The second commandment might be considered the least useful. It is, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Exodus 20:4).[1] Unless you are buying donuts or Chinese food, you won’t come across many “carved images”. Should we rush past the second commandment and get to the third?
Negatively, the second commandment forbids idol worship. Positively, the second commandment demands purity in worship and thought.[2] God will not accept worship mingled with falsehood. For this reason, Elton Trueblood summarizes the second commandment as “The Necessity of Intolerance.”[3]
This is not the kind of intolerance you experience during rush hour traffic or from Karen at Whole Foods. This intolerance recognizes apart from God’s standard of worship and life, humanity will die. Therefore, we strongly advocate faithfulness to Christ and his law because it alone results in God’s glory and man’s joy.
The Israelites had to develop the virtue of intolerance. Elton Trueblood explains, “Their temptation was not the temptation to give up their faith in Yahweh, but rather the temptation to add to that faith in a tolerant manner, thus producing a syncretistic worship with various elements existing conjunctively”. (24) God warned his people against picking up the practices of ungodly men.
Trueblood argues “the tolerant man is essentially stupid”. (27) The tolerant man might say, “I don’t understand why men worship god, who probably doesn’t exist, but I won’t stop them. I’m broad-minded!” This seems like the statement an intellectually advanced man might make. Is it though?
In reality, God either is or he isn’t. If he isn’t, what decent man would encourage others to live in a delusion? “The awful truth is that if belief in God is not a true belief, it is evil.”[4] Trueblood continues, “If God is not, then all the effort that goes into public and private worship is a waste of human energy and ought to be brought to a speedy end”. (27) Seen from this angle, tolerance requires a man to suspend logic for the sake of another man’s fantasy. It is “essentially stupid.”
Paul instructed the churches in Rome to “abhor what is evil” (Romans 12:9). The Psalms and prophets have more godly counsel: “O you who love the LORD, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10), “Hate evil, and love good” (Amos 5:15). Scripture never commends easy tolerance. It is not a godly virtue. In fact, Jesus condemned the “tolerant” church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:20).[5]
It honors Christ when you cultivate a godly hatred for false worship, evil thinking, and godless living. Speaking as Earth’s King, Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). Either you actively promote Christ in worship and life, or you are his enemy.
Any belief or practice which is unfaithful to Christ also degrades humanity. To the extent humanity conforms to God’s Law, it will flourish and thrive. Apart from God’s Law, humanity will go to ruin. Look no further than modern America for proof of this fact. Godless men corrupt justice, love and peace. God’s standard defines justice, love, and peace. When you recognize this reality, you will see that easy tolerance is unloving. Intolerance is loving and, therefore, a necessity.
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references from ESV.
[2] See Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 50.
[3] Elton Trueblood, Foundations for Reconstruction, Revised Edition (New York: Harper & Row, 1961).
[4] I can’t help but note, here, that this statement is logically inconsistent. The man who rejects the existence of the Triune God has no standard by which to define “good” or “evil.”
[5] Jesus held it against the Thyatiran church that they tolerated Jezebel who called herself a prophetess and taught falsehood. These are two things the Western church praises.
500 Words 
Leave a comment