McDowell says tolerance is America’s greatest threat

by  Keith Hinson                                                                                                                                         Vol. VIII, No. 9, October 1995

Today in America, Christians are facing the greatest threat to churches in history, said Christian author Josh McDowell, speaking to a group of single adults at Ridgecrest (N.C.) Baptist Conference Center. “At this very moment, we are facing the greatest threat to the cause of Christ in 2,000 years, and 99 percent of Christians are missing it,” said McDowell, keynote speaker for the Single Adult Labor Day Getaway, Sept. 1-3. A total of 2,275 attended the conference sponsored by the Baptist Sunday School Board’s discipleship and family development division.

"The No. 1 virtue in America has become the No. 1 threat to America ... to everything you stand for in Christ, ... What is it? Tolerance. About three years ago, tolerance bypassed justice as the No, 1 virtue in America,” said McDowell, author of four "Right from Wrong” resource books produced by the Board. He also is spearheading the nationwide “Right from Wrong” campaign, a cooperative effort of about 50 denominational and para-church groups,

Today’s definition of tolerance is that “every single individual's beliefs, values, lifestyles, and truth claims are equal,” McDowell said. Because of this view of tolerance, McDowell predicted that within three to five years American Christians will be living in "a totally, completely different culture." Within 36 to 60 months, ... if you act justly or exercise loving-kindness, you’re going to he labeled a heretic and have to take a sensitivity training class,” McDowell said. “I can guarantee you that.”

Once upon a time, McDowell said, such groups as the gay rights movement only wanted to be left alone to live their lifestyle. “You don't hear that anymore," McDowell said. “Now the approach under tolerance is, “We want your permission. We demand your praise, and if you don’t give us your praise of our lifestyle, you are intolerant,"'

Adults may have an easier time being labeled intolerant in today’s society, McDowell said, but it's tougher on Christian youth. “You say, ‘Well, as an adult, I can handle that,’ McDowell said. “Yes, but our kids can’t. One of the greatest fears that kids have today is to be intolerant, because, you see, the moment you’re labeled intolerant, you’re labeled a racist, a sexist, and a homophobe instantly,” he said.

When the older generation thinks of tolerance, they remember that “you love the sinner, you hate the sin,” McDowell said. “You state that in a university and you will be lambasted. That’s intolerance.” McDowell said he sees no conspiracy to perpetuate tolerance as the prime virtue in America but called it “a normal happening of history.” He traced historical influences to the Renaissance of the 13^th century, which “‘incorporated humanism’ and was followed by:

– the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, which said “man is the master of his soul”.

– the Industrial Revolution, which had “a tremendous explosion of confidence, and they said, ‘Wait a minute. We don’t need God that much.’”

– the increasing urbanization of America since 1940 and the corresponding breakup of the extended family as many people moved to American cities where the fathers found jobs.

The result was that instead of many relatives living on the same house passing along values to children, McDowell said the extended family no longer had an influential hand in molding a child. McDowell also cited the development of mass media and the decline of apprenticeships where parents would teach trades to their children.

“This is the first time in the history of America that we have a culture shift based upon a truth-shift paradigm,” McDowell said. America’s model of truth has shifted from “objectivity in the very nature and character of God” to one “within man himself (that is) relative and situational,” McDowell said. [Editor’s Note: For a parallel of this point, read “Alliance of Baptists Directors Support Peace Fellowship” in this Banner.] [In our archives, look under “Liberal Groups”.]

Quoting the late Christian philosopher, Francis Shaeffer, McDowell said, “We no longer live in a Judeo-Christian culture. We live in a post-Judeo-Christian culture. ... We live in an anti-Judeo-Christian culture, and you’d better wake up to that.”

McDowell said the Christian emphasis on justice is not welcome where tolerance is exalted. “Justice and tolerance cannot coexist,” McDowell said. “Justice is the enemy of tolerance. ... Justice says there is a moral basis for discerning right from wrong ... and tolerance says, ‘Wait a minute. All is equal. It’s all man. There is no God, so there is no moral basis. There’s only opinion, and all opinions are equal.”

What should Christians in America do? McDowell said they should:

– Pursue truth. “Embrace all beliefs, but not accept all beliefs. Embrace the speaker, not the message. Listen and learn from all people, but not necessarily agree,” he said.

– Make beliefs into convictions. “Every one of you in here has a lot of beliefs, but very few of you have convictions. ... We must take our beliefs and confirm them within us as convictions, whether we’re adults of children,” McDowell said.

– Identify with justice. “That’s going to be costly. I am not called upon to be tolerant. If I stood up in almost every one of your churches here, I’d be labeled a heretic by Christians. ... (If) you go out (from here) and (say) Josh taught about we shouldn’t be tolerant, almost every Christian in America will label me a heretic, because they’ve got the old traditional concept of tolerance. “If Jesus were alive today, I guarantee you He would be labeled the No. 1 intolerant person on the face of the earth, and He would be crucified in less than 30 years,” McDowell said.

“God does not call us to be tolerant. He calls us to do something else, which is radical,” McDowell concluded. [BP]