For scripture this morning, let's
take to heart, take to mind again Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14,
where we're told to strive for peace with everyone and for the
holiness without which no one will see the Lord. A second passage,
let us look at 1 Peter chapter 2, 9 verses 9 through 18. But you are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but
now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners
and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which
wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles
honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they
may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether
it be to the emperor as supreme or to governor's assent by him
to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should
put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people
who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil,
but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Servants, be subject to your
masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle,
but to the unjust. One more passage from 1 Peter
3, verses 15-16. But in your hearts, honor Christ
the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to
anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience,
so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior
in Christ may be put to shame. We've been talking for the last
some odd weeks as I've been given the opportunity to speak about
Christians in the world and tolerance. Tolerance being the hot topic
of the day. Everybody must be tolerant. Everybody
must be accepting of other opinions, of other actions, of other lifestyles. And we've discussed what the
Bible has to say about us as Christians living in a pagan
world. As the broad reference I ask that we all would read
through the book of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, Paul's letter
to a church that was very much so in the midst of a wicked society. Paul has much to say there about
how Christians should live in the world around them. As a recap,
let us remember that tolerance, by definition, is the act of
allowing something to be done or not be done. Tolerance, in
and of itself, is neutral. It neither accepts or rejects
the thing that's being allowed, the action that's being allowed.
We live in a day and an age where we are being told we must be
tolerant, but the meaning attached to tolerance is actually acceptance. We are being told that we must,
in practice, accept anything and everything. As Christians,
this is not an option for us. We've discussed in weeks past
that Paul's admonition, his teaching, his advice to the church in Corinth
was to withdraw from the world. It's not possible to withdraw
completely, so we keep our exposure to the world to a very minimum.
We do business in the world, we do it with honesty and integrity
on our part, but we must deal with it. But we retreat from
the world and take our fellowship, our intimate relationships, not
in the world, but in the church. Paul's advice to us as Christians
is to segregate from the world. We must withdraw from the world
because we will be corrupted by the world more than the world
will be influenced by us. As I thought through the process
over the last some odd weeks, I realized that that without
even further explanation sounds like I'm saying we should just
cluster ourselves away from the world and let it just go to pieces. And that's not the answer either.
The church has always had an influence in the world. and in
fact the very society that we live in today as corrupt as it
is and as corrupted as it is becoming is as good as it is
because Christians were actively involved in the world. So we've
got to understand then how we as citizens should behave in
the world and what the possibilities that that behavior what possibilities
that brings and what influence that maintains. Part of the problem
that we're having today in the whole discussion of tolerance
is a confusion of definitions. We as a people, Christians, non-Christians
alike, have by institutionalism or by personal preference been
dumbed down. I hate to say that, but it's
somewhat true. We've become non-critical thinkers. We're sloppy with our thoughts.
And as a result, we're sloppy also with our understanding of
what things are or aren't. When you talk to people about
tolerance, a lot of people instantly think prejudice. And there is a similarity between
prejudice and intolerance. But they're not quite the same,
and we need to understand what prejudice is and what intolerance
is, how they relate to each other and how they don't. So this morning
there'll be some redefining. We've lost that, unfortunately.
Let's talk about prejudice because we're also told in addition to
being intolerant, none of us should be prejudice. Prejudice
is as bad a thing as intolerance and it is the cause of so much
of our problems. But what is prejudice? What is
it? Nine out of ten people when asked
what prejudice is will tell you immediately it means that you
hate other races. Is that what prejudice really
means? That can be and is part of the definition. But prejudice
by definition is to prejudge. Prejudge. Whatever the subject
is, it is to prejudge it. For us to know right from wrong,
we must prejudge. We must be prejudiced. How do
I know that murder is wrong? Because I am prejudiced against
murder. I'm prejudiced against murder.
