7.12.15 Tolerance vs Acceptance

Bountiful Blessings

July 12, 2015

            Hello my friends. How are you on this bright, beautiful Sunday morning? All is well here. God is good. So, with all the political talk going on lately, that is where I am going to aim this newsletter. (Just giving you warning.) All I have been hearing or reading about on facebook are the Confederate flag and same sex marriage issues. Oh my goodness. On and on. Yes, I have an opinion. Don’t we all? But it’s the negativity, the anger, the dissonance that is getting to me. So, lets do this….

The other day I was walking at Heardmont Park (Oak Mtn High School) when this SUV pulled up. Gonna stereotype here a little - but hey, if the shoes fits. This young, attractive mother comes beebopping out of her luxury SUV and goes around to open the door for the kids. They grab soccer equipment and climb out. The perfect little family, you know? Well, as I pass by, I notice the bumper sticker that makes them even more perfect - “Tolerance.” The tolerance bumper sticker intends to promote “the ideals of understanding, compassion, open-mindedness, and acceptance among people of various faiths, religions and philosophical beliefs.” Ok, so some of you may sport a tolerance or coexist sticker on your car and feel pretty good about it. I am not knocking you for it. Seriously. No snarkiness. Your heart is in the right place.

            Here is my dilemma. Tolerance. Tolerate. Such a negative connotation. Such a high and mighty term. I tolerate you. I tolerate what you believe. Semantics? Possibly. But listen to the difference. I accept you. I accept what you believe. Oh, honey, I don’t agree with you but I accept you. I accept that we are different and have different beliefs. You may try to change mine and I may try to change yours. However, who’s to say whose are wrong or intolerant? As a Christian, I believe/know the only way to Heaven is through the Lord. That being said, your beliefs are just as important to you. God wants us to bring non-believers into the fold but I don’t believe his intentions were for us to get all high and mighty with it.

            So whether you are a Christian, an agnostic, proudly wave a Confederate flag or protest at Capitol Hill for its removal, whether you stand behind same sex marriages or believe it is between a man and a woman, I am not here to judge. Judgment places barriers in place that create divisions that may not be breached. If your plan is to sway me or anyone else to your way of thinking, you had best do it non-judgmentally, with logic and with a whole lot of passion.

            I am not always right. Actually, I am probably wrong more often than I am right. But one thing is clear. I have a passion for the Lord and my heart screams out to tell you that love for one another is key. Don’t turn away or turn others away in anger or dissent. Listen. Open your hearts. Forgive. Understand. Accept. Teach through love.

Bible verse for the week:
Romans 14: 1 -4         As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him but not to quarrel over opinions. One person may eat anything, while the weak person only eats vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or fall. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Bible fun for the week:

Picture of the week:

Final thoughts:

Thank you for being tolerant of my opinions (rants). I consider each and every one of you a friend and pray for you daily.

Have a great week!
Terri