Throughout the church’s two millennia of history, many people have weighed in on the definition and meaning of biblical conviction. Unfortunately, all of this talk has done little to provide insight into an accurate understanding. The word convict only takes place one time in scripture—in the past tense (John 8:9). Yet, the concept appears quite frequently. Again in John chapter 8, one finds another key Bible word closely related to conviction. That word is convinceth. In fact, some have wisely defined conviction as the mental state of being convinced. In other words, one is never convicted or under conviction until he has first been convinced of sin or guilt. This should offer the Christian much comfort and understanding as to why the people could not convince the Saviour of sin. He was simply not guilty.
A good steward is recognized for his strong desire to please his master. For this reason, he does not expend the majority of his time and energy toward pleasing other stewards. He recognizes his first responsibility as accountability toward his master. So long as he pleases his master, all other issues will adequately fall into their rightful place. So it is with the steward of God. It is not that he lacks any desire to please others, but this desire pales in comparison to his desire to please the Lord. Simply put, he does not allow others to conflict with his primary responsibility of pleasing his Master. Unfortunately, this issue has become one of the most significant hindrances facing modern Christianity—the inordinate desire men have to please one another rather than the One that matters most.
