There is often a reality gap between what our mind thinks and what our body does. Our minds might be convinced that junk food is bad for us, but that doesn’t necessarily stop our bodies eating it. Daniel Decker has an interesting post on what we really believe. His post quotes John Ortberg, who talks about public convictions, private convictions and core convictions.
Public convictions are the things which we want others to think that we believe. Private convictions are the things which we sincerely think we believe. Core convictions are what our actions demonstrate that we believe. For many people, faith in Jesus is more a matter of public conviction than private conviction. For others, it’s a matter of both public and private conviction but it’s not a core conviction because it’s not reflected in their lifestyles.
This is another way of saying that faith – real faith – isn’t just something that happens in your head. It isn’t just a matter of giving intellectual assent to all the right theological doctrines. It isn’t something passive. Real faith is active faith. As James said, faith is about showing what you believe by what you do.