Truth vs Tolerance in 2025: Why Christians Can’t Stay Silent Anymore

In 2025, the world celebrates “tolerance” — but what happens when tolerance replaces truth?

In this powerful episode of Behind The Mike Podcast, host Mike Stone breaks down why real love doesn’t stay silent and why silence doesn’t bring peace — it just lets confusion grow louder. Using Scripture from John 8, John 4, and Ephesians 4:15, Mike explores how Jesus embodied both grace and truth — and how believers today can do the same.

If the Church won’t speak truth in love… who will?

🔹 Topics Covered:
The modern distortion of tolerance
Why silence isn’t the same as peace
Jesus’ perfect example of grace and truth
How to speak truth without losing love
The courage to stand firm in a culture of compromise

📖 Key Verses:
John 8:32 — “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Ephesians 4:15 — “Speak the truth in love.”
John 1:14 — “He came full of grace and truth.”

👣 Next Episodes:
➡️ What Does the Bible Say About Angels?
➡️ Demons, Evil, and the Occult — A Biblical Look at Darkness

🙏 If this message encouraged or challenged you, share it with someone who needs to hear truth wrapped in love.

📌 Subscribe for weekly biblical conversations, hope-filled stories, and real talk about faith:
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#BehindTheMikePodcast #MikeStone #ChristianPodcast #TruthVsTolerance #SpeakTruthInLove #FaithOverFear #GraceAndTruth #BiblicalTruth #ChristianCourage #jesussaves

⏱️ Timestamped Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: Why this topic matters
00:29 – When love became silence
01:01 – The culture of tolerance and rejection
02:22 – Truth sets people free (John 8:32)
03:29 – The danger of a diluted gospel
04:27 – Jesus: full of grace and truth
05:29 – What real love looks like
05:59 – How to speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)
06:27 – Expecting pushback: courage in faith
07:22 – Parents, students, and pastors under pressure
08:01 – The Church’s voice in a confused world
08:55 – Next week: Angels, demons, and the occult
10:57 – Closing encouragement and challenge

Transcript

0:00

Hey friends. Thank you for joining me today on Behind the Mike Podcast. I always try to prayerfully consider topics or what we're going to talk about on the show. And today was one that I've realized has just been really stuck inside of me for a while now and just realized that a few days ago. So I put some time into this one, like I do all of my podcasts and wanted to really dive into what I was feeling and compare that to what God's Word says. So somewhere along the way, we have decided that love means silence. That truth hurts too much to say out loud. So we've stopped saying it. We started thinking, if I just stay quiet, I'll keep the peace. But listen. Silence doesn't bring peace. It just lets confusion and chaos become louder. And the truth is, if the church won't speak truth in love, who's going to do it? We live in a culture that preaches tolerance but practices rejection, especially when it comes to God's Word. Say what the world approves of and your celebrated speak what Scripture says and you're canceled. But Jesus didn't die, so we could just blend in. He died so that we could stand out in truth and in love. Well, I'm Mike Stone, and this is the Behind the Mike Podcast, where we look at life through a biblical lens with honesty, with hope, and sometimes with hard questions. So stick around. Let's dive into this. All right, let's be honest. We live in a culture that loves the idea of tolerance. But today's tolerance doesn't mean patience or respect anymore. It means agreement. So if you disagree with the crowd, you're labeled hateful or narrow minded or worse. And for Christians, that can be intimidating. It's easier to stay quiet than to risk being criticized or misunderstood or called intolerant. But when we stop speaking the truth, we don't just lose influence, we lose people. Because the truth is what sets people free. Jesus said in John 832, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. You see, without truth there's no freedom, and without freedom there's no hope. Well, sadly, what I've seen over the years is some churches have begun trading conviction for comfort. We don't want to offend anyone, so we soften what Scripture says or we avoid saying it at all. But here's the thing. Silence doesn't protect the gospel. It just dilutes it. It waters it down. And a diluted gospel just simply can't save anyone. There's a quote that's often attributed to G.K. Chesterton that says, tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. That's not the kind of church Jesus has called us to be. When I think about and read about how Jesus handled truth, I'm amazed by the balance that he carried. Or maybe balance isn't even the right word.

