Beliefs: Convictions and Preferences

"Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing." – 1 Kings 18:21

When you have a choice, do you prefer your coffee strong or mild, with sugar and cream, or black? Do you like to sleep with the window open or tightly closed? How strongly do you insist on what you believe is the better choice? Would you be willing to die for your belief?

There is a great deal of difference between a conviction and a preference. "A belief," says David Gibbs, "is merely a person’s preference when certain circumstance could motivate him to change it. A conviction is a belief that does not change regardless of circumstances."

Are your beliefs about God convictions or merely preferences? Are you a Christian because it seems easier than any other set options, or do you hold to your beliefs out of the conviction that God has spoken?

David Gibbs believes that convictions are marked by four characteristics: They are: 1) pre-determined, 2) non-negotiable, 3) confidently held, and 4) lived out in a lifestyle. Using these characteristics as the standard, take a look at what you believe.

When Daniel and his friends had to decide whether to bow down to Darius or face the consequences (including possibly being thrown to the lions), they didn’t have to consider their options. They had already made up their minds to serve God, no matter what happened.

Here’s the record: "Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before" (Daniel 6:10). Don’t you think that Daniel asked, "Could this be a problem for me?" Maybe, but the issue was decided by his conviction, not choice.

One reason Christianity seems anemic nowadays is we have let our beliefs become preferences instead of convictions. Why? Are we to blame our parents because they didn’t raise us properly? The preaching in churches today? Or our culture? Or all of the above?

Ultimately, the fault is with us. Convictions are born out of deep-seated beliefs which we are convinced are non-negotiable. A knowledge of the Word of God–an encounter with absolutes and the truth of what is right or wrong–puts steel in our backbones. A wishy-washy "Don’t-offend-anyone" belief system is a poor alternative.

A final thought: Convictions are not always easy to live with. They become our masters, but they also are what make life worth living. A person whose beliefs are merely preferences never stands when the going gets hard, because preferences can change. Deciding that sugar in your coffee makes it taste better is a preference, but standing for the truth is born out of a conviction. There is a difference.

Resource Reading: Daniel 6