CONVICTION vs. PREFERENCE
By R. J. Humpal, JD for: Spirit of Truth Ministries © 1999

The United States of America Supreme Court said a very particular thing about our beliefs. Therefore, your testimony in the courtroom and to others becomes quite critical. The Court said a man can't hold those beliefs if he can't describe them. A belief is not a hunch or feeling and it is not "it seems to me."

"The Court asks well, why do you believe that? Show me proof of your beliefs in the Bible." Most people will say "I don't even know if it is in the Bible but it sorta seems to me ..." and the Court says that the problem with "well it seems to me" is that feelings change rapidly and as a consequence they are not going to honor hunches, feelings or "it seems to me." You must be able to take your beliefs straight from the Bible and the Bible only, and then make them oral.

The second thing the Court said that you must be able to have a knowledge of those beliefs. This becomes important because we like to hide behind a title. We say "I am a Christian." Those are descriptive terms. Can you tell the Court what that means? It is not simply enough to tell the Court a general term. You must tell the Court what those terms mean. In this matter of many beliefs and believers, the Court suddenly realized there had to be a test. It said there must be a way that we can determine which beliefs are to be upheld and which beliefs will not be honored and protected by the First Amendment.

In 1972, the Court came down with a test and ironically they came down with the test in a case which involved Christian education. A man named Jonas Yoder who lived in the State of Wisconsin, was an Amishman. He told the State of Wisconsin "I am not going to send my children to your schools anymore." The state of Wisconsin said, in effect, "you can't do that. You have to send your children to our schools." Yoder said "I don't think you hear me. I am not going to send my children to your schools." The state said, in effect, "Mr. Yoder, if you don't send your children to our schools, we will have to arrest you. Do you want us to arrest you?" Mr. Yoder said "No." They said, "have you ever been arrested before?" He said "no." They said "Send your children to our schools." He said "I don't think you heard me. I am not going to send my children to your schools."

I don't know if you have ever talked to a stubborn Amishman, but you might as well talk to the back side of a barn for the result you are going to get. They said basically "Look, if we arrest you and we win, you could go to jail." He said "I don't want to go to jail." They said "Put your children in our schools." He said "I am not going to send my children to your schools." They said "If you don't do it and we win the court case you will be put in jail and once in jail you could even lose your children." He said "I wouldn't like any of that." Then they said "Well, put your kids in the school." He said "I don't think you understand. My religious beliefs prohibit that I do that."

They took him to Court and he didn't fare so well. He lost and they said "Now you had your day in Court. Send your kids to our school." He said "I am not going to."

He found out a very interesting thing. He didn't give up. He lost his appeal and they said "Send your kids." And he said. "I am not going to do it." Finally, he got to the US Supreme Court and they said to Mr. Jonas Yoder "You don't have to send your kids to that school because the First Amendment protects you." With this case, they laid down the test that is now to be used on all subsequent cases to determine which beliefs are to be protected and which are not to be protected.

The first thing the Court did in defining the test was to say this. "It doesn't matter what your belief structure is, or who you are, every single religious belief you have is one of two types." They said it is either a CONVICTION or a PREFERENCE. The Court said that is all there is. We don't find that there is any other type of belief.

Then the Court went on to define the two for us. Because in the United States of America only CONVICTIONS are protected by the constitution. PREFERENCES are not.

What is a PREFERENCE? This is a very, very strong belief. It is a belief that you hold with great intensity and strength. In fact, that belief can be so strongly held that you can go into full time service in the name of that belief. You can be a minister of the gospel, a Christian school teacher or a missionary. Indeed, this is a strong belief. The second thing that makes this belief strong is that it is a belief that you can hold with such intensity that you give all or most of your wealth to it. I don't know very many people who have given everything. The Court said you can do that and still have only a preference.

The third thing is that your belief can have such strength and fiber to it you can be energetic in proselytizing other people. You can stand on the street corner and witness. The Court said you can have all of that zeal and still only have a PREFERENCE.