I have been taught and I understand from the scripture and from application
in the world that for me to walk up and kill somebody is wrong. I have a prejudice. I have prejudged
murder. But by definition today, as tolerance
has come to mean acceptance, we have shifted the meaning of
prejudice, we have narrowed it, we have focused it in on one
incident, we say that prejudice is hatred of other races. Well,
again, that can be part of it and then that issue gets further
complicated and we'll discuss that in just a minute. But prejudice
in and of itself is not necessarily a vice. Prejudice is also a virtue. In the past we've discussed that
intolerance for us as Christians is a Christian virtue. Now that
sounds paradoxical and to the uninformed ear that will sound
terrible. People will say, well that man's
up there preaching hatred. No I'm not. But as Christians
we must be, for the cause of Christ, we must be intolerant
of sin. In ourselves And in the church,
there's no place for sin in the lives of God's people. So we
are intolerant. And as Christians, I will tell
you, and this will sound again paradoxical and to the uninformed
ear, terrible, we are prejudiced. We have been informed by God
through the spirit operating within us and by the Holy Scripture,
what is right and wrong. And as we learn from the Scriptures,
we learn from the Spirit, as we learn from the body of Christ
from each other and make application of that, we are constantly prejudging
actions and attitudes. We are a prejudiced people and
we should be. That's not necessarily a bad
thing. Now when you start talking about
judgment, prejudice, people instantly throw up their hands and say,
whoa! Get it right, brother. Jesus Himself said, judge not. Judge not. And I would not for
a second argue that Jesus said that. But let's not be imprecise
in our dividing of the Word of God. Let us finish the passage
and understand that Jesus said, Judge not, the same measure you
use will be measured against you. That's important. That's important. All of us,
because we are sinners, are quick to judge. And I will use a different
standard for you than I will use for myself. You all do understand
that I and perfect. You all are sinners, but I'm
perfect. In my mind, that's what I naturally
think. Jesus tells us in that passage,
that is not the case and you should be one to use the same
measure for everybody else that you use on yourself. It is not
a passage where Jesus tells us to throw judgment out the window.
It is a passage that Jesus explains to us that we must judge rightly. Now what is that? The Word of
God is the right judgment. And the Word of God, applied
properly, is tempered with mercy and forgiveness. And when I consider myself, that's
what I'd like to be judged by. I am personally pretty happy
about the idea of mercy and forgiveness. That is the standard I should
use for everyone. Nonetheless, I am to judge. Now
Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthian church about the immoral brother
in the church, he said this man is to be judged. This man is
to be judged. There's no question about it.
This man is practicing an immorality within the church that is unacceptable
even to pagans. He is to be judged. Now, if you'll
follow the passage even more so, Paul in that place says,
in fact, I have already judged him. Though I am not with you,
I have already judged him. Is that a conflict? Is that a
conflict? Remember Jesus said judge not.
Paul said I've judged him and you should judge him too. Again, the measure, the standard
that you used will be used on you and the standard we as Christians
should have is the scripture tempered by mercy and forgiveness. And we see that demonstrated
in the Corinthian church again, and I mentioned this in a previous
message, that Apparently the man repented. And in the second
letter to the Corinthians, the man has come back to the church
and the people say, what do we do now? And Paul says, if he's
repenting, let him come home. Let him come home. There's judgment
tempered with mercy and forgiveness. And that's the standard. But
we are in no way told to throw judgment out the window. If I
throw judgment out the window, I will in no way know right from
wrong. At that point, anything goes
and everything breaks down. So we have to understand that
judgment is important and we are to be a judicial people. Now how does judgment tie into
tolerance or intolerance? Judgment is an academic pursuit. It's a process we think through.
It's a decision we come to. Tolerance or intolerance basically
is the practical application of judgment. So you have the ideology and
the application. Judgment, tolerance or intolerance. Once you've made the decision
that something is right or wrong, then you make application and
you either allow it or disallow it. There's how the two are tied
together. Technically, they're not the
same, but they work together. And that's where we come in to
the two together. We have to understand that to
apply or not apply tolerance, we must make a judgment. We must. That's a necessity. We get into the issue of prejudice,
and this is where I take kind of a sidestep and I want to address
an issue, and that is that I mentioned earlier that we say prejudice
today, and nine out of ten people will think you're talking about
race. You're talking about race. No, prejudice is to prejudge
whatever the subject is. But now, let's do talk about
prejudice as judgment against race. Because we have to admit
that there is racist attitudes even within our society and sometimes
even within the church. But let me ask a probing question
and think the process through. When we talk about racism, are
we really talking about skin color, facial features, body
types, or are we talking about culture? And that's an important distinction
to make. We need to understand that when
you look at it, when you really, really get down to it, we're
not disliking people because of their skin color. It is because
of their actions and attitudes That is what ultimately we find
repulsive. There is nothing about a person's
skin color that dictates the way they will act. There's not. Babies, when they
are born, in this sense are a clean slate. No difference between a black
baby, a white baby, a brown baby, a yellow baby, a red baby. There's
no difference. They eat, they sleep, don't mess
their diapers up. That's it. And around babies,
they all act the same. It is the culture, the environment
that they're raised in that creates the actions and attitudes that
we like or don't like. their race, our race, is only
a visible indicator. But you and I can be honest enough
to recognize, even looking in this congregation, that we're
not all the same. We're not. Can I make a blanket
statement about white people based on this congregation? Not
really. Not really. We don't all have
the same hair color. We don't all have the same eye
color. We don't all have the same skin tone. We don't. I can
make no blanket statement about white people based on this conjugation.
