Convictions

Wishy washy.  Ever changing.  Lacking convictions.  Flighty.  Fairweather.  There are many terms that we can use for those people who fail to hold to any beliefs or convictions with firmness.  Do we stand up for what we believe in, even when it is an unpopular view or we receive criticism?  Do our convictions disintegrate when we face opposition?

My parents were people of conviction, they held firm to their beliefs, and that stance was somewhat unpopular to those who held convictions opposite to theirs.  My parents and I would not always agree on everything, but there was a mutual respect there.  They knew what they believed, could support it with more than, "That's just what I believe," and they were consistent.

 

I had a conversation with someone yesterday who had struggled with my father's convictions.  From their point of view, I completely understood how this could be the case.  My father gave his life to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  His desire and passion was to see people come to know who Jesus Christ is and to allow the transformation that can only come about through Jesus Christ to invade their lives and take over, not in a creepy, "I'm possessed" kind of way but in a "I'm submitting to the One who saves me" kind of way.

Please understand me, my father was not perfect.  I actually lived with my parents until I was 28 years old.  It saved me lots of money and it also gave me insight into who my parents were.  I appreciated their honesty and transparency.  Of course, I was the "baby," so I probably never fully saw everything, no matter how old you get, if you are the baby, your parents will always try to protect you from something.  It can be both endearing and frustrating at the same time.

But my parents were consistent, a rare trait and quality in today's world.  How many of us have been frustrated while in public we observe a parent reprimanding their child with idle threats that they never carry out?  How many times have we heard someone stand up for something in the privacy of a conversation only to remain silent when in a public forum?  Worse yet, how many times have we heard someone decry beliefs or behavior in public and observed them committing the very acts that they had decried while they think that no one is looking?

While we didn't always agree, my parents were consistent, and I appreciated that.  I think that it is so important for us to hold to our convictions and to understand what we believe and why we believe it.  I can't force you to believe what I believe, although I would like to convince you of it, but I can certainly hold to my convictions and allow them to be lived rather than simply spoken.

There are plenty of people who speak as if they have strong convictions and fewer who actually live those out.  I would much rather have people know my convictions by how I live than by what I say.  Sure, it's important to speak your convictions, but if there are not actions to support them, are they really worth the air that we are using to utter them?

Mom and Dad have left a legacy for many people.  When one surveys the landscape of their life, a key question is to ask whether or not they left an indelible mark.  When I ask that question of my mother and father, I can answer with a resounding, "Yes!"  I am, as many others are, proof of it.  May my convictions be evident in both what I do and what I say.

In Need of Restoration

My family bought our first minivan this week.  It’s been a long time coming and, surprisingly, I was an easier sell than my wife was.  As a musician and a guy with lots of “stuff” I have always packed a lot into small cars.  Minivans send out a message, at least to some people, and I am not so sure that my wife was crazy about the message for a while, but practicality won the day and it just made sense for us to get one.

With all of the transitions in our lives recently, I was not a fan of adding car payments to our already complicated lives.  While we were looking for a van, we weren’t really looking very hard, but as I drove to an appointment one day, I spotted a used van at a mechanic on the way.  I noticed that the note on the car said, “New transmission, 3 year warranty.”  That certainly sparked my interest.  I called the number on the car and made plans to see it and drive it later that day.

The mechanic seemed nice enough and was incredibly friendly.  He seemed honest and reliable.  In a town that’s not so big, people talk, and the chances of gaining or losing business based upon your own practices are pretty high.  I told my wife about the van and we came back the next day to look at it and take the family out for a drive.  We both thought it could be a good addition to our family, but as people who commit things to prayer and don’t act impulsively, we decided to give it the weekend.

While hanging out with a friend over the weekend, somehow the topic of the van came up and my friend informed me that he had been using the mechanic who was selling the car for a few years.  He had been fairly happy with him and even said that his passion was to “keep old cars running.”  My friend’s car had over 200,000 miles on it and was still going strong.

That phrase “keep old cars running” really struck me.  It was an interesting concept to think about someone whose passion was to keep old cars running.  When I went in to the mechanic on Monday morning to tell him that we decided to buy the car, I mentioned what my friend had said.  He told me that when he was a kid, he remembered his dad bringing him to a car lot and picking out a “fixer-upper” that they could bring home and get running.  In fact, he said, he didn’t realize that there were new car dealers until much later in life because of what his dad did with old cars.

You know, people are like old cars, they need restoration, someone to keep them running.  We can’t fix ourselves, we need a Restorer, someone whose passion is to “keep us running” and give us “long life.”  Kind of fortunate for us that God came to be that Restorer, bringing restoration to people who were desperately in need of it.

I need fixing up, something to bring life to me again.  I need Someone whose passion is to keep me running, to restore me, because I can’t do it on my own.  Cars are a good reminder to me of that, and there are a lot of things that need to be done to keep them running.  Routine maintenance.  Replacement parts.  Inspections.  We need the same thing if we’re going to keep on running.

Next time you think about cars, think about the people who drive them and the people that fix them.  Thank goodness that there are people out there who are willing to invest in cars that still have life in them.  Thank goodness there is a God who is willing to invest in people who still have life in them, willing to restore them, breathe life into them, and invest in them.  I’m a work in progress, how about you?