FREEDOM;
CONVICTION

A free Christian should act from within with a total disregard for the opinions of others. If a course is right he should take it because it is right, not because he is afraid not to take it. And if it is wrong he should avoid it though he lose every earthly treasure and even his very life as a consequence.

Fear of the opinion of the group tends to regiment the members of denominations and churches and force them into a cookie-cutter uniformity. The desire to stand well within our own circle of religious friends destroys originality and makes imitators of us. Various churches have their approved experiences, their religious accents, even their accepted religious tones; these become standard for the group and are to the local fellowship what circumcision was to Israel, a ceremonial token of acceptance into the clan.

The great fault in all this is that it shifts the life motivation from within to without, from God to our fellowman. Any act done because we are afraid not to do it is of the same moral quality as the act that is not done because we are afraid to do it. Fear, not love and faith, dictates the conduct, and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Romans 14:5, 23

Of God and Men, 118.