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Matters of Conscience

Most of us are unaware of our conscience most of the time. In fact, if we always behaved in accordance with our moral values, we would never notice we had one. The only time most of us pay attention to it is when we do something which conflicts with our sense of right and wrong. But guilt is not the only feeling the conscience can produce. It also gives us that sense of personal integrity and moral rectitude which is so easily misread by others as being nothing more that superiority or arrogance.

Many people feel that as long as they are not violating their conscience, they are doing alright. But that idea is based on one of two possible erroneous foundations. One is that the conscience is absolute; that it is the same for everyone. These people think that if their conscience does not condemn them, that the rest of society should not condemn them either, after all, since they don't feel guilty, no one else should consider them guilty. The other false idea about the conscience is that it is entirely relative; that everyone legitimately has his or her own moral standards. These people think that whether or not their conscience condemns them, it is no one else's business.

Both of these ideas fail to take into account that the conscience is programmed by the moral values to which we expose it. Concepts like political correctness may have begun as a way of being sensitive to the feelings of others, but for many has now become an informer or shaper of concience. As long as they behave and speak in a way which offends no one, their conscience gives them a good report. It doesn't seem to matter that what they do or say does not accurately reflect their concept of reality or their true feelings.

Conscience is heavily influenced by cultural values. In some cultures, conscience would produce feelings of guilt if you did not track down someone who had harmed or offended you or your family in some way and take revenge. In these cultures, this might include enforcing the death penalty personally. In other cultures, even fantasizing about, or having the desire for, revenge would produce feelings of guilt. So simply being able to say that you have a clear conscience doesn't mean much. In some cultures, that could make you a murderer.

When the Bible talks about having a clear conscience, it does so in reference to God's standards. The Bible tells us that "to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled." (Titus 1:15) If our conscience is not shaped by God's moral standards we are in great danger. We could easily find ourselves in the position of having a clear conscience while being guilty before God.

Some have a very tender or weak conscience. They seem to go about with a vague sense of guiltiness all the time. Others, whose conscience has been seared (a biblical concept), me seldom if ever experience twinges of guilt. As far as God is concerned being hypersensitive or insensitive to our consciences is not the key issue. How guilty we feel will, no doubt, affect how we live and how we relate to others, but it does not affect our relationship with God or our eternal destiny.

Whether or not we feel guilty, God says we are guilty. This isn't about feelings, it's about our legal status before our ultimate Judge. Therapists of various kinds can help us deal with inappropriate feelings of guilt. They try very hard to alleviate the excesive guilt feelings of some, while they attempt to induce some kind of moral responsibility in others. Whatever their approach and whether or not it may be considered successful is not what people really need.

God has what people need for their guilt. (Remember, we're talking about judicial guilt, not guilty feelings.) He offers us forgiveness. The hard fact is that God is offended by our sin. He never intended us to lie to, steal from, exploit, hate, or kill others. He never intended us to ignore, mock, or reject Him. All of us have done at least some of these things. They violate God's standards. That's why we call those things sin.

But God isn't like so many people who have been offended. They go around with their noses out of joint, waiting for an opportunity for revenge. God gave up His own Son to suffer the consequences of our sin in our place. When Jesus died on the cross, He satisfied God's justice, making it possible for us to go free. He didn't just free of us from guilty feelings. He freed us from the cells of death row where we were putting in time until our day of execution.

When we understand what God did for us, it motivates us to live with a clear conscience toward Him. As we spend time with Him and learn about Him, we inform our consciences with truth. This equips us with the kind of conscience which is really useful and can help us not just avoid feelings of guilt or superiority, but makes it possible for us to glorify God with our life.

Ron Hughes
© January 2008