More and more American Christians are being taken to court over matters relating to their Biblical faith today. As a nation, America no longer encourages religious liberty; the country only reluctantly tolerates it. In a great sense, the Christian’s convictions are being “put on trial” in America. Unfortunately, in many cases, the believer has not fared so well when that happens.
For a long time, conviction was a do-all, catch-all word, all too often used carelessly to justify actions and beliefs. For many, convictions have become a combination of Bible views with bits of personal interpretation and ideas added. If we change our minds about a matter, we just change our conviction.
In the courts today, Christians do not have to prove that they are right, but they must prove that what they claim to be convictions are, in truth, convictions, and not merely preferences. The Supreme Court of the United States has set a standard for that proof. You may someday be forced to follow that standard in the defense of your religious faith. Issues are litigated every week which come ever closer to what we hold to be true and dear.
The Supreme Court determined that every single religious belief is one of two types: either a conviction or a preference. In the United States of America, only convictions are protected by the Constitution. Preferences are not.
What is a preference?
A preference is an extremely strong belief. A belief can be held with such intensity that we give all of our wealth to it, energetically proselytize other people to it, and even teach it to our children. The court says we can have a tremendous zeal for what is still only a preference. People will change a preference under the right circumstances—like pressure from family, peers, other people, lawsuits, jail, or death. The court will ask if you would be willing to die for your belief. Why? What creates a conviction? In a Christian, only one thing should do so. A conviction should be held only when a man believes that his God requires it of him.
What is a conviction?
A belief that is God-ordered is a conviction. It is not a matter of resolve or dedication, but believing with all of your heart that God requires something of you. The courts say that a conviction is something that is predetermined and purposed in the heart as a part of the fabric of someone’s belief system—it is non-negotiable, and not contingent upon victory. A conviction is not affected by the consequences that may result from living out that conviction.
What is the ultimate test of a conviction?
The court noticed that people sometimes do not tell the exact truth. I don’t know if I have ever seen any of the people I have represented lie in the courtroom, but I have seen some who were incredibly casual with the truth. As a consequence, the court decided there must be a way to know whether what people are saying is, in fact, the truth.
A conviction will always show up in a person’s lifestyle. A conviction must be lived consistently and be consistent with itself. Our lives are the truest test of our convictions. The courts can test us in every way as to whether or not what we say we believe is truly our conviction, but the ultimate test is an examination of our lives. We can neither run nor hide from that fact. The way we live our lives is the truest test of all for whether our beliefs are convictions or preferences. Before we can state that something is a conviction, we must be prepared to say that its opposite is a sin.
Many Christians in our country are living lives that defy their stated beliefs. They are against in some forms what they are willing to accept in others. They denounce actions in others that they consider acceptable in themselves. Nothing will separate the truth from the rhetoric quicker than a serious examination of the way we live our lives. In such an examination, most of us will find that our beliefs are founded on preferences far more regularly than they are founded upon deeply rooted convictions.
The greatest tragedy
The greatest tragedy is not the inconsistency before the court, but the insult to Christ. Far too often, we bow before the altar of self-serving living and bring a reproach upon the Savior who bought us with the price of His own blood. It is a sad commentary on our love and commitment to Him that we have very few beliefs that could stand up to the serious examination of this world to prove them to be actual convictions.
The greatness of the New Testament church was that the believers were not only willing to die for their beliefs, but their accusers could find no fault or inconsistency in them. Oh, that the world could say the same about us! Remember, “Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.”
Perhaps it is time to place ourselves on trial to see if we really believe what we say we believe. Are we really living consistently by what we claim as convictions? Whether or not we are ever brought to a courtroom and put on trial by men, we are on trial every day before our God. He demands consistent holy living, not just in word but in deed. Anyone of us can say we believe in certain things; but as children of God, we ought to live like it. God help us to make it so.