Musing's In the Word: Conviction or Preference?

Daniel 3

8 ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Recently I have been studying the book of Daniel. I was reminded of the stand that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego all took when put to the test in Daniel Chapter 1. Their example to us, along with Chapters 3 and 6 help us in understanding the difference between a personal CONVICTION and a personal PREFERENCE.

Some time ago I read a transcript of a session that David Gibbs had with some people in preparation to stand before a judge. Here is a link to the audio of that message - Audio of David Gibb's message. (Note: the audio quality is not very good...but well worth listening to!)

What follows is my adaptation of the transcript and audio message. I have put these in tabular form. The left column is what constitutes a personal CONVICTION and the right column is what constitutes a personal PREFERENCE. Start with the right column and consider each point and ask yourself the questions, then examine yourself in light of the left column.

These conclusions are Bible based and were also the findings of the United States Supreme Court in 1972!

The next paragraph is a summary of the test case used by the court to define the difference between both:

In 1972, an Amish man named Jonas Yoder, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme court to fight for his religious freedom. He contested that he had the freedom to decide how to educate his kids. According to the laws of the State of Wisconsin, he was required to send his kids to public school. He won the case based upon the 1^st Amendment of the U.S. constitution which provides that religious freedom, but not without many appeals and battles!

(Wisconsin vs. Yoder 406 US 205, 32 L Ed 2d 15, 92 S Ct 1526)

As a result of this case, the U.S. Supreme Court defined the difference between a Conviction and a Preference. Here is what they came up with in tabular format.....