John 1: 3:41

14 says, he came full of grace and truth. Not 50/50, not half grace and half truth. He was full of both. So, for example, when Jesus met the woman at the well in John 4 he didn't ignore her sin, but he didn't condemn her either. He simply spoke truth. He said, the one you have now is not your husband. Pretty strong truth. Then he offered her living water, forgiveness, freedom and purpose. Grace and truth. Hand in hand. Or think about the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The crowd was ready to stone her. Be done with her. Jesus disarmed them with one sentence. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Then he turned to the woman and said, nobody condemns you. Neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more. He didn't say you're fine just the way you are. He said, I love you too much to leave you that way. And that's what our world doesn't understand. Real love does not affirm everything. It transforms everything. If Jesus preached that same message today, he'd probably be called intolerant, probably be kicked out of a lot of churches, but he'd keep speaking truth anyway, because truth was his expression of love. And it needs to be our expression of love as the church today. So how do we do that? How do we speak truth in love when the world doesn't want to hear truth at all? It's a challenge.

Ephesians 4: 5:39

15 says, speak the truth in love. Growing in every way more and more like Christ. And that's the key. Our goal isn't to win debates. It's to become like Jesus. Here are three things that help keep me balanced. Number one, stay anchored in Scripture. If your truth changes with trends, then it's not truth. It's just opinion. The Bible, it's not outdated. It's eternal. And when we stay rooted in it, we speak with authority, not arrogance. Number two, speak with humility. Truth without love is harsh. And love without truth is hollow. Jesus never raised his voice to prove that he was right. He simply lived right. And truth spoke for itself. And number three, expect pushback. Jesus warned us

in John 15: 6:37

19, if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. But as it is, you do not belong to the world, and that's why the world hates you. We saw that just a little bit ago with Charlie Kirk. He spoke truth and the world hated him. Think about this. If everyone agrees with us, we might not be representing Christ as clearly as we think. But take heart. Truth always outlasts trends. Maybe you're a parent trying to raise kids with biblical values in a world that's rewriting morality. Maybe you're a student feeling the pressure to stay silent about your faith. Maybe you are a pastor that's torn between compassion and conviction. Remember, this truth is not a weapon. It's a light. And the darker the world gets, the brighter that that light shines. So the question is, is the church losing its voice? In some places, maybe. But the story isn't over. Every time one single believer stands up, one single believer speaks out and they love well, the church finds her voice again. So here's my challenge to you. Don't confuse silence for peace. Don't mistake tolerance for love. Jesus didn't die to make us comfortable. He died to make us courageous. And courage means this. Speaking the truth, not to condemn, but to redeem. Not to prove people wrong, but to point people home. Because in the end, truth doesn't divide. It delivers. It's what sets us free. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, would you share it with someone who needs to hear truth wrapped in love? Today I would like to, just kind of let you know what we're what we're going to be doing the next couple of weeks. I hope that this was helpful. I'm always very aware this time of year that on October 31st, many across this country celebrate Halloween. And whether you go back to the roots of it or you think it's pagan or you think it's okay. I don't really care what it is. We've got a podcast, from a year or so ago on that. So feel free to look that up. But I do recognize that we, we kind of turn our attention as a society to to the occult. Or maybe it's just some fun wrapped in maybe a semblance of evil. Either way, however you look at that. I want to let you know next week we're going to be talking about angels. What does the Bible say about angels? I've been hearing on the radio, and in different places. I've been hearing a lot of things that have made me question, what do I really believe about angels? So I've just completed some research and I've looked at some things that, believers and people with far more knowledge than I do in the Christian realm have to say about angels. And, so I want to share that with you. Next week. We're going to be talking about angels the following week, if all goes as planned. I want to touch on something again that draws us to October 31st, regardless of what you believe. I want to touch on evil demons and the occult, and I want to find out exactly what God's Word has to say about that. Not necessarily Halloween. I'll leave that up to you. If you are a Christian. Then that's between you and God. Again, check out the Halloween episode we did, a year or two ago and, and then come back next week for angels and the following week for demons and the occult, and we'll learn together what all this means. So until next time, stay grounded, stay gracious and stay faithful.