The Memphis Manifesto: Five Years Later

 

My second point is that fright is a feeling. It does not appear in Paul’s list of the deeds of the flesh or in his list of the fruits of the Spirit. Fright is one way we deal with the unknown, the unfamiliar and the unexpected. Scripture teaches us to fear God, not to fear each other but to love each other. We do the opposite. Doing the opposite to what Scripture urges is sin.

There are many voices today pressing all of us to be tolerant. We are assailed by this thought on a continuous basis. My wife and I were in New York City recently. We were there for fun and relaxation and we saw four Broadway shows. One night we stopped and listened to some sidewalk preachers who were interpreting the Bible to condemn the white and exalt the black. Their message was hardly tolerant, indeed they were filled with hate and not interested in any challenge or discussion of their rhetoric.

On our Sunday there, I went to Times Square Church. It met a ten o’clock in the morning and the sanctuary which seats 2,000 was full by half an hour before the service started. 1,000 more soon filled the annex. 3,000 people with a color mix similar to my home church though obviously more black than Asian. 3,000 people who were not tolerant at all, but related to each other in love and fellowship. Stepping across a threshold at the entrance to the church made all the difference in the world. Inside was the Kingdom of God filled with delight and delightful people. Outside of the church, people looked the same, but their delight with each other was woefully in short supply.

And so, point three, love is far different than tolerance. I have looked through all my concordances and Bible computer programs and no where do I find the word tolerance. Pollution is the sin of adding something that does not belong to the mix, thus rendering the mix worthless. Tolerance is to tolerate, not to love. One can tolerate with resentment, with envy and with hate. Tolerance is sin. No matter how many times we hear how good and necessary it is, tolerance is still sin.

Now how about the Memphis confession or manifesto? What difference has this historic meeting made in your life? You, the Pentecostal minister, scholar or congregant?

My personal journey has included spending more than twenty percent of my adult life in a community where I am a minority and where mixed marriages are common. My journey has included a Japanese son-in-law and a Hawaiian son-in-law. Last fall I became a father-in-law to an African American. Three wonderful men that I am privileged to know; and they call me Dad and I like that. Sure they have their faults but they are lovable, just like you and me.

 

Tags: manifesto, memphis, years

Category: Ministry, Spring 2000