The inconvenient conscience

Follow your conscience.