The Power of Conviction
There are reasons why people who believe the right things often lack influence and, therefore, never make much of an impact in the world around them.
That’s why I don’t believe that simply teaching the right doctrine is the purpose of the church. Don’t get me wrong. Clinging to orthodox theology is critical to our being successful in actually fulfilling what is the church’s purpose. But, in itself, learning the Bible can’t be the purpose of the Christian life.
IF… the Christian Church could ever agree on what God actually meant by everything He wrote in the Bible and if every member of His Church understood everything in it, THEN… we would have only accomplished what will eventually be accomplished anyway, when we’re all in Heaven.
Spoiler alert: There will be zero theological controversies in Heaven.
No, the purpose of the church has always been to turn lost people into Jesus-followers.
There won’t be any lost people in Heaven either.
Recently, I was reading about the combined attendance figures for the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. 145 million Americans attend professional sporting events in the US every year. On the other hand, 102 million people attend worship services in the US every week! Which means that, even with the precipitous fall of church membership statistics over the last couple of decades, attendance at professional sporting events is still only about 3% of church attendance!
So, why is there such a spiritual vacuum in so many communities and a lack of spiritual power in so many local churches? And why is our culture becoming so increasingly jacked up? I’m sure the answers to those questions are more complex, but let’s start here.
Never underestimate the value of personal convictions. Not just personal beliefs, but personal convictions.
And there’s a significant difference between the two.
By definition, belief is a mental attitude that allows us to accept something as true or real without necessarily having any tangible proof.
Conviction, on the other hand, is a belief or opinion that is so strong it shapes our actions and decisions.
For example, most of us believe that people who die in their sin are not allowed into Heaven, that even the most noble human efforts are simply insufficient to gain access. We even believe that for the people we admire or care most about. But only those who have a conviction about that reality will bother to make a list, pray, invest, invite and prepare!
Believers who have conviction about Heaven and Hell do something about their beliefs.
You could say that beliefs make for good conversations, but convictions get things done.
Should you believe the right things, you could go to Heaven. But should you have conviction about the right things, you could change the world.