From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Although at times it can be a virtue, more often than not it is a negative thing.
I am talking about tolerance.
The late English author and Christian apologist, Gilbert K. Chesterton, once said, “Tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything.”
Rosa Parks will forever be remembered for her belief that segregation in the Untied States was just plain wrong.
She put her money where her mouth was when, on that historic day in 1955, she refused to relinquish her seat on a public bus in Alabama.
This brave action precipitated the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56, which became the spark that ignited the civil rights movement in America.
In 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered competitor.
Although the Amateur Athletic Union banned women from competing in races against men as a result of her actions, her courage paid off and women eventually were allowed to compete five years later.
In the Bible, God raised up a young military officer, named Joshua, to lead the people of God into the land promised to them by the Lord.
He was fearless and bold and not afraid to publicly pledge his allegiance to the Lord and challenged the people to make a stand in their faith, too.
Here is what he said in Joshua 24:15: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Someone once said that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.
So, are you guilty of caving in to tolerance, or are you willing to make a stand for what you believe?
The choice is yours!
