Tolerance
Pluralistic cultures like our own put a high value on tolerance. In matters
of personal morality and religious faith, most things are tolerable except
intolerance itself.
The healthy side of "politically correct" tolerance is that it attempts to
assure mutual respect among people of different religious and cultural
perspectives. The dangerous side is that children of such cultures are
raised to consider all points of view as equally valid.
Where does this leave those of us who do not believe everything is relative
or that all religious or philosophical views are equally valid? Should we
be angry about a society that tolerates sexual immorality and philosophical
relativism, while at the same time becomes increasingly intolerant of the
Christian mission? Should we be angry that a nation which used to assume
Judeo-Christian values is increasingly resistant to the Christian gospel?
If we are not careful, we might end up on the wrong side of this issue. It
is easy for us to feel insulted and intimidated by a government and society
that attempts to marginalize people of "fundamentalist" conviction. It is
easy to fell that we must fight all attempts to define us out of a
government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." It is easy
to assume that because "sin is a reproach to any nation," our mission is to
make sure that government is a friend or at least a protector of our
mission to evangelize. It is easy to assume that "tolerance of sin" is all
wrong.
Policies of tolerance, however, are not all wrong. They form the mutual
ground on which we can stand with non-Christians to press the point that
while all religious points of view might be tolerated in a free society,
not all are equally valid.
While the God of the Bible teaches us not to tolerate pride, greed, or
sexual immorality in ourselves or in the lives of those who take the name
of Christ, He teaches His people to tolerate sin in the lives of those who
do not yet know Christ as Savior (1 Cor. 5:7-13). To tolerate sin in the
lives of non-Christian neighbors does not mean we condone their sin. It
means we seek to patiently love them to Christ, as God has loved us to Himself.
As Christians, we must not only pray for our enemies and give them reason
to come to Christ, but we must also defend their right to disagree with us
and reach conclusions inconsistent with our own. While we do not agree with
such views or consider them valid, we must fight for their right to hold them.
What we must not do is argue our case and vote our morality in public
forums for the purpose of "reclaiming our rights" or "to protect our
children from the evils of unbelievers." Those who don't yet know Christ
need to feel our compassion more than our desire for control. They need to
see that we are not motivated by fear for ourselves, but by love for them.
Our path will not be easy. Our mission to tell our world about "one
mediator between God and man" will be seen by multi-cultural societies as
one more form of religious fundamentalism that is especially dangerous.
Anti-conversion policy will undoubtedly become a mark of the coming global
village. The world of the future will offer religious freedom, while at the
same time censuring any group which seeks converts.
World governments are under growing pressure to adopt policy designed to
protect religious groups from threatening one another. The Republic of
Turkey, for instance, offers religious freedom while at the same time
taking a tough stance against any religious group that attempts to make
converts from outside of its own members. While such laws seem designed to
frustrate Christian missions, they were actually drafted to eliminate
conflict between competing Muslim sects. The issue is not only the
Christian message but any religious message that threatens to disrupt
societal cohesion.
All of this seems threatening. But this is no time to throw up our hands or
throw in the towel. We have merely live long enough to come full circle to
the first-century conditions. The church was born in a day that tolerated
almost anything excepts a faith that lovingly pointed others to the Lord of
lords.
Father, help us to love others in the way You have instructed us (2 Tim.
2:24-26). Help us to live in the spirit of those apostles who found in a
hostile environment an opportunity to love their enemies, and to obey You
rather than man.
vasko edo minter gultom
"Been Thinking About" - Radio Bible Class Ministries - Our Daily Bread -
Spring 2000.
<http://www.rbc.net/>http://www.rbc.net/
___________________________________________________________
Pak Hud, saya bermaksud mengirim artikel ini untuk Milis Spiritual tetapi
saya kuatir kalau-kalau isinya masih dianggap terlalu 'fundamentalis'
Kristen. Jadi saya kirimkan dulu ke Pak Hud untuk dibaca, kalau Pak Hud
berpendapat artikel ini cocok untuk milis SP, mohon ditampilkan dan jika
tidak ya jangan ditampilkan di SP :-). Terima kasih.
Saya melihat artikel tersebut sebagai pemikiran toleransi dari kalangan
Kristen yang tetap memegang teguh penafsiran tradisional akan Amanat Agung
untuk menginjili dengan cara yang toleran. Mungkin artikel ini bisa
membantu orang-orang Kristen untuk makin memahami toleransi sesuai ajaran
yang dianutnya.
