Considering the endorsements and celebrations of June as Gay Pride month by various commercial groups (Target and Kraft Foods' Oreos, to name a few), we are being especially bombarded with the calls for tolerance right now.
In light of this, I found the readings at Mass today,the Feast of St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr, to be especially striking. From the first reading: "Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant..." (2 Timothy 2:23-24, NAB). And yes, the Greek word, ’ανεξικακον, actually does translate as "tolerant" (also "patient")--it's not just an insipid word choice by the NAB.
So there you have it, folks, right there in the Bible. We Christians should stop arguing about stuff and just be tolerant like everyone keeps telling us. Right? Not quite what St. Paul had in mind.
Verses 25-26 go on to say, "correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will" (emphasis mine).
For the Christian, tolerance is always about the person, and never the act or the idea. Paul instructs Timothy to avoid foolish and ignorant debates, not to stop talking about the truth. The idea here is to refrain from quarreling, not all dialogue. And how do we approach dialogue (which does not mean "beating someone over the head with the truth nicely")? With gentleness, a desire to teach (not browbeat), and tolerance for the person. The goal of all of this is not to affirm everyone's life choices regardless of how they fit (or fail to) with our worldview, but to correct opponents. And we seek to teach and correct gently remembering always that it is God who grants repentance and conversion. Tolerance opens the door for dialogue and teaching. It does not compromise on what the truth is, and it most certainly does not deny that there is, in fact, objective truth.
So yes, as Christians we are called to be tolerant. But it is not a blind tolerance, and it is not tolerance for its own sake. If we submit, instead, to the world's call to tolerate sin and lies, not only will we risk losing the fullness of life, but we will also miss the opportunity to invite others into that life.
"The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God." --St. Irenaeus
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