“He’s a good fellow but he does not seem to have any fixed convictions.” This identical statement was recently made by three different people, each speaking of different individuals. All were engaged in Christian work.
But how can one be a Christian without strong convictions? How can one bear an effective witness for Christ and Christian truth on a basis of uncertainty?
Convictions are an expression of faith. “I believe” is the gateway to Christianity itself. But one of the strange phenomena of much in contemporary theological thought is uncertainty about divine revelation and a blind acquiescence in the affirmations of human speculation.
We all know that misplaced convictions can close the door to truth. “My mind is made up, do not confuse me with facts” is a humorous description of the man who has closed his mind. Often applied to those dedicated to an unreasoning orthodoxy it is equally true of some devotees of humanistic philosophy.
Admitting the possibility of arriving at conclusions which cannot be supported by fact, nevertheless, when the Christian faith is involved one must solemnly say, “God help the man who has no theological convictions!”
In the realm of Christianity there are things a man must believe—convictions which must be held—without which he remains a pagan.
Man must believe in God. Without such faith it is impossible to please Him. Not only do we believe that He is but we also believe that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The Scriptures makes it plain that where man denies the existence of God he is utterly without excuse. In Romans 1:18–20 we read: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest to them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
Man must have a conviction about himself, a conviction which enables him to realize that he is a sinner in God’s sight. This is not easy. It is humiliating to admit our complete insufficiency and unpleasant to admit that within us there is operative a law which leads us to do evil even when good intentions are present. Lack of conviction on the matter of sin is a tragic evidence of spiritual blindness.
A Christian must have convictions about Christ; about His person and His work. At this focal point there is no room for uncertainty. There is but one Christ to be accepted: the Christ of divine revelation; of scriptural record; of historical fact; of divine Saviorhood; of personal experience. Or, he must reject Him for a Christ of human limitations, devised by human imagination and changing with the whims and opinions of men.
A Christian must have convictions about the Bible. Either it is that which it claims for itself, the written Word of God; or, it merely contains the word of God; or, it is a human document comparable in some measure with other books on ethics and religion.
Holding the latter view a theological student recently wrote: “I fail to see why we must venerate the Bible as an authentic document of religious history.… It is … a document which speaks of man’s quest for the infinite.… Is not the Koran as valid a religious source for the Moslem as the Bible is for the Christian?”
But the Christian must recognize that in the Bible there is a divine revelation, a system of truth which man could never have discovered for himself. Part of this truth is that it is God, not man, who has provided the way back to Himself.
A Christian must have convictions about the way and means of salvation. Either it is a work of divine grace by which man receives the love and atoning sacrifice of the Son of God on the basis of faith alone; or, he in some measure earns his salvation and is to that extent saved by works. An understanding of this basic truth is of the greatest importance for it involves the question of how salvation itself becomes a reality.
There are many phases of Christian truth on which men have convictions. Some are trivial or of secondary importance. On these Christians can disagree because personal redemption is not involved. But along with them there are those on which clear convictions are essential.
To those who carry responsibilities in the pulpit or classroom, Christian convictions are an imperative, for it is those who speak with the authority of personal conviction who influence others to a like commitment of faith. An evangelical scholar was recently invited to speak to the students and faculty of a very liberal theological seminary. Later some of the students remarked that it was the first address they had heard since coming to that institution in which the speaker had convictions about his faith.
In the unbelieving world, represented by professional associates; by the people with whom we work day after day; by casual acquaintances on the bus; or by the bewildered men and women sitting in the pews of many churches on Sunday, it is only those who have strong convictions based on a Christ-centered faith, and a Bible-centered message who will carry conviction to others.
But in Christian convictions there also lie a danger and a challenge. One’s certitudes of faith lose both their appeal and their witness when they beget belligerency or lovelessness. Convictions are no excuse for boorishness in any form. Of what value is a faith which is antagonistic? Our Lord set the supreme example of unswerving convictions coupled with loving consideration for those who did not believe. Rejecting unbelief, our own convictions on truth must be bathed in loving regard for those who have not yet seen that truth.
At the same time a pallid philosophy of “live and let live” has little to commend it in living men surrounded by the living dead.
In our honest desire to be judicial, fair and open-minded, it is often easy to take the fatal step of failing to have convictions in those areas where the issue is one of darkness or light; bondage or freedom; spiritual death or eternal life.
One of the appeals of the numerous cults of our day is the assumed authority and convictions of their adherents. It is precisely at this point that our Christian witness often fails.
We need to affirm with Paul, “I know whom I have believed.” It is the certainty of our faith and the object of our faith which bring comfort to our own hearts and conviction to others.
Woe to the man who has no convictions!
