Ernest Lee has been busy and hasn’t been able to write anything down the last couple of weeks. The other day one of his friends called him insensitive and intolerant because Ernest Lee believes Biblical marriage is between a woman and man. The friend said Ernest Lee’s lack of tolerance showed his ignorance of scripture and revealed a lack of love for his fellow man. Ernest Lee told him his beef wasn’t with Ernest Lee, but with the sovereign Creator of the Universe. Needless to say, that didn’t go over well. But the exchange got Ernest Lee to thinking- Is intolerance the same as being insensitive and are those traits wrong?
Tolerance means a person is willing to endure something they may or may not agree with. Some people might be willing to tolerate corruption or an opinion they disagree with. Others not so much. Tolerance allows someone a viewpoint that is wrong. America was founded on that principle- all of us have a right to be wrong in the eyes of others. That is called freedom of speech, thought, and expression. In human relationships, tolerance is desirable for a peaceful society. BUT GOD IS NOT TOLERANT!
While God is loving and merciful, He does not condone or accept sin. God has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sin. God is HOLY and cannot be in the presence of sin. His characteristic of holiness requires intolerant. So believers, who hold to the scripture, must be intolerant of those things God is against, which includes same sex marriage, and steadfast for the things God is for.
Insensitive is defined as when someone shows no concern for other people’s feelings. Feelings are the result of emotions and are influenced by memories, life experiences, values, believers and dozens of other factors. Feelings can be very subjective. Some common quotes about feelings are:
- Follow your heart: Trust your intuition and emotions
- Don’t bottle up your feelings: Express your emotions instead of suppressing them
- Feelings are something you have, not something you are: Feelings are a part of you, but they don’t define you
- Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion: Don’t let a passing feeling influence a long-term choice
Truth is, no one can hurt your feelings unless you let them hurt your feelings. That doesn’t mean there are not clueless, thoughtless, cold hearted jerks who try to offend others with their words and actions. Those folks abound. But you must allow them to ‘get under your skin,’ offend or rankle to be hurt. Often your sensitivity is in direct proportion to someone else’s insensitivity.
Ernest Lee has done a thorough, exhaustive, sweeping evaluation of his life and found he is neither intolerant or insensitive. Ernest Lee isn’t guided by feelings or emotions. He is committed to following what God said in His book, driven by the two great commandments- Love God and Love his neighbor. Ernest Lee fails miserably at both often.
The real intolerance and lack of sensitivity was on the part of Ernest Lee’s friend, a self proclaimed tolerant and sensitive person. Their guide in life is their feelings, emotions, sentiments, passions and sensations. To them, there is no absolute- truth is relative. They believe truth is subject to private interpretation and depends on an individual’s perspective.
Ernest Lee’s buddy, John MacArthur sat down with Jonny Ardavanis and discussed the question- Is Truth Objective? It’s worth the watch, even if Mac’s coat looks like he bought it at a thrift store. Here’s the link:
Believers need to recognize they live in a world where those who preach tolerance are intolerant and those who pled for sensitivity are insensitive. But take heart- this world is not your home- you are just a passing thru.
Ernest Lee Contendin 