Tolerance is a great virtue

As a kid, when going off to school or a gathering with others my age I remember my mother giving me instructions such as, "Now you be nice," or "You behave yourself!" It was her way of telling me to be tolerant and respectful of others.When I think of tolerance, I think of being considerate and appreciative of those who are different from me in culture, race, religion or nationality.Tolerance also means patience, patience for the person who is striving to do his/her best but falls short of the goal. The parent needs to be tolerant with the child. The teacher, the employer, the group or religious leader needs to be tolerant toward those who are at the beginning of a new commitment and are striving to do what is right. The Prophet Nahum (1:3) said, "The Lord is slow to anger and of great power..." The one who is in a position of leadership has considerable power toward the neophyte. Leadership, whether one is a parent, a teacher or employer, needs to show tolerance toward the one(s) looking to him/her for direction.Jesus said, "Treat others as you would like to be treated," (Matthew 7:12). In today's world we might express this scripture in these words, "Be tolerant toward others as you would like for others to be tolerant with you."The scriptures speak of tolerance, but tolerance toward those who are sincerely striving for that which is morally and spiritually empowering. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment in disputable matters." (Romans 14:1 NIV)"Tolerance" is a nice sounding word, but there is a limit to what tolerance can do. Think of the family in which the parents tolerate anything their children want to do. They let him eat whatever he wants to eat, say whatever he wants to say, or act as he wants to act. After all, as the current anti-parenting thinking goes, we don't want to scar his fragile psyche by imposing restrictions on him. Parents, if they are properly parenting their children, will impose restrictions on their offspring. Parents should not tolerate those things in their children that are destructive, self-defeating or hurtful to themselves or to others.When a nation becomes more concerned about self gratification and individual rights to the exclusion of the moral and spiritual strength of the community it begins the slow death of the nation. The prophet Habakkuk (1:13 NIV) said, "...you cannot tolerate wrong ... Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?" And the writer of Revelation (2:2 NIV) said "...you cannot tolerate wicked (people)."Debate used to be one of the great academic disciplines, but for some unexplained reason as the cry for tolerance has gotten stronger the practice of good, reasoned, in-depth debate has disappeared. Today, instead of hearing well researched, responsible sharing of opinions on a particular policy or program, we hear a lot of name-calling and cries for tolerance.Today the cry for tolerance is usually accompanied by the command "Don't be judgmental!" Unfortunately, far too many people take this as being good advice. Concerns for not offending anyone have taken the place of good judgment. However, a vibrant, self-sustaining nation is constantly making judgments and tolerating only those things that are strengthening and contributing to the health and well being of family and community.Yes, as a kid I was instructed to behave myself and be tolerant of others, but I also knew that I was not to be accepting or tolerant of unlawful, immoral or destructive behavior.