Salam,
Lan Sin
___________________________________________________________
Please take a visit to my homepage:
<http://www.geocities.com/niucls/>http://www.geocities.com/niucls/
Thank you :-)
-----------------------------
Hudoyo:
Salam jumpa kembali, Sdr Lan Sin. [Maaf, email Japri dari Anda ini nyelip
ketika saya pergi keluar kota, dan baru ketemu sekarang.]
Pemikiran yang ditampilkan dalam artikel di atas cukup sah, dalam arti
tidak bertentangan dengan etiket di Milis-Spiritual. Yang dulu pernah
ditolak di sini dari sementara rekan adalah artikel yang terang-terangan
bersifat "proselytizing" (mencari penganut) dengan menyerang ajaran-ajaran
lain.
Seberapa "fundamentalis" pun suatu pemikiran adalah sah untuk ditampilkan
di milis ini asal saja tetap mengindahkan rambu-rambu tersebut. (Dalam hal
ini, tentu saja si "fundamentalis" akan merasa sedikit banyak terbelenggu
karena tidak bisa bicara sebebas seperti di forum tanpa moderasi; tapi apa
boleh buat, Milis-Spiritual ini mempunyai visi, misi dan etiketnya sendiri
yang harus ditaati oleh semua orang yang ingin menulis di sini.)
Sekaligus saya ingin menanggapi tulisan Mart de Haan ini. Tulisan ini pada
dasarnya mencerminkan sikap tradisional Kristen dalam menghadapi
agama-agama lain, yakni bahwa agama-agama tidak sama-sama valid, bahwa ada
yang paling benar di antara agama-agama. (Sikap ini tidak hanya terdapat di
kalangan Kristen, tetapi juga di kalangan Islam dan Yahudi, dan dalam
intensitas yang jauh lebih lunak, di kalangan umat Hindu, Buddhis dsb.)
Namun, saya melihat ada kemajuan besar di dalam sikap "fundamentalis" itu,
sekalipun kemajuan itu tidak cukup tuntas. Yang saya maksud adalah kalimat
berikut:
As Christians, we must not only pray for our enemies and give them reason
to come to Christ, but we must also defend their right to disagree with us
and reach conclusions inconsistent with our own. While we do not agree with
such views or consider them valid, we must fight for their right to hold them.
Saya katakan 'tidak tuntas', karena di situ masih melihat orang lain
sebagai "our enemies" beserta segala implikasinya. Bagaimana kita bisa
hidup bersama-sama "musuh" dalam satu masyarakat yang sama?
Lalu, bagaimana kemajuan yang saya anggap "tuntas" itu? Beberapa waktu
lalu, saya pernah menayangkan artikel yang ditulis oleh Dr Barbara Zikmund,
Direktris Seminari Hartford, Connecticut, A.S., tentang sejarah misi
Kristen (dimuat dalam buku "Passing Over: Melintasi Batas Agama", Yayasan
Paramadina). Di situ Barbara Zikmund menguraikan visinya tentang hakekat
misi Kristen di masa depan, yang bukan untuk meng-Kristen-kan orang,
melainkan --di samping mengabarkan tentang pengalaman Kristiani (the
Christian experience)-- adalah "untuk mendorong agar manusia bersama-sama
meningkatkan spiritualitasnya di dalam kepercayaan masing-masing." Di sini
tersirat pandangan Zikmund bahwa agama-agama adalah sama-sama valid sebagai
jalan menuju Tuhan.
Barbara Zikmund adalah seorang pemikir di garis depan pemikiran Kristen
pada zaman kita. Baru-baru ini dia datang ke Indonesia dalam rangka trialog
Islam-Kristen-Yahudi. Juga datang di situ Paul F. Knitter, seorang pemikir
Kristen lain yang terkenal dengan rumusannya: "a globally responsible
corelational dialogue" ("dialog saling berhubungan secara setara dan
bertanggung jawab secara global").
Menurut saya, masa depan agama Kristen terletak dalam penyebarluasan dan
pelembagaan pikiran-pikiran pemukanya macam Barbara Zikmund, Paul F
Knitter, John Selby Spong, John Hick, Harvey Cox dll.
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