Can you tolerate my intolerance?

Who is it that gets to decide what we find acceptable in our culture? In this world of political correctness and socially acceptable ideas we are often confronted with the realization that we aren’t being tolerant of others. Miss California recently discovered this when she was asked a question during this years Miss America pageant. The question was her stance on the controversial topic of gay marriage. Unfortunately it wasn’t her opinion of the topic that was challenged but rather her right to have that opinion. The onslaught of internet attacks began just minutes after the words left her mouth, and the mainstream media quickly followed. Many very personal and hateful things were printed or aired about Miss California without any rebuttal from any other viewpoint. The common theme was her intolerance and the intolerance of those who share her support of traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Why is it that she has been  labeled intolerant for believing in traditional marriage while at the same time those who are vigorously attacking her are deemed tolerant for their openness to alternative lifestyles?

 

Truth is always exclusive. For something to be true, then there must also be something that is not true. Truth is either true or isn’t, and if it isn’t then it isn’t true. Truth is not an opinion. An opinion can easily exist among opposing views. “This room is too hot” this is a statement of opinion. You may be comfortable or even cool, but that too is just your opinion. You can challenge someone’s opinion with more information or creditable persuasion but they still have the right to consider the temperature to be hot. If the statement was “it is 77 degrees in here” that is a true statement. Your opinion of what 77 degrees feels like is up to you. If the room is 77 degrees but the thermostat is reading 84, you may agree with the reading or not agree with the reading but the truth will still be 77 even if you believe it is 84. The truth didn’t change. Additionally, find your favorite fishing pond in the dead of winter. Is the ice thick enough to support the weight of your car? You may conclude that based on your past experience and the cold winter that the ice is 4-5 inches thick and that should be more than adequate to support that weight. You trust your knowledge and drive your car onto the lake, it holds. Did your prior experience and knowledge make it possible to drive onto the lake? Nope. At the end of the day it didn’t matter what you thought, how you came to your conclusion, or if you believed or not. The ice was a specific thickness anyway. It didn’t change based on your trust, it simply was what it was. What is actually true and your opinion of that truth may not always agree, but truth will always be true anyway. 

 

There are many truths about God. God created this world. It wasn’t created by a committee of Buddha, Mohammad or anyone else. One God one Creator. As God, He is who He is regardless of what we think. He is not defined by our concept of Him. He is who He is, period. Can we agree that when we say, “my God is this or my God is that” these are opinions of who we think He is and may or not be accurate? Can we also agree that when God speaks, He speaks what is truth? There is right and there is wrong. Truth is always exclusive and we need to stop apologizing for it but rather embrace it. 

 

John 3:11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

What are the odds?

 

Tonight I was watching our local news and before going to a commercial break they announced the winning Powerball numbers. I couldn’t believe what I heard;

7 – 15 – 28 – 43 – 44 powerball 20.

Do you have any idea the chances of them calling these exact numbers? What an incredible, beyond belief, never happen again in a million years chance that they pick these numbers. Wow. Have you ever just sat and let it settle in for a minute. Unless you’ve won then of course you haven’t. Because although the odds of winning the jackpot is only 1 in 195,249,054, the odds of powerball picking 6 random numbers is 100%. Again we don’t get to excited about it unless we have hit a number or two and will be getting some cash. Can you imagine what would happen if they ever drew 1,2,3,4,5,6? I guess it could happen. The odds of drawing 1-6 are exactly the same as drawing any other numbers. But just the fact that there is pattern or order to the numbers would make it a huge news story. Even better yet, what if the very next drawing was 7,8,9,10,11,12. Not only would this ignite a 24/7 global coverage from every network, cable news channel, and newspapers.  There would likely be hundreds of class action lawsuits filed within days. Congress would issue an injunction and establish a full investigation. Accusations of corruption and scandal would forever plague the reputation of Powerball. Never again would they be allowed to sell another ticket, without even one shred of evidence of any wrongdoing. What kind of evidence would you need other that the fact that two consecutive drawings produced 1-6 and 7-12. The odds themselves prove that there must be an outside influence or tampering that goes well beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Reasonable people would agree that these odds are proof enough that this wasn’t random.

 

Let’s do our own lottery and instead of 59 white balls and 39 red balls as in the Powerball lottery we are going to use 1000 white and 1000 red. We also draw 1-6 our very first drawing 7-12 on our second and 13-18 for our third. This continues drawing after drawing until we have successfully gone through every number up to 1000 without ever drawing even one ball out of turn. I have no idea what the mathematic odds would be for this to happen but lets assume they are unbelievably high. Impossible? Yes this would be impossible unless you have and intelligent designer orchestrating every draw of every ball. Take out the “chance” and now what was “never in a billion years” is easy. Amazingly Darin has sold us a similar story of evolution. The odds and the evidence for life evolving out of nothing are just as unrealistic as my new lottery. Add God as the creator and all things are possible. God is our creator, He is infinitely wise, He has ultimate power and yet he has done great things to have a personal relationship with each one of us.   