Then notice one final thing. They said you can be so convinced that this belief is good that you want to teach it to your children. Now that is a very important thing. I sat next to a man on a plane one day and he was telling me all about his troubles with his business and how his personal life had degenerated. And then we started talking about his son and he said he really wants his son to go to the same school he went to and undergo the same training he had and run the same business he was running. I asked that man "did running this business and going to that school bring you any happiness or satisfaction?" He said "not much." I said "then why would you want that same thing for your son?" He said "I don't know, I just thought it would be a good idea."

I think he wished on his son the same thing that had been wished on him. We have the same problem with our faith. We hold it very dear and as a matter of that endearment, we want our children to have it because we know that faith can take them to a home in heaven and give them a life that is meaningful and Christian. The Court said you can believe all of that and still only have a PREFERENCE. Here is what makes a belief a PREFERENCE. It is a very strong belief but it is a belief that you will change. You prefer it. That is why we call it a PREFERENCE. But you will change that belief under some circumstances.

The courts have reviewed these circumstances and have found some circumstances that cause people to change their beliefs. Circumstance number one is called 'peer pressure'. A minister studies the Bible and says to himself "here is something I know I must do." He resolves in his heart that he is going to do it. Then he goes out to his friends, other ministers and people in his congregation and states "this is what I am going to do." The other ministers say "hold on just a minute. You may be right. We don't say that you are wrong. But couldn't you tone it down just a little bit? Couldn't you fix it so that we could cooperate with you? Couldn't you come around just a little bit so that is not so offensive to us and maybe you could still get done what you wanted to do." That minister said "this is what I believe." Then little by little he bends. And he proves that what he first said was a PREFERENCE. He preferred it. He wanted to do it. He resolved to do it. But he changed. The Court said that if you can change that belief, that belief is a PREFERENCE.

Now bear this in mind. If a person can ever show you from the Bible where you should change something then you must change it. But we are talking about peer pressure causing good men to change. The Court said if that will change it, it is only a PREFERENCE. There is another area we see peer pressure all the time. Ministers and leaders in the Church come to us and say "I agree with everything you are saying but how am I going to go home and sell that to the congregation back at the church? The people in the church may not agree." That minister or leader knows what he believes is right but the pressure of the people in his congregation causes him to bend. The Court said if you can do that you have a PREFERENCE.

Secondly, they noted a cause of change may be family pressure. That is probably one of the strongest pressures I know of. A man says "this is what I am going to do." His wife says "please don't. You know what is right, but please don't. We just got everything settled, let's not blow it wide open again." And as a consequence that man changes his beliefs. The Court said if 'family pressure' will cause you to change, then your beliefs are PREFERENCES.

A third area of strong pressure which brings out preferences is a lawsuit. I know a lot of men who will say "I am for this but I am just not going to get sued over it. Can you imagine what they are going to do if they sue us?"

In Jesus's day there were scribes and the pharisees. We have 'Scribes' with us today. They run the newspapers. These men know they can get hung by what they write in the newspapers. They know that most of the people in their church are not going to understand why they are taking a stand that caused them to be sued. They know of family members they are going to lose.

People talk about Levi Whisner and his great victory in Ohio. People also talk about Roy Foster and his great victory in Concord, New Hampshire. What nobody likes to talk about is ministers who have churches of about one hundred and then reduce to twenty. Or a minister with a church of 350 to 400 reduced to 60. Would you do that or would you say, "I'm just not going to take a stand that is going to cause me to get sued because I don't want to see that happen."

Anything that would cause you to change your beliefs other than what God requires of you is only a PREFERENCE.

The next area the Court noted that caused people to change was the threat of jail. Would you go to jail for a matter of your faith? Not many are going to understand why you have gone. If you read the histories of the great men of the faith, when they went to jail hardly anyone understood why they went. Although many of the great men of the faith did go at one time or another, would going to jail cause you to change your beliefs? If it would, then your beliefs are PREFERENCS.

Let me ask you one other question because it is right on point. A man says "I will go to jail." You probably don't know what you are talking about, but none the less you say I believe I could. Would you, as a man, watch your wife go to jail? Levi Whisner faced that. Levi and his wife even made plans for who was going to take care of their children while he and his wife were incarcerated.

