intolerant of the opinions and beliefs of others. If the beliefs of others do not align with their own, then the other group is immediately labeled as bigoted, narrow minded and wrong. They, on the other hand, are always correct. Christians have also been accused of intolerance. There have definitely been those who have used the banner of Christinaity to justify intolerance against different groups. In fact, these Christians are behaving in the same manner as the groups that are rallying against them. What is the answer? What is the proper response of Christians to the increasing intolerance with which they are being labeled?
Pastor and Christian author, Tim Keller, keenly observed, “If we get our very identity, our sense of worth, from our political position, then politics is not what it is really about, it is about us. Through our cause we are getting a self, our worth. That means we MUST despise and demonize the opposition. If we get our identity from our ethnicity or socioeconomic status, then we HAVE to feel superior to those of other classes and races. If you are profoundly proud of being an open-minded, tolerant soul, you will be extremely indignant toward people you think are bigots. If you are a very moral person, you will feel superior to people you think are licentious. And so on.”
What does the Bible state?
But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.
1 Peter 3:15-16 (NET)
Tolerance is about how we treat others whose beliefs do not align with our own. Simply not agreeing with another’s opinion is not intolerance. When Jesus confronted the woman who committed adultery, he forgave her, the sinner, but condemned the sin.
Jesus stood up straight and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
John 8:10-11 (NET)
As Christians, we are called to be intolerant to sin but tolerant to sinners. May we continue to seek the path of Truth through faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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