If you've
been in church for a while, you may be familiar with people talking about being
convicted about things. Rather than describing part a criminal proceeding, it refers to
when someone has a deeply felt moral view, regarding a specific issue.
Sometimes it comes with feelings of guilt leading to repentance. Other times,
it is less a matter of guilt and more a strong, heart-felt sense that God has
opened your eyes. Whatever the case, people talk about being convicted all the time
after hearing certain sermons, reading certain books, having certain
experiences etc. Last Sunday at my church, there was a sermon on the book of Amos
so I can only imagine how many times the word "convicted" has been
used int he last 24 hours by people I know.
Sometimes,
people getting convicted is great. Sometimes, it leads to repentance of
sin, spiritual growth, righteous deeds, and other very good things. Who knows
what good fruit will arise from Sunday's Amos sermon?
And
sometimes, people feeling that they are convicted is meaningless.
Sometimes it is little more than guilt for the sake of guilt that doesn't lead
to any fruit at all. In some cases, this so-called conviction, which is
supposed to be from God, never could lead to any fruit in the first place - at
least not fruit that resolves the underlying issue which the person was
convicted about.