The question is, what does that belief mean to you? If you say that you want to do it but have the right not to do it if I don't want to do it, the Court says that is not protected by the Constitution. The last thing the Court said is, "I suppose that a man has to be prepared to die for his belief." Is that belief changeable? You know there are not many things in this life worse than dying, and denying the faith is one of them. Basically, the Court said "would you die for your beliefs?"

A CONVICTION on the other hand, is a belief that you will not change. Why? What creates a conviction? The Court said only one thing. A CONVICTION is when a man believes that his God requires it of him. A belief that is God ordered is a CONVICTION. It is a matter of believing with all of your heart that God requires something of you. The Court said "when you believed that your God has required something of you, you will withstand all of the tests they have spoken about." The Court said that the first thing you should decide, is your belief a CONVICTION or is it a PREFERENCE? Is your belief God ordered? PREFERENCES are simply not protected by the constitution.

Now that Court noted another interesting point about this and it parallels with a story in scripture about the three Hebrews; Shadrack. Meshack and Abednego. The Court said a CONVICTION is not something you 'discover'. It is something you 'purpose'. It is not something you accidentally come across, but something you purpose in your heart as a fabric of your belief system. The Court said your CONVICTIONS will be 'purposed'.

When you study the history of the three Hebrews found in the third chapter of Daniel, you will find that they did a strange thing. When taken into captivity, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego purposed in their hearts not to defile themselves. It was something about which they determined with resolve. The Court said your convictions must be determined by you or else those CONVICTIONS will not be there. If you require people to stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are PREFERENCES and not CONVICTIONS.

Today we see many well meaning leaders in our Church say, "I believe that I ought to stand on this issue but I will only stand if the General Conference tells me I should stand. If my Church school organization tells me I should stand and if I can find some other people to stand with me, then I will stand." The question has to be asked, "as great as those people may be, what do they have to do with what God requires of you?" If other people have to stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are PREFERENCES and not CONVICTIONS.

Now you remember what happened to the three Hebrews. They were taken before the king and the king was upset. He said "Do you know what you have done?" Before they could even answer the king, he did a strange thing. He broke the law. He said, "I am going to give you a second chance. The next time, when those instruments play, if you bend down (worship) all will be well. If not, nobody is going to deliver you out of my hands. You are dead men."

Now you know what I think most of us would have done? I believe most of us would have said, "Praise the Lord, we are alive! We are breathing! God has given us another chance!" We would have been excited. The three Hebrews did not do that. They said "King, we don't have to be careful how we answer you because if you give us another chance or not, nothing is going to change. We have resolved we are not going to bow and that is not going to change."

What the three Hebrews were telling the king is "this matter of our faith is non-negotiable!" The Court said if you can discuss the negotiation of your faith, your faith is a matter of PREFERENCE and not CONVICTION because CONVICTIONS are non-negotiable.

Why? How do you negotiate something that is God ordered? The Court said you can't. So if they can get you into a dialogue where you negotiate, the Court said this is a matter of PREFERENCE and not CONVICTION.

Lets recall what the three Hebrews said because it is right on point. "King, we believe that our God can deliver us, but even if you throw us into that furnace and God does not deliver us we are not going to bow." What they were saying to the king is "whether we come out of the furnace or not our beliefs stand firm." The Court said if you must be assured of victory before you stand, your beliefs are PREFERENCES and not CONVICTIONS. This is the test they are narrowing in on more and more because most of us are more concerned with 'winning' then with 'standing'. Bear this in mind, in the Christian faith we do not fight 'for' victory, we fight 'in' victory. We have already won. The only thing we are doing now is standing in that victory. When Levi Whisner went to trial and lost, he still won. When he appealed and lost, he won. When he went to the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio and they unanimously said he was right, he was right all along. A Court does not tell us whether we are right or wrong. We are right as long as we honor the Bible and Levi recognized that.

We have another problem and this problem is that sometimes people don't tell the truth. In the courtroom, I see people lie all the time. When vowing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, many people are incredibly casual with the truth! The Court has recognized this. The Court says there must be a way to know whether or not you are telling the truth. How can they do this? How do they know if you have PREFERENCE or CONVICTION? This is the test. A CONVICTION, they say, will always show up in a person's lifestyle. They said "What is on the inside of a man is always going to show on the outside of a man. You do not have the right to say you have a CONVICTION unless we can somehow see that you are living that CONVICTION with some element of consistency.

