We live in a time when disagreement is often mistaken for hate. Express a differing opinion — especially on moral or theological issues — and you might be labeled intolerant, judgmental, even dangerous. Somehow, we’ve bought into the idea that loving someone means nodding along with all their choices. But Jesus never did that.

Look at the opening story in John 8. After the woman caught in adultery watched her accusers slink away, Jesus told her, “Neither do I condemn you.” That’s grace. But He immediately added, “Go and sin no more.” That’s truth. Jesus never excused behavior that separated people from God, but He did not turn away those caught in it. He broke bread with sinners, reached out to greedy tax collectors, and openly spoke with a woman at a well who had been through five marriages and was living with a man who wasn’t her husband — not to endorse their choices, but to call them to repentance and invite them into a new life by following Him. Jesus orchestrated grace and truth in perfect harmony.

Christian love isn’t made of pastel marshmallows and gummy hearts. It’s made of sterner stuff. It doesn’t seek confrontation, but it doesn’t melt when convictions collide. Ephesians 4:15 gives us the blueprint: Speak the truth in love. 

A powerful real-world example comes from the unlikely friendship between former Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and LGBTQ+ advocate Shane Windmeyer. Cathy faced intense backlash for his traditional views on marriage, and Windmeyer was one of his loudest critics. But instead of retreating into their corners, they talked privately — and then Cathy did something surprising: he invited Windmeyer to join him at a college football game.

Neither man changed his convictions. Cathy didn’t abandon his Christian beliefs; Windmeyer didn’t embrace a traditional view of marriage. But they built something else: mutual respect. Trust. Even friendship. Because relationship doesn’t require agreement. It requires recognizing the sacred worth of people made in the image of God.

That’s what our culture desperately needs. Not the hollow version of tolerance that says, “You must agree with me or you’re hateful,” but the deeper, gospel-shaped love that says, “Christ died for you as well as for me, and I will treat you with compassion, even if we never see eye to eye.”

Jesus didn’t call us to merely tolerate one another. He commanded us to love one another. Tolerance is passive. Love is active. Tolerance avoids hard conversations. Love sometimes leans into them, equipped with conviction tempered with compassion. It can be difficult to love others with different beliefs and lifestyles, but it’s exactly when love is hardest that it most reflects the heart of Christ. 

So the next time someone claims that disagreement is inherently hateful, remember the gospel: We are all sinners. We desperately need God’s grace. But grace doesn’t wink at sin or celebrate what separates us from Him.
 Love holds firmly to truth while treating others with dignity.

And sometimes, love even invites someone to a ballgame.

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