The Care and Feeding of a Clean Conscience

The Care & Feeding of Your Conscience

To have a conscience means "to know better"... a child caught stealing candy might be scolded by a phrase like "you should know better than that". Which begs the question: just what were they taught? Were they taught at all? Were they expected to figure it out on their own?

The English word conscience comes from the Latin conscientia which is two words joined  together con and scio... meaning "to know together", or "joint knowledge with others".  In the new testament conscience is used to translate the Greek word syn [together] and eidenai [to know]... to have common knowledge together with someone.

https://ucgraleigh.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-care-and-feeding-of-clean-conscience.html

Conscience is awareness of morality, or moral right and wrong, rather than empirical data like the average wing speed velocity of the African sparrow, or the circumference of the moon.

In the old testament Hebrew the idea is expressed by the term heart. Some good, some bad:

· We read that David's heart smote him (he felt guilt or compelled to act in a certain way)

· Job said "my heart shall not reproach me" (he felt he was on the proper path)

· Pharaoh's heart was hardened… his conscience was willing to over-ride the will of God spoken through Moses. I say his cultural training and understanding of the necessary authority, duties, and dignity of the Egyptian Pharaoh were more important to him than some unknown God of a slave people… from his perspective it must have made sense.

Where Does This Common Knowledge  Come From?

Romans 1:18-21, 2:14-16 some moral awareness comes from the nature of the creation. Certain forces, laws, order are baked into the physical which we all share. A degree of moral truth is equally available to Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. All share in a common body of moral awareness.

2 Corinthians 1:12-14 additional aspects of moral understanding and awareness are known through the revelation of our Creator. This happens on two levels:

· through His written word which is available to anyone [through preaching or print]

· through His spirit which is restricted to those whom God chooses to give it  

Some of what informs the conscience is available through observation. The most important set of information comes from  the revelation of our Creator. But, clearly there are some other voices speaking to and forming the conscience.

The Voices Influencing Your Conscience

Conscience must be more that the voice of God... because  scripture tells us conscience can be weak or misinformed 1 Corinthians 8:7

Conscience cannot be considered coming from within the human brain... because if each individual's conscience was formed solely by their own thoughts then it wouldn't be joint knowing with others. The appeal of the conscience is the appeal of something outside us, something bigger that us.

Let's call conscience to be the interna lized voice of recognized authority. Something bigger and more powerful than us speaks to us. Now things get interesting because we get to decide what we accept and recognize as authoritative… and there are lots of contenders for that title: God, nature, family, friends, social norms, traditions.

Your unique experience is determined by the degree to which you listen to each of these…. some  weak and some are strong... some are pure… some are defiled... we draw from the same database of  moral imperatives but we all have a different mix of truth vs. error, good vs. evil.

The Guilty Conscience

A person gets a guilty conscience when they are not doing right based on what they know and understand to be right. God has constructed your mind with this voice of conscience that acts as your spiritual warning system. Guilt actually serves a constructive purpose in God's plan for developing Godly moral character.

Compare it to your nervous system. Your nerves can detect heat. If you are walking towards intense heat your nerves send out a warning signal. Your brain processes that signal as "stop, you are about to walk into a fire". Spiritually speaking a guilty conscience says stop, turn around, change direction.

Maybe you have heard about Indian gurus how train their mind and body so they can walk over hot coals without pain… some people do this with their conscience! They train themselves to not feel guilt about acts you oar I consider evil.

A guilty conscience feels bad. In the past 60-70 years our society has advised us that the answer is to simply stop feeling guilty [train your mind to stop feeling guilty about that] … that guilt is unhealthy and should be over-ridden blah blah blah. Sometimes this is true... sometimes not:

Scenario: a pastor moves into a new area and encounters a member with a decade long problem with drug addiction. He counsels the person but it ends tragically. The pastor feels guilty... perhaps if I had done a better job. My advice to him: don't feel guilty about that it is not your fault.

Scenario: a person want to stop observing Christmas but feels guilty about denying his kids the fun.

Scenario: young woman gets pregnant and is offered a state subsidized abortion. She wants to be free from the consequences but her guilty conscience makes her hesitate. She is counseled by someone at the clinic that she shouldn't feel guilty, its her body and she can do what she likes with it, its not wrong to want to get on with your life.

Guilt related to aspects of Godly morality is constructive, guilt associated with humanly devised expectations (unrealistic job performance expectations) can be very unhealthy. Which brings us to an important point: the conscience needs to be properly trained.

Another way to do away with guilt is to redefine sin as something else: a biological disposition, an outmoded construct of patriarchal society, a normal healthy appetite, a necessary evil. The deconstruction of the guilty conscience has turned into a full frontal attack and has hardened people's hearts to the truth of God.

The post modern mind still cannot escape guilt… but has done a very effective job in changing what we feel guilty about: greed is now good, slander is now truth seeking, abortion is the socially responsible course, rebellion is honorable. On the other hand, speaking out about sexual sin is repressive, expecting all people to follow the same moral code is immoral. The conscience based on natural law and revelation has been broken down and then reconstructed into a model more alien and more hostile to God than ever.

This masterful plan for undermining and destroying the work of conscience is of Satan, the unseen but powerful prince of the power of the air.

Searing The Conscience

1 Timothy 4:1-2 if you over-ride and  redirect the healthy conscience repeatedly so that it becomes set and unable to change [describe searing-cuts off all the blood, nerves, etc.].