Parker brothers; good and loving

 My family grew up with Parker Bothers in our home and like most kids began to learn to love the time we spent around the dinner table with family and friends playing games like Sorry, Probe and of course Monopoly. We didn’t play Monopoly as often because of the time it took to play, but there was no doubt that it was the favorite. I remember as a kid keeping as many small bills as I could and then making a pile out of them to make me look as rich as possible, although I never fooled anyone it was my way of staying competitive.

 

Today I look back on my childhood with fond memories of those times. As a child I thought and reasoned as a child. I can clearly see now just how naïve I was to have been spoon-feed all the struggle, hurt and pain associated with the quest to conquer and destroy my fellow game players. The game may start out relatively fair, but in no time it quickly chooses to bless one or two and condemn the rest to struggle and fight for survival. It has no mercy on those with the misfortune of several poor rolls of the dice. I’ve turned my back on what I once considered a friend. Parker Brothers is nothing more than a big cruel corporation, inflicting pain and suffering on the innocent.

 

In my compassion and on mankind I’ve created my own game. It’s fair. It treats every one equally. It doesn’t reward or punish. It is easy to play. Everyone gets the same amount of money to start. Because taking turns is unfair to the person going last, my game lets everyone go together at the same time. Each turn everyone gets the same amount of money. No rolling of the dice or going around the board. Just fun and equal rewards for all! Does this sound fun to you? I didn’t think so.

 

This is silly. But this is how some think God should run this world. No pain. No suffering. No rewards or consequences. God has blessed us with His ability to know what we need and not what we want. If we lived without struggles, trials or stress how would we grow, learn or mature? How would we know joy if we had not also known sorrow? Can we know satisfaction without first experiencing discontent? I can’t answer all the hard questions about why bad things happen. You’ve heard the analogy, Paul uses about each of us being a part of the body. A friend of ours once suggested that our family must be the knees because we are always getting scraped up. I’ll admit that sometimes it feels as if the dice never roll in our favor, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord, and we will praise Him because he alone is worthy.

  

James 1:2-4

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

Please close your eyes while you read this

 

Closing your eyes while reading this may not be practical but it is much safer than closing your eyes while driving. Seriously, if I were to read this to you, I would ask you close your eyes and concentrate on the feelings and emotions you experience. To often I can see, hear or read a story while detaching myself from it. A horrible traffic accident is easier dealt with if it is in another state, rather than just down the street from my house.

 

 The small conference room you are sitting in is quiet. Your family is there and the doctor will be coming through the door at any moment. Although things have progressed quickly, it’s been an eternity since last weeks test. The symptoms came slowly with no real concern. Like a cold that you just couldn’t kick. Consequently, today there is a small group of our close friends lifting me up in prayer as we sit here this morning. Waiting for the doctor. Waiting for news. Sounds from the hallway brings everyone to attention, sitting straight up in your seat the doctor enters as your heart pounds, and anxiously you greet him with a handshake. Surely things are going to be all right, but you’ll feel so much better after hearing him say it. Your wife slides her hand onto your lap and grasps your hand; her grip is firm and tightens as the doctor begins to speak. It’s a tumor, it is actually more than one; there are several, and they’re malignant. It’s cancer.

 

Imagine your emotions. What are you thinking, how do you feel?

 

It doesn’t get better as the doctor continues. The cancer is advanced and is at stage four, spreading throughout the abdomen and into both of your lungs. Surgery, radiation and chemo are all ruled out as probable strategies. How much time will it take? How long do I have?

 

You find yourself taking in the details of this moment. The size of the room, the color on the walls, the furnishings, all ordinary like you would find in any office waiting area. Indeed there was nothing special or unique here, and yet this will be the place, this room and this moment will always be the day your life changed. Thirty minutes later, climbing into your car brings feelings of foolishness. Remembering just a year earlier how we just had to have a new car. The time we spent shopping and how every drive became an opportunity for us to covet another suv, and all for what? Another four and a half years of huge payments we didn’t need. It seems so foolish today.

 

You’ve been given about three to four months, how will you spend it? What will you do? What is important to you now? Perhaps you will withdraw into your home; close the curtains, take the phone off the hook and spend your day sleeping it away. Maybe curl up in a favorite chair, get a new plasma TV and watch movie after movie or could you finish reading all of your favorite books. What would you do? Travel?  Live it up; go on a wild spending spree? Would you seek out only the best doctors chasing down every possible cure. Maybe you would pursue those whom you could blame for your currant fate? Lashing out at those who don’t understand how unfair this is, or how bad you feel. Do you blame God? This could be a good time to seek reconciliation from those in your past that need your forgiveness. Would you share praise to those whom you respect? Would you like to give advice or share wisdom from your life? Would it be friends and family only or would you open up to neighbors and community? How would you pray and for what would you pray?

 

Certainly, I don’t think everyone should respond to such news uniformly. We were all created unique and our lives have conditioned us in many different ways. I would hope that if I were faced with such a challenge, my priorities would narrow and focus to better reflect my values rather than unravel into a self-destructive pity. Having said this, why must I wait? Can I seek reconciliation now? Could I share my appreciation to those I admire today? Couldn’t I spend quality time with those I love now? Do I really need all the stuff I have and do I really need all the stuff I want?

 

If this were your last hour, what would you have wished you had done? Don’t take life for granted, get the most out of each day and don’t loose sight of what is important.

 

 

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.