By: Andy Farmer
This time last year, I could have imagined I might write a blog on building Christian convictions. But I could not imagine it would have been about wearing masks. Yet here we are facing contention in our communities, families, and churches on the issue of wearing masks during the current pandemic. I have had my share of conversations with folks who believe masks are essential to saving lives in a pandemic. Others are equally convinced that masks are at best an unfounded government overreach and possibly part of a larger plan to abridge personal freedoms. I’ve been sent mountains of information and study data (from both positions) that have, frankly, left me more bewildered than anything else.
Often the issue of personal convictions comes up in the current conversations about wearing masks. As in, “I have a personal conviction that I should not go anywhere if I can’t be sure people are wearing masks.” Or, “I have a personal conviction against wearing masks unless there are legitimate health issues at stake.” I can certainly respect people operating out of conviction. But it has raised questions for me.
What is a personal conviction?
When do I need one?
How do I get one if I need it?
How do I build a conviction in response to a particular circumstance?
Without diverting into a philosophical rumination, let me briefly answer the first three questions because they’re generically related. Personal convictions are beliefs that are held strongly enough by an individual that they are committed to having their lives governed by them. They are committed to being known for them, and to varying degrees, are willing to act on them even at personal cost. A conviction isn’t a preference or a tendency. It is something clearly believed and strongly held in an ongoing way.
Essential Convictions and Personal Convictions
As Christians, we must have certain convictions borne out of our belief in Jesus Christ as Savior of the World. These convictions are best derived from the great creeds of the Church and the Statements of Faith to which we ascribe in our churches and denominations. Orthodox Christianity is well attested. We can have great confidence in our faith convictions when we ascribe to the primary historic doctrines related to the nature of God, the state of humanity in creation and fallenness, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, and the person and work of Christ.
Personal convictions are of a different sort. They are not creeds or fixed rules or laws that define our standing with God. Nevertheless, they are an important part of the Christian faith. Christians draw the idea of personal convictions from the command language of the Bible, in particular the “grace commands” of the New Testament. Knowing that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law on my behalf, I am now free to live for Christ in joyful obedience to His commands. That is how I love Him (John 14:15).
We talk about the “indicatives and imperatives” pattern in the New Testament letters. The apostle Paul, in particular, structures his letters to churches with a strong doctrinal basis for confidence in our salvation (the indicatives) and follows that up with “if this is true, therefore here is how you should live”—the implications of life in Christ expressed in command language (the imperatives). The forming mechanism for Christian personal convictions is our application of the New Testament imperatives to life situations based on our indicative position in Christ.
Convictions overlap with wisdom and Christian freedom of conscience. We should be able to show from the Bible where we develop our convictions. But just because we derive convictions for ourselves from Scripture doesn’t mean we can impose them on others. In many cases, Christians may come to different personal convictions because of the biblical principles they are applying and how they weigh out various applicable biblical texts. In any case, the rule of faith should keep us from elevating our convictions to universal moral law. And the rule of love should keep us from imposing our convictions self-righteously on others.
Not all convictions are created equal. We often have to develop convictions in response to what life brings our way. I had no convictions on wearing masks prior to 2020. I hope at some point in the not-too-distant future, I’ll be able to retire this conviction, or at least only have to apply it in limited circumstances. But I’ve recognized the need for a conviction on masks so that my behavior is not being shaped by cultural pressure or personal feelings. I need a conviction on masks so I can approach mask-situations with a clear head, a humble heart, and a focus on serving others, not defending or protecting myself.
Building a Conviction
This gets us to the fourth question. How do I build a circumstantial conviction? Here are some guiding principles I’ve tried to apply to my mask conviction, and really what I want to apply to anything I hold as a personal conviction.
Seek to understand the circumstances in a balanced way, as much as possible. We want thoughtfully considered convictions, not knee-jerk reactions we need to defend. Defensiveness can be used to cover the fact that we haven’t considered an issue in its complexity and depth. If I’ve considered an issue thoroughly, I should be confident but not defensive if someone disagrees with me.
Consider the whole counsel of God. Don’t cherry-pick verses out of context to support what you think. Wrestling with the Bible is essential in developing personal convictions. In the example of masks, I have been strongly influenced by Romans 14, relating to how the strong must consider the weak. But I can’t build from this alone. After all, who says I’m the strong one in this issue? Maybe time will prove that others were more right than me, and in fact, I was the weak one who needed bearing with.
Commit to humility and charity in the way you articulate and apply your conviction. The fact that we need personal convictions in the first place assumes there isn’t universal clarity on an issue. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul counsels us that we can be entirely right on a given issue but utterly wrong on what God values.
Build out from principle to practice. A practice without a principle is a rule. A principle without a practice is a theory. I need to apply my personal conviction on masks without other people having to accommodate me. In fact, graciously held personal convictions will position me to interact with others in a posture of servanthood, not personal rights.
Keep convictions proportional. Something may be very important to me, but not to someone else. We don’t need to fight over masks. We live in a time where the fewer needless arguments we have (in person or on social media), the better off we will be.
So what is my personal conviction on masks? That’s another conversation entirely. My question is, what is your conviction? And how have you gotten there?
Question for Reflection
What passages of Scripture have shaped your personal conviction on mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Are you humbly and charitably applying and articulating your conviction, or is being right more important to you than loving your neighbor?
Posted at: https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2020/12/07/on-building-convictions-and-wearing-masks/