Ephesians 4:17-24 some translations say “they have become calloused”. Think of the conscience like a fingertip with its sensitive nerve endings, sense of touch & feel. Its sensitivity can be damaged by callouses that build up [story of Benny Goodman cutting off his callouses]

If we stick with the analogy of the human body:

Searing - the full feeling and sensitive nerve endings do not return to flesh that has been seared. We are warned about consistently over-riding the spirit of God and becoming seared I n a way that cannot be repaired Hebrews 6:4-8.

Callouses - can be cut off and a fresh start can be had.

Training Of The Conscience

Our conscience is shaped by the company we keep and the things we dwell upon. For those who seek their part in the better resurrection the conscience must be shaped by the word of God, the holy spirit, and the fellowship of believers. But all of us pick up some debris, baggage and wrong ideas along the way. This debris needs to be cleaned out.

Cleansing The Conscience

1 Peter 3:21 cleaning up your conscience so that it works properly, so that it is guided by God and Christ not the wrong ideas of humankind you have picked up along the way.

Hebrews 9:14 accepting Christ's sacrifice through baptism helps you clean out the dead wood and actively invite God's voice to properly and authoritatively inform your conscience regarding what is right and wrong, what is judgment, what is mercy, what is faith. You are making God the recognized authority that guides your conscience… not celebrities, or politicians, or false religion.

Hebrews 10:19-22 blood as cleansing agent to wipe away the misinformed conscience [evil conscience]

Hebrews 10:16-17 God's spirit actively forming a good conscience in you

Does this mean your conscience is totally reliable after being redeemed and cleansed?

Answer: No. You get a fresh start, you get a new sensitivity to the truth of God and His righteous requirements, [a circumcised heart] you get Christ in you through the holy spirit to speak with power and direct your conscience. But you are still living in the world… so, traditions, cultural norms, society, friends, family still seek to direct your conscience, the prince of the power of the air is still around and seeks to lead you astray.

Even a God directed conscience is a battle ground. Your conscience serves a purpose but it is not the same thing as your will. You have to choose, you have to watch out for callouses, you have to  continually seek God through His spirit and the continuous washing in the word of God.

The Purpose And Work Of The Conscience

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 conversion involves a re-orientation of which voice we acknowledge as authoritative .  Paul says that even though his own conscience is clear [not aware of any problems] that still doesn’t mean every thing he has done is right. God is the supreme authority.

Romans 3:20, 23, 31 immersion in God’s word and the power of His spirit in us creates a change of sensitivity in our conscience... sometimes that means we change what we become sensitive about. We become painfully aware of the contrast between our existing “work in progress” and the standards of Christ.

The Conscience Roots Out Hidden Sin

Sin is not put to death when it is merely covered up. When a new person comes to the body of Christ and fellowship with other believers they quickly take care of the obvious outward sins: fornication, blasphemy, Sabbath breaking, drunkenness. High visibility and peer positive peer pressure ensure this stuff gets addressed quickly. But sin still remains.

Sometimes this means we simply do it when no one is looking... but a properly instructed, sensitive conscience is always there. Make sure you listen to it. The power of God is in you but …

· God’s not speaking to you directly. He let’s your conscience do the work. But your conscience won’t help you stay out of trouble if its weak, deadened, hardened, or misinformed. Its your job to feed and care for your conscience so it can serve its purpose properly and on the highest level [this is the purpose for bible study and Sabbath instruction].

· God's not forcing you to do anything. He gives you the tools but wants you to do the work Philippians 2:12-13, Proverbs 28:13.

Sin is not put to death whe n it is internalized - Matthew 5:27-28. Sin is not put to death when it is merely exchanged for a different sin. For example; exchanging external adultery for internal lust, or replacing stealing with covetousness. Your friends at Church, or your family, don't know what's going on in your head... they can't “call you out” on stuff like that... but your conscience will... unless you've hardened and deadened it.

Sin is not put to death unless you cut out the root - sin starts with twinges of temptation. When you first start thinking about it is the time to stop. When your conscience starts calling out to you... over-ride that voice of conscience and you begin to deaden its power... you deny its role in helping you subject every thought to Christ and build that Godly character God wants to see in you James 1:13-15.

While the temptation is still a thought (not yet an act) your conscience is at work. Listen to it and answer temptation with God's word.

Sin is not put to death when it is merely repressed - sin is caused by bad attitudes, bad habits and you can try to sidestep confronting your problems by keeping your life trivial, surfing your Facebook account, binge watching TV, excessive work, or other distractions. But in order the good work of building holy, righteous character in you God will introduce some stress tests to see what comes to the surface Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

This is why God lets you fall into trials, this is why He lets the powers of spiritual wickedness lurk all around you... and this is why scripture tells you to have a positive outlook towards tribulation... because you understand the nature of the work God is doing in you James 1:2-4.

Conclusion:

Your conscience is an important part of what makes you human in the image of God, self aware, and self determining. Through it you are subject to a set of standards outside your own head. 

Your conscience can be trained... for better or for worse. It can be trained to judge rightly by God's word... it can also be trained to trade good for evil.

A guilty conscience is there to warn you and help you overcome sin. You can ignore it or you can use your sense of guilt as motivation to change and allow yourself to molded into a fully mature child of God.