My Answer: Christ is tolerant

Q: Is it true that Jesus Christ is intolerant (or narrow), as some Christians claim? - I.J.

A: In loving, compassionate intolerance Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction... [and] narrow is the gate... which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

Intolerance seems to many a divisive word. But consider the intolerance of a pilot who maneuvers his plane through the storm, realizing that a single error, just one flash of broad-mindedness, might bring disaster to all the passengers on the plane.

On a flight from Korea to Japan, a plane ran through a rough snowstorm. Upon arrival over the airport in Tokyo, visibility was almost zero. The pilot had to make an instrument landing. The pilot was in a sweat as he was brought in by ground control. A watchful man in the tower at the airport talked him in. No passenger would have wanted the pilot and crew to be broad-minded. Lives depended on the narrowness of the mission.

Christians understand this narrowness when it comes to the landing at the great heavenly airport. We can only enter the narrow way.

Christ was so intolerant of man's lost estate that He left His lofty throne in Heaven and took on Himself the form of man, suffered at the hands of evil men, and died a shameful death on a cruel cross to purchase our redemption. So serious was man's plight that the Lord could not look upon it lightly. He could not be broad-minded about a world held captive by its lusts, its appetites, and its sins. Having paid such a price, He could not be intolerant about man's indifference toward Him and the salvation He offered.

Only the way of the cross leads home. "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life" (John 3:36).

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(C)2023 Billy Graham Literary Trust. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.