EXCITEMENT IS NOT CONVICTION

Among one of the core features of a very deep teaching is the tendency to see believers pumped up and excited. That is a potential hidden in the word – an inherent ability to stir up.

We read a very popular text today and this is captured as ‘the parable of the sower’. It has become a go to text for many reasons and so we draw on one of the many strands today. In Jesus’ explanation of the parable, we read “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away (Mark 4:16-17)

Thus, just because there is a stirring and reception with joy does not mean fruits will be borne because many people in church are only there for the excitement. But here is the spanner in the works “excitement is not conviction”.

When life springs up and grabs you by the scruff of your neck, excitement will dissipate and what will remain is conviction. That will, however, be dependent on the depth of roots you have built, your degree of anchorage on the word of God and the extent to which you are not swayed by every wind of doctrine.

When you hear the word of God, don’t be deceived into thinking that ‘excitement is equal to conviction’ . Those two aren’t even close.

#sly