However, when they begin to apply the test people began to squirm. They ask "Do they have this right?" The Bible says a strange thing about this. Found in the book of James, "Don't tell me about your faith, show me your faith." Why? Because "faith without works is dead." It is like a body without the spirit. It may be there, but it is meaningless. It is 'dead'. Because the thing that provides the breath that gives life to our faith is our works. If that is absent, then it is all useless. Therefore the Court came back and said "We need to see your faith in action and we need to see it in order to prove that it is sincerely a CONVICTION."

What we need to learn is this. If we say that our belief is a matter of CONVICTION, then where did, and now do, we get our CONVICTIONS from? Where do we get all our beliefs from? Don't we get them from the Bible? When a child comes to Church school for the first time, don't we teach that child that to disobey what the Bible says is a sin? Could it be that the Court says the opposite of CONVICTION is SIN? You must be able to make a stand and prove it from the Bible. And you must keep standing for that or else it is not a conviction. If the Bible requires it, it is God ordered. If it is God ordered, it is a CONVICTION. If it is a CONVICTION and if God ordered it, what is it called not to do it? It is a sin, because it is disobedience to what God has ordered. That is the classic definition of sin.

So before you say something is a CONVICTION, you must be prepared to take a stand to say if I don't take a stand it would be a sin. If you say "I have a CONVICTION about certain matters of a Christian lifestyle - the refraining from the use of alcohol - you must say the opposite is a sin or it is not a CONVICTION. A person who says "I believe I ought to do something, but I think I should be more tolerant, a little more open minded about this," his beliefs are only a PREFERENCE and the Court says "make up your mind what you believe!"

Remember what I said. Knowledge about your beliefs is critical in the courtroom. It is also critical before the Lord! You must be able to determine what you believe. You must tell the Court whether you hold them as PREFERENCES or CONVICTIONS and you must be able to explain to the Court that the opposite of these CONVICTIONS is SIN! What happens if you don't tell them it is a sin? You have a good chance of losing!

Bear this in mind. In Court you must take an oath to tell the truth. How are you going to answer this question? "Witness, isn't it true you were afraid of the effects of your beliefs? Would your words and actions for your beliefs upset your family? If you made a stand would you upset some of the congregation of your church and perhaps they would leave? Were you afraid that the people who did not agree with your beliefs or understand your beliefs in your congregation, but are good givers, might be offended? Were you afraid of what the repercussions would be? Did you think that you should be more tolerant? Isn't that why you didn't say what you should have?"

The Court said if you say you have a CONVICTION make sure that you do. Otherwise the Court becomes a very painful place to be trapped with those CONVICTIONS.

Now bear in mind the Court said you don't have to believe everything. However, if you say you believe something, and if you say that it's a CONVICTION, then the Court says you must live it, at such level that when others look at your life they can see it. You know what would happen if you took a stand that you don't believe in drinking alcoholic beverage and then were arrested for DUI? The Court would say, "The man's crazy. He says one thing and does another."

That's exactly what's happening in the Courtroom of Heaven right now. Yes, you are now standing before the "One and Only True Judge". What will you be able to say about your beliefs? Are they CONVICTIONS? They must be, or your name will be blotted off of the "Book of Life". Nothing can be hidden from this "Judge" When someone pointed out something in the Bible to you, did you investigate to see if it was truth? Did you share your CONVICTION with others? There are four questions you may ask yourself to check if your name may be on the pages of the "Book of Life":

· Question one: Can you remember a time in your life when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and your life was changed for the better but feel guilty when you sin?

· Question two: Do you enjoy sharing your CONVICTIONS with others and your lifestyle rubs off on those around you because your heart hurts when you witness others forsaking the gift of grace from the death and resurrection of Jesus?

· Question three: Do you love to talk to the One who changed your life, and do you listen for Him to talk back to you?

· Question four: Do you enjoy reading the Bible and sharing the truths you learn from it with others?

If you can truthfully answer YES to the above questions, WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!