Poison and Conviction
The glam rock group, Poison, had several Top Ten Hits from 1985-1990, including "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Talk Dirty to Me." No, this is not an endorsement of them or their music. Scott Shannon plays a few of the top songs from the past each week and often provides insight into a song or a group that most people would not know. Having played a Poison song one morning, Shannon furnished an intriguing quote from one of the members of the group: "We don't always know what we're doing, but we do it with conviction." How many people live by this philosophy? Unfortunately, the advice is Poison-ous. It leads to death.
One cannot help think of all those who show conviction—based on insufficient evidence or none at all. How many college professors have told their students such things as, "There's no historical evidence that Jesus ever lived"? or "Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God"? Many of these students in turn repeat these myths with conviction. They have never read the gospel according to John, or they would not make such a foolish statement. As for the historical evidence concerning Jesus, it is substantial, as Lee Strobel's book, The Case for Christ, demonstrates (78-98). How could anyone overlook the testimony of the great Jewish historian, Josephus, unless he was either deceptive or just ignorant, perhaps repeating what someone else said?
How many members of denominations have been taught error? And they practice it with conviction! The only difference between them and the rock group is that the musicians admit they don't know what they're doing. Those in various manmade religious denominations either do not know it or will not acknowledge it. Frequently, when they are shown the truth, they become hostile toward the one showing them. Of course, this creates a conflict within their minds (what is called cognitive dissonance). Many, however, resolve the conflict—not by considering the truths presented—but rather by taking the word of those with whom those truths are associated.
Many (for example) will say, "My family believes in 'faith only.' Pastor Bob is a decent man, and he believes 'faith only.' Come to think of it, most of the Protestant world believes in 'faith only.' Therefore, I'm going to disregard the Scriptures you're sharing with me and stand with them." This is a comfortable decision—with plenty of backup support, and it resolves the conflict (in their minds). The only problem is that it disregards the truth of the Scriptures. Everyone, including us, must always approach the Scriptures with humility to see exactly what it is that they teach—lest we end up practicing with conviction what we do not know and cannot prove (John 8:31-32).