Tiktok Theology: Conviction (Issue #2)

Ice Breaker Questions

2 truths and a lie

Which law isn’t real?

In Omaha, Nebraska, it’s illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or a street lamp (it’s actually atlanta)

In Topeka, Kansas it is illegal to sing the alphabet out on the street at night.

In Nacodoches, Texas, there's an onion curfew for young women. Under no circumstances are they allowed to have any raw onions after 6 p.m.

In Arizona, it’s illegal to have a donkey sleeping in your bathtub after 7 p.m.

VIDEO

Small Group Questions

Is there anything in this video that you relate to?

Are there any truths about God in this video?

Do you sense conviction? What is that like for you?

Do you ever confuse conviction for condemnation? What does it look like to correct that?

How is conviction a sign of the fathers love?

Post Questions

Is there anything from your group discussion you want to share?

Just a raise of hand, how many of you in here have listened to me preach or someone else preach and what we were saying resonated with a struggle that you have, and it made you feel defeated and ashamed because you don’t know how or want to stop the struggle? That is what it looks like to confuse conviction for condemnation.

How does someone receive conviction correctly and not walk away defeated and ashamed?

Message: Lord, Awaken My Need for Saving

Most of our Christian walk is asking God to save myself, from myself.

Most of our christian walking is admitting, I know nothing about what I need and He knows everything about what I need

Often times, I catch myself praying, Lord help me to do this, or Lord I want this to work out or Lord, I’m feeling anxious or nervous, and those are all good and ok prayers, we should pray those things, but I find the most humbling prayers are Lord let me see myself for who I really am today.

“Lord, awaken my need for saving” This is where conviction is at, condemnation flees here.

Condemnation is what is happening in hell right now. Judas has been experiencing condemnation in hell for 2000 years now. Condemnation is a judgement for all the works done in someones life, in an effort to prove themselves righteous and good enough, to only find out they fall short. My own effort. My own attempt at righteousness will always fall short.

The response to when you have done something wrong, or when you hear a word that digs into dark area, or you feel like a character flaw is being pointed out, and you start to feel that feeling where you need to cover up and hide because of the shame you feel, this is condemnation. You leave worse off than before you heard the scriptures. But what does the scripture actually say?

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Conviction is something completely different. To convict means to, “convince someone of the truth.”

If I was to give you a mental image, imagine you were in a court room and you had committed grand theft auto. The judge is sitting there with your file. There is an attorney or lawyer there talking to you and exposing you of the crimes you have committed and awakens your need for a savior because you realize there is no way out of here without judgement. You call onto the judge, admit your crimes, and plead him for mercy. The judge then comes down from his stand, takes off his robe, and tells the security that he will take on the punishment for your crimes. You are living in freedom now, grateful for the kindness the judge showed you. That is an illustration of the gospel in a nutshell

The attorney or lawyer in this case would be a picture of the holy spirit.

John 16:7–9 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;”

If you do not believe in Jesus, you will not experience conviction. You may feel bad about something you did, but you will not be concerned with the righteousness that comes from God and you won’t fully understand of the weight of the issue of sin and the judgement that is coming for it.

If you are someone who believes in Jesus, and you have received the holy spirit, this is actually one of the main functions of the holy spirit. Is to show us where we are not like Christ, but a lot of our pride chokes out this level of conviction because we are so fixated on saving ourselves.

I remember when I was a kid I went to the doctor when I was around 12 and I was a pretty pudgy 12 year old before I hit my growth spurt. I remember the doctor told me that I needed to watch what I was eating and do more exercise to lose those areas on my stomach that I could pinch. I remember getting in the car and bawling my eyes out because I got told that I was fat.

But imagine a world where doctors didn’t tell us the truth about our health.

You don’t want a doctor lying about your MRI or a cancer diagnosis, we need to know those things so that we can become healthy again or those things will ruin us. You want a doctor that tells the truth. Not to crush you, but to heal you.

But that’s how we treat God. We really do ignore the areas that God is trying to reveal there is pride there. Instead we say, I know enough about God I grew up in church, I know what’s best for me, I’m disciplined enough, I’ll just pray harder, and eventually I’ll be a happy good person.

Galatians 3:3 “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”

You can not save yourself and you can not mature yourself. Having experiences with God trusting Him in the unknown is what matures you. Just because you know the bible does not make you mature.

THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN

We often say we are saved by God’s grace through faith and that’s the truth, that’s what the bible says, but when it comes to our struggles, the pornography, the jealousy, the arrogance, the anger, or whatever it is, we are really self-sufficient.

Grace isn’t the starting line. Grace is the entire race. Every day you wake up needing exactly what you needed on Day One. His favor that comes through faith that really is inexplainable.

We may pray these emotional prayers and make it seem spiritual, and we should be praying but we skip over this part often.

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Notice the order. Not Get healed… then confess. But it’s Confess… then healing begins. Sin grows in darkness. Healing grows in light.

Importantly, convictions aren’t just feelings of guilt about something you’ve done wrong or even feelings of a deep sense of shame—to be convicted is to feel the unpleasantness of sin because the Holy Spirit impresses upon you the reality of God’s displeasure with your actions, thoughts, deeds, or inactions.

After even a statement like that, condemnation starts to creep in. You don’t find your sin unpleasant enough. Do you even have the holy spirit? Oh God is unpleased with you because of the things you did or didn’t do.

Conviction is when you recognize the areas in your life that are unpleasant to God and you say Lord save me from myself because I can’t do this in my own strength. I need you Lord and I thank you for your great mercy and love toward me.

The same grace that saved you at the cross when you believed is the same grace that we need to lean on as we grow in our relationship with Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

God isn’t looking for impressive Christians. He’s looking for followers of Jesus Christ who walk in the power of God’s grace, through radical dependency on Him.

Story time

Why did I find myself in a completely different mindset?

Because I was and am fully convinced of God’s grace and love for me. I have had those theological truths so nailed into my head that I no longer directly reverted to shame, actually I confessed that sin pretty quickly there after.

And that’s what conviction is, it’s to be fully convinced of a truth. Conviction as a settled belief

I know that I’ve sinned, but…

I’m also fully convinces that God is still good to me, His promises are always yes and amen, His grace is still sufficient

Romans 4:20–21 “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

I’m convinced that nothing can separate me from His love

Romans 8:38–39 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The holy spirit doesn’t just convict us or our sin, but He convinces us that Christ is purely enough, nothing more and nothing less because His presence and power in my life is sufficient.

Every conviction should end with worship. Not despair. Not self-hatred. Not trying harder.

But saying, “Lord, save me from me.” “I can’t become like Christ by trying harder.” “I become like Christ by staying close to Christ.”

Not setting a timer to see how long you can pray. Just praying just because and being free to say to God what you need to.

The enemy wants your failures to convince you to hide from God. The Holy Spirit uses your failures to convince you to run to God. That’s the difference between condemnation and conviction.

CONCLUDE