Tuesday, March 24, 2009
beliefs verses convictions
I guess blogs are a great place to think out loud and I'm wrestling with an idea I need to let out! I listen all the time to people talk about their beliefs. They make statement after statement about their beliefs and it gets me jazzed up to hear the passion in their voices! Now, listening to people talk about beliefs is not unusual since everybody's got an opinion and don't mind sharing it with you. What confuses me is their ability to make decisions to support their beliefs. In other words, what I'm wrestling with understanding the difference between belief and conviction. I here people talk all the time about the priority of their faith but then I watch the development of their faith become their last option. (ie. When did church camp and a mountain top experience with God become less important than sports camp, band camp, cheer camp, dance camp, etc?!?) I'm scared for the next generation of Christ-followers who are watching us proclaim our beliefs and yet live with mixed conviction. I'm not opposed to sports camps, please know I've spent enough time and sent enough money to places all over the south but I pray my children will see me place faith development before athletic or music or art development. Our children will know our convictions by how we set our calendars and how we write our checks. In my own life, I'm trying to be slow to speak and deliberate in what I hold to be my convictions! OK, well now I've got that out of my head.
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Objectively, people seem to believers without conviction, as they may not be convicted to the same beliefs that you are subjectively convicted. Rather, they are convicted to their own subjective beliefs, as they have prioritized them within their lives. This leads to the thought of trying to be the champion of an ideal that may not have higher importance to that someone as say, Space Camp.
ReplyDeleteOne could go half-crazy pondering others' motivations, and it really is a waste of energy. Instead, I would focus on figuring out how to reach those people.
I believe it all comes down to knowing your audience and finding ways for them to identify with what you are saying...and if you say it in a way that they understand, and with conviction, then maybe they will follow. As with all leaders, a Spiritual Leader has to inspire.
I have been thinking about this question since you posted the link in twitter.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you are saying, "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17)
I ran across a really good quote this morning at http://abbafund.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/total-church-gospel-ministry-and-adoption/ that brings it home a little:
"Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality."
Here is my perspective. We are living with a generation that "made" Christian camps in the 90's. We were all about the Fuge's, Dawson Mcallister, Campus Life, etc. However, our generation, as excited as we were while we were on-site, mostly came home unchanged and talked mostly of the experience and the "fun-times". Mayeb that is at the root of the lack of priority that we place on current camps. We see any kind of camp as a financial investment (one which we used to subsidize heavily with Boston Butts). We feel that a sports camp is more mandatory and that our kids will end up having fun for 300-500 bucks. Our generation thinks that much of the same will take place. Unfortunately, many of our camps still deliver the same fun, mountain top experience without any "lasting" change.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought.
The fact that we live in a temporal world makes it difficult for us to take our eyes off of the things we think are so important and put them on the things that are important. It really is a matter of spiritual maturity. As I grow spiritually, my behavior, like how I spend my time or money, changes. Many people talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Those people are either lost or are very immature in their faith. I choose to think that the latter is more likely although there is reason to assume the former.
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