FROM THE TOP
LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com
Is it me, or is the idea of respecting someone else's beliefs a practice that is rapidly eroding? It seems that people are becoming less tolerant of people who hold different beliefs. It seems that if anyone disagrees with another, that person becomes either a flaming liberal, an extreme right-wing cook or a heretic. (Some may even go as far as to call another "The Anti- Christ.")

The Bible says in Romans 14:4-6 "Who are you that judges another man's servant? To his own Master he stands or falls... One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be persuaded in his own mind. He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord. He that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he that doesn't eat, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks."

Notice Romans 14:1, "Him that is weak in the faith, receive, but not to doubtful disputations."

John Leland, an 1800s Baptist minister after whom I was named, wrote, "Every man must give account of himself to God, and therefore every man ought to be at liberty to serve God in a way that he can best reconcile to his conscience."

Leland probably had Romans 14:4 in mind when he wrote those words. The Bible teaches that it is appointed to a man once to die and then to be judged. Scripture also teaches that a man will give an account of his actions before God.

Therefore, we must remember that it is God who judges, and not we ourselves. He is all-knowing, all-powerful and does not need our help.

We must also remember that other people are God's servants, not ours. They are held accountable to God and not us.

On the other hand, if someone comes into your church and tries to teach something contrary to the beliefs of your church, then you are instructed by scripture to "defend the faith."

As a Baptist minister, there are some tenets of the Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Lutheran and Seventh Day Adventist faiths that I disagree with. They disagree with some of my beliefs. I do not attack those faiths, because I believe they are full of well-meaning people, many of whom are saved.

I simply share my faith, hoping to point someone closer to Christ. We all should share that goal. So, to quote Sen. Joe Liberman from the 2000 election, "Let's tone down the rhetoric."