A Job Only Love Can Accomplish

It breaks my heart to see a world ravaged by hate, its brutal attacks combatted by an incessant call for tolerance. Tolerance is not the remedy to hatred, love is. In fact, tolerance is not a part of Jesus' vocabulary. I never once hear Him call us to tolerate one another, but implores us instead to love one another. These two are not one or the same. Tolerance was not what took Jesus to the cross; that was a job only Love could accomplish.

Tolerance is passive, a mere "putting up with." But love is active. It is on purpose, with purpose. Tolerance turns off the TV when it becomes too painful to watch, and congratulates itself on the role it doesn't play. But love recognizes that hatred comes at a cost, and puts an arm around those paying the price. Tolerance says, "I'm glad it's not me." Love says, "I see you, I hear you, and I'm with you." Tolerance looks away. Love leans in.

Tolerance draws lines at the borders of the comfort zone- approximately at arm's length- that say to the outsider, "To here you may come but no further." Love is not confined to these imaginary boundaries. Love bounds across the lines and embraces the broken. Love reaches into the darkest corners, staking claim on the least worthy and the most unlikely. Love honors the "other than." Love fights battles that no one else is able or willing to fight, because love recognizes the battles worth fighting. In a world where hatred is fierce, our love should be fiercer.

I dare you to love someone fiercely today. Someone who believes or lives or looks differently than you do. Love them and mean it. And tell them you do. We could all use the reminder.

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"All too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows."

Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail

#love #loveyourneighbor #tolerance #hate #MLKJr #Christ