Musing on conviction

I've been thinking lately about convictions. People have all manner of convictions: People who detonate bombs on city streets, sing about witches being dead when an ex-prime minister dies, burn the Koran in Jesus' name, or hold forth on a parenting topic or flu vaccinations. We all have convictions.It's good listening to my daughters developing their convictions, often overstating things as a way to clarify and retreat to something more measured. In one recent dad/daughter conversation there was evidence of such wisdom and maturity as one of the girls genuinely struggled with an earlier-held conviction and now wanted to seek the reasons for alternative points of view. I can't imagine having maturity and grace like that at her age.Often convictions are held without much reasoning. I listen to news grabs in which an authority is being blamed for something that isn't even in it's jurisdiction.I notice as people get older, many keep their heads down and their convictions to themselves.Jesus and Paul were certainly leaders with conviction. The greatest people always have been. To follow them has always created crises. Is it worth it? What are their convictions based on? Are they true and worth the cost of following?As James and I have developed our 6 Tough Questions series, we think we have made a mistake. Our mistake has been to not speak about ‘by what authority’ we hold our convictions. Do I, as a Christian, hold a view just because it's my opinion or because I have good reasons based on a reliable higher authority?The source of the Christian's authority is the bible. The bible is God's reliable revelation in all matters of faith and practice. So what makes it so?  It's essential that Christians come to their position intelligently, based on reasonable evidence. What I hear far too often from Christians are convictions that sound like they emanate from the opinion pages of the tabloids, with a dash of personal experience and a proof text like a cherry on top.So, our mistake has been to not establish God's word, the bible, as the most sensible place for the Christian to draw his or her convictions from, even if God's word flies in the face of current trends or perceived wisdom.As James and I share our convictions around tough questions, they won't necessarily be palatable or winning. It is our hope that they will express the sense of the biblical text, God's word.Having said that, I want to finish with a few seconds in the pastor's seat. I'm often in situations where the pickle a person is in is of their own making; their behaviour has flown in the face of what the bible says. I often don't know what's going on inside them. The way I do it is to hold fast to clear biblical truth, while recognising where the person ‘is at’ whether it’s about suffering, relationships, how can God...?, this isn't fair....etc. I listen as well as I can, to clarify the issues, to involve God and entrust them to Him. ‘Go and sin no more’ is my best advice. Obey God, trust him and he will lift you up, is my experience....and my deepest conviction.Malcolm