To tolerate someone today means not only to bear with him with patience and respect, but to affirm, accept, and even celebrate values and choices that may be irreconcilable with one’s own. The result of this disfigurement of meaning is that a lot of Christians today are wary of any talk of tolerance. 

There was a time when to tolerate something meant to endure pain or hardship with self-restraint. This virtue had useful applications, especially when thinking about human relationships.

Tolerating another person was the willingness to let him or her think and act independently despite disagreement—even if the disagreement was fierce. 

Thus, for example, for a passionate Republican to tolerate a passionate Democrat, or for a passionate Presbyterian to tolerate a passionate Roman Catholic, was to treat the other person with respect and dignity without feeling the need to compromise firmly held convictions. 

Sadly, postmodernity has radically changed the concept of tolerance. 

The concept has been redefined to the extent that modern usage of the word bears only a faint resemblance to its original meaning. 

To tolerate someone today means not only to bear with him with patience and respect, but to affirm, accept, and even celebrate values and choices that may be irreconcilable with one’s own. 

The result of this disfigurement of meaning is that a lot of Christians today are wary of any talk of tolerance. 

This is unfortunate because the older meaning of the word is something much needed at a juncture in time when secular and religious politics threatens to tear apart the seams of brotherly love. 

The Christian Roots of Tolerance

There is a fascinating history of how tolerance developed into a political virtue in modern society. Yet the goal here isn’t to explore the alleyways of the past, but rather to show how the virtue of tolerance is a product of Biblical truth.

First, the willingness to tolerate someone is the fruit of recognizing his or her intrinsic worth as an image-bearing creature. 

One risk of a judgmental attitude is the temptation to reduce the value of a person to their opinion on a particular topic. 

Suddenly, I begin to feel anger toward you simply because I can’t detach your politics, or spiritual preferences, from your person. 

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