I can't. And that is where the unfortunate
attachment of skin color and culture, assuming them both to
be the same, has hurt us. Has hurt us. And it's blinded us to the real
issues of tolerance or intolerance. We want a predominating culture
that is decent, that is good. I, as a Christian, want the predominant
culture to be Christian. And there is a Christian culture.
There is. That is exactly what Paul is
telling the church at Corinth to develop. Leave the world behind. It is rotten. It is rotten to
the core. Come over here and live in this
place among these people and live this way. That's culture. Now Corinth was a mixing, melting
pot. It was a port city. There were
people from all over the known world in Corinth. wasn't any one race. There were
people from North Africa there, there were from people over in
what's now Ukraine and Russia, there were people from all over
Europe, there were people from the Middle East representing
all kinds of languages, people of different colors, people
of different dress, people of different cultures. And yet the message given to
Paul by the angel in vision there was, I have much people in this
place. The message was not, I have much
white people in this place. I have much people of a Greek
culture in this place. I have much people who speak
Aramaic in this place. That wasn't the message. The
message of Jesus Christ is grander and greater and more important
than human culture. If we are to be prejudiced, and
we are, we must recognize that our culture, our Christian culture,
that that is centered in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, is
the culture that we want for ourselves and indeed we truly
want for the rest of the world. Because not all cultures are
good. Not all cultures are worth having. But Christian culture is. Christian culture is. So We need to in our minds, and
I've worked on this myself for years, trying to separate race
from culture. Race from culture. You go to
the last book in the Bible, the book of the revelation of Jesus
Christ. You go to the throne room of God, chapter 7 I believe,
and there is the multitude standing before God and Christ on that
great and final day. And what does the Scripture tell
us? It says they're of every tribe, of every language, of
every race. There are no human barriers to
acceptance in Christ. And by human barriers, I don't
mean our depravity. That is a barrier. But race? That doesn't borrow one from
Christ. Paul tells us that in Christ
there are no men or women, there are no Greek, there are no barbarian,
there are no free, there are no slave. So, in our minds, as we think
through prejudice, as we think through intolerance, one thing
that we can discount and throw out immediately is race. There is one race, truly, and
that is the human race. that is the human race. Some
time ago we talked about man as God's highest creation and
we talked about the origin of the races in the Tower of Babel
and the separation of the people and the development of the races.
Where did all those races come from? Originally from Adam and Eve.
The potential for all races is in every one of us genetically. And then it was reinforced again
when the The human race was narrowed down to Noah and his family and
then broadened from there. So twice now has the origin of
all the races come down to but a few. There is but one race
and truly it's the human race. As always we must, we must balance
our opinions, our prejudices, our tolerances or intolerance
with the scripture. God's word is wisdom. We are
sinners and left to ourselves, even for a minute, we'll fall
into error and hatred is natural to our hearts and we must always
temper it with the scripture. Praying to God for wisdom always
that we may understand what is a proper judgment as we look
at the issues of the day. There are another issue that
comes up as we consider our American experience when we talk about
tolerance or intolerance, and I think this is a very important
point. We as Americans live in the freest society possibly that
has ever existed in the world. We have rights and privileges
in this country that nobody else has ever had. We have an active
hand in our government like no other. population of people in
the history of the world. That is a blessing and a curse
to us, actually. And it gives rise to one of the
considerations that I think must be mentioned as we talk about
tolerance or intolerance, and that is the conflict between
what is legal in our society and what is moral before God.
And this is a decision as we consider tolerance or intolerance
that we must look at, consider, and make application of. It is
possible as we all know or should know that something can be completely
legal in our society and yet immoral before God. Does that make it right to do? No, not at all. If it is immoral
before God Almighty, it is improper for us as believers to partake
in. It doesn't matter if the rest
of the world says it's okay. It doesn't matter. And this is
one of the distinguishing factors of Christian culture as Christ's
people in the world, as ambassadors for Christ, that set us apart.
