Conviction and Credibility (1)

‘“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.”’ Judges 7:17 NIV

On the eve of his spectacular victory over the Midianites, Gideon told his army of three hundred men, ‘Watch me… Follow my lead… do exactly as I do.’ What would happen if you said that to the people who know you? Would you have to qualify that statement by saying, ‘Follow me in business, but not my family life’? Or, ‘Follow my professional advice, but not my personal lifestyle’? To earn respect and be worthy of following, you need two qualities that really matter. The first is conviction: conviction is a set-in-concrete belief that you live by and refuse to compromise on. A pragmatist adjusts his or her beliefs and actions to things like the bottom line, or not making waves, or being liked and accepted. A man or woman of conviction won’t do that. Early one morning, Scottish philosopher and religious sceptic David Hume was observed hurrying to hear evangelist George Whitefield. When asked if he really believed what the great evangelist preached, Hume replied, ‘Certainly not! But he does, and I want to hear a man who truly believes what he says!’ Author Larry Phillips said: ‘There’s a noticeable difference between steel and tin—especially when hit. Genuine heartfelt convictions simply come across as “words of steel”. There’s a determined resolve in the tone… We need to be reminded that we can’t fake convictions! [People] will always discern the difference between words of steel and the sound of tin—no matter how hard the tin is hit!’ People know the difference between your core values and your intellectual concepts. If you don’t have a deep conviction about what you’re saying, why should they?

信念与可信

对他们说：“你们要看我的行动，当我们走到敌营旁边时，我怎么做，你们也要怎么做。 (士师记 7:17 当代译本)

在大胜米甸人的前夜，基甸对跟随他的三百个人说：“你们要看我的行动…我怎么做，你们也要怎么做。”如果让你对跟随你的人说类似的话，你是不是就会在这话中加上一些限定语呢？比如是“跟我学习做生意，但不要学习我的家庭生活”或者“听从我在专业上的建议，而不是学习我的个人生活方式”。为了赢得尊重，让人愿意跟随，你需要两个重要的品质，首先是信念。信念是一种真实的信仰，你会在生活中遵行并且拒绝妥协。实用主义者会调整他/她的信念和行动，没有底线，为的是不制造波澜或被人喜欢和接受。一个有信念的人则不会这么做。一天清晨，苏格兰哲学家和宗教怀疑论者大卫·休谟被看到在听福音布道家乔治·怀特菲尔德的讲道。当被问到是否真相信这位伟大布道家所讲的内容时，休谟回答说：“当然不！但我想看看一个真正相信自己所说话的人是什么样的！”作家Larry Phillips说：“钢和锡之间有一个明显的区别，尤其是在它们被击打的时候。真正的、真诚的信念也是如此，有'钢铁般的回应'，语气中有一种坚定的决心……”我们需要被提醒：我们不能伪造信念！不管锡的重量是多大，人们总是能分辨出钢和锡在声音上的分别。类似的，人们也知道你的核心价值和你的智识之间的区别。如果你对自己所说的话都没有深刻的信念，为什么他要这样做呢？