Minority and Majority Carriages

Jeremiah Burroughs gives four important points concerning holding a different conscience than those with whom you worship. How one holds a conviction is also important, whether it be a minority or majority position. Here are four takeaways:

1. If one has a minority position, hold it with humility.
2. If one is proud and contentious about a minority position, one will not be heard.
3. If the majority position holder holds his position in a tender way, he may be justified before God.
4. If "scorn, pride, conceit, turbulence." etc. is seen in the minority position holder, he is not demonstrating the Spirit of Christ.

Often it is with great difficulty that Christians hold different consciences on issues in the church. Sometimes how one holds conviction is as important as the conviction one holds. One must hold Christian convictions Christianly.

Here's what Burroughs said:

When a man by reason of his conscience... differs from his brethren, he had need carry himself with all humility, and meekness, and self-denial in all other things; he should be willing to be a servant to every man, in what lawfully he may, that thereby he may show to all, that it is not from any willfulness, but merely the tenderness of his conscience, that he cannot come off to that, which his brethren can do, whom yet he reverences, and in his carriage towards them, shows that he yet esteems them his betters. But if a man that is weak, very much beneath others in parts and graces, shall carry himself high, imperious, contemning and vilifying those who differ from him, and be contentious with them: there is great reason to think, that the corruption is in the will rather then any where else; if there should be some conscience yet in these men, their heart-distempers may justly forfeit their right of pleading their consciences.

Those who oppose them, if they do it in a Christian way, may justify what they do before God; if God should call them to an account, and say, why did you deal so with such men who professed they were put upon what they held and did, by their consciences; if they can answer thus, Lord thou knowst we were willing to have dealt with them in all tenderness, if we could have seen conscientiousness in their carriage; but we saw nothing but scornfulness, pride, imperiousness, turbulence, conceitedness, we could see nothing of the Spirit of Jesus Christ acting them in their way; this their carriage persuaded us, that the sinfulness was got rather into their wills then their consciences.

Jeremiah Burroughs, Irenicum: To the Lovers of Truth and Peace, 46.