Now, I may not be able to change the law. But I personally do
not have to partake in immoral activity. And that's what sets
us apart from the world. That we as Christians should
not and will not participate. Something can be legal and yet
immoral. And we should stay away from
those things. I'll give you an example of such
a thing. In this country, since 1972,
abortion has been legal. It is legal. You can go out and abort babies,
kill babies, murder babies all day long and no one will go to
jail. The doctor who does it is not
a criminal as society judges it. The woman who has the abortion
is not a criminal. It is legal and we kill millions
of babies a year. Is it moral? No. Absolutely not. It is immoral. It is wrong. There is no justification
for killing a baby in the womb or out of the womb. There is
no justification for it. There is no justification. It
is immoral. Should we as Christians partake
in abortion because it is legal? No, we shouldn't. Sadly, many
do. The reason that the laws in this
country towards abortion don't change is because Christians
don't vote to change them. It's that simple. It really is. It's unfortunate to say that.
We live in a society and this is a blessing. We live in a society
that has a secret ballot. How I vote publicly is none of
your business. It's none of your business. Secret
ballot. You don't know what I do in the
booth. I turn my back to society. I
go in the booth, pull the curtain. You don't know what I did in
there. Sadly, many who call themselves Christians, do not vote against
abortion. You say, well, it's not on the
ballot. I can't vote against it. No, every time there's a
candidate that runs and says, I am pro-choice, you're voting
for or against abortion, whether you know it or not. Think it
through. You are. If you vote for pro-choice people,
you are voting for abortion. Abortion is legal. Immoral, but
legal. Another example, let's talk about
it, because it was on the ballot in some states and some states
accepted, and that's gay marriage. In this country now, there are
several states that allow for gay marriage or civil unions,
if that's what they call it. It's legal. And I will issue
a gross prophecy, say it, take it for what you will, but fairly
soon it'll be legal across all 50 states because the courts
will so rule it now that they have a foothold in several states.
Legal! A man and a man may get married.
A woman and a woman may get married. It's legal. Is it moral? Not at all. Not at all. So we see that in
our society there is the possibility for something to be legal, acceptable
in the greater society, but immoral. And we as Christians are not
to partake in it. We are not to partake in it.
We're not. There are other issues we could
spend the rest of the day, well beyond the time of the sermon
even, talking about things that are legal but immoral that we're
allowed as citizens of America to do. But I think you understand
the point that we as Christians must judge things. We must look to the scripture
and to our guidance from the spirit as we do take in the scripture
to know what is right and wrong. And then we must be in application
of that. And personally, we must stay
away from those things. We talked before about the principles
we had learned from the lives of Joseph and Daniel and Esther,
who were God's people in very wicked societies. They were people
that were there, and number one, they lived their lives out. They
lived their faith. They lived quiet lives. They
didn't draw attention to their faith, but they did not in any
way forsake their faith. We learned that they lived excellent
lives, that they were good workers at home, at work, and in society
in general. They did an excellent job. There
was nothing with which anyone could accuse them of wrongdoing.
They were excellent workers in their place. And each was prepared
when asked or given opportunity to speak. They took the opportunity
to explain their faith. Well, that brings us to the point,
which is really the greater point of my message today, and that
is that in America, we live in a unique situation. And that
we, as Christians, are not to be out on the street waving signs
and banners and protesting all the time. That's not going to
win anybody to our cause. It's going to infuriate those
who hate us. And make no mistake about it,
the evildoers in society hate Christ. He told us they hate
Him. He told us that they will hate
us. There is no love in their hearts for us or any that would
try and curb their evil activities. It's not our place to be out
there confronting them necessarily. But, and here's the greater point,
when asked, take opportunity. Be prepared, as the scripture
we read earlier, to give reason for the hope that is in you.
We in America have the unique time, place, and situation to
demonstrate and speak our mind. We have freedom of speech. You
and I can talk to individuals in public about the things that
we're concerned about. It's not always been the case.
In many societies, even today, there are people with ears perked.
And if they hear you saying something that's the least little bit out
of line, You'll disappear in the night. It doesn't happen
here. We have freedom of speech. And
sometimes people do ask us. You know, I've noticed. I've
noticed you're different. I've noticed you don't dress
this way. You don't act that way. What's that all about? That's
a precious opportunity given to us by God to explain our faith,
to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ our Lord. Another thing
that we have here that most people around the world don't have,
and that's freedom of the press. Now, I understand our media is
very biased, and that we don't get necessarily the proper picture,
but at the same time, it's a forum that we are given to where we
can freely express our opinion. You know, it's a funny thing,
but every once in a while, even the Houston Chronicle will publish
a letter that makes sense. Somebody expresses a decent opinion. And it's a seed planted. I'm
not saying that a letter to the editor is going to change the
world, but you never know. It's an opportunity we have.
