#iCONVICTION

Conviction doesn’t tiptoe; it doesn’t even tread lightly. Conviction stomps where indifference makes its home. As team leader of a student ministry, it grieves me that so many adults are silent amid the clamor of cultural perversion that seeks to devour our youth.  Too many of us retreat when staring into the face of immorality.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer once stated, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
If I’m going to author a column titled #iCONVICTION, then I have to be willing to create this friction.  It’s not my intention to step on toes, but it is my motivation to step on shoulders.  You see, men like Bonhoeffer dedicated their lives to confronting evil.  Though it frequently led to their demise, it was their character and conviction that they left behind that gave others courage in such perfidious times.
It is impossible to remain comfortable and be courageous at the same time.  It takes conviction to know what to stand for and courage to stand.  Remaining comfortable with immorality is to remain under the damage of spiritual apathy.  I’m not writing this to dog out evil-doers, but I am writing this to call out Cape May County’s prayer warriors. We will not make any difference by talking about the cultural bent of perversion; but according to God’s Word, prayer is where we can make our greatest statement of persuasion.
Don’t allow spiritual numbness to deaden our influence.  The pulse of Jesus’ greatest conviction is that He wanted the world to know His love.  A love so strong He died to bring a moral pulse back to our souls.  Let us, on Jesus Christ’s behalf, be those who reconcile this world back to God. Never forget that we were founded as one nation under God, but now we exist as one nation under fog.
It’s going to take men and women of conviction to stand up for what’s biblical. One Christian bowed down to the Lord is capable of standing strong against anything in this world. We don’t need numbers to have a greater voice. Hitler had millions. Jesus had only 12.
I stand confidently on the shoulders of Jesus, knowing that when I stand on Him, I stand on bedrock integrity and the Holy One from eternity.  Conviction in Christ doesn’t tiptoe around indifference.  It tips the scale of passion to always make a difference.
Matthew Maher is a former professional athlete and author of the newly released book U MAY B THE ONLY BIBLE SOMEBODY READS: R U LEGIBLE? His “Decisions Determine Destiny” assemblies are funded by State Farm and service youth in the tri-state area. He served four years and seven months in N.J. State prison and was released August 2014. You can learn more at www.themattmaherstory.com, where his blogs have been read by over 500,000 people in every state, 121 countries, and in 67 different languages. Follow him on Twitter @mattmaherstory and on Instagram @matthewmaher7