We have the freedom to assemble. We are here today because we
have the freedom to assemble. Thank God for that. Think about
all the people in the world since the time of Christ and even up
to now. that have to hide in the corners
to worship God. Think about those dear brothers
and sisters in Soviet Russia and what they had to do to worship
God. Think about the believers in China. Think about those people. We have the freedom to assemble.
It is a special privilege given to us and we have opportunity
to worship God and present God and to be ambassadors for Christ
at this time and this place. Think about the freedom that
we have to address and petition our government. Most of us don't, but we have
that opportunity. If I disagree with an issue,
I can call my senator or my congressman's office. I don't know where it goes from
there. I don't have the responsibility to carry it forward beyond that.
But it is my opportunity, my place, my time to call and make
my voice known. Not in an obnoxious, horrible
way, but to make my voice known. Again, it's an opportunity when
asked to give explanation for the faith that we have in Christ.
We have these unique situations here. And let me remind us of
something that I hold to and read and remember often. In the book of Revelation, John
was given the vision of the king of kings going forth, a rider
on a white horse, conquering. That's an important message.
The message of the book of Revelation, contrary to so much of the preaching
that you hear today, is not horrible beasts coming up out of the sea
and consuming one-third of the world. It's not a vision of nuclear
bombs going off. However you choose to interpret
all that, that's fine. But you know what the real message
of the book of Revelation is? That there is a King of Kings
riding forth, conquering. That's the message. Yes, the world looks out of sorts. But Christ is still conquering.
He is still conquering. Absolutely still conquering.
Where there are people, where there are sinners who need Christ,
there is a conquering Christ that will rescue his people. Rome was the most barbaric, violent,
and vile society the world had known up to that day. It was horrible. And in the matter
of 200 and some odd years, Rome went from a pagan nation to a
Christian nation. Grasp that. dark and horrible times and yet
light came to Rome. Christ visited Rome. Christ did
not conquer Rome with weapons. Not weapons of this world. Paul
tells us in the book of Ephesians that our weapons are not of this
world. They're spiritual weapons. Christ conquered Rome by one
believer talking to one person and that one person talking to
one person and that talking to one person. And primarily from
the bottom up because Christianity in Rome was a slave religion. Understand that as much as 60%
of the Roman Empire was enslaved. Take that to mind. 60% of the
Roman Empire was slaves. But it was a slave religion that
overturned an empire. And I say that to stress the point that they
did it because they were tolerant people. They affected change
where they could affect change, which was primarily in their
own lives and in the lives of their immediate Christian community. and Rome changed. We look at
a society today where things are tightening up on people of
faith. And the America that we may remember
from our youth is no more. It's not the same. But does that
mean that it's over with? We of all people should have
hope. God brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt. God saved the church from the
slaughter of the Jewish people in 70 A.D. God saved the early Christians
from persecutions in barbaric and hateful Rome. and indeed
turn Rome into a Christian nation. Now I understand there's more
to be said about what that means, but let's leave it as a Christian
nation. Officially Christian. At a time
when again history was dark and the Christian religion was fading
away so it seemed, God brought about the Reformation and recaptured
the gospel to the church. Is it over? Do we see dark days? I won't discount any of that.
But it's not over. Christ the King is riding the
white horse and He goes forth to conquer. And He will not do
it with placards and with protests and with rock throwing or anything
else. He will do it as He has always
done it, I think. And that is by His people holding
tight to their faith not tolerating sin in themselves or in their
Christian community, but presenting Christ as saving truth to people
out yonder, rescuing those whom he will rescue. We as a Christian people must leave the world in its sin. They don't want to hear our message.
They won't hear our message. We must not allow for sin in
our lives personally or in the lives of our church. And along with that, we must
be ever mindful, ever watchful for opportunity to rescue one
from the world as God gives us opportunity. Then once they are
in our midst, God will clean them up. God will clean them
up. If we won't, God will. Paul tells the church, such were
some of you. Such were some of you. God saves
His people, and once He has done so, He will clean His people
up. He will sanctify His people.
The world will do what it will do. And I hate to say that, and
I hate to sound negative in that. And we should take every opportunity
that we have When asked, however we're asked, to demonstrate our
faith, to explain our faith, to explain that there is a better
way, and we should never tolerate
sin within our own lives or in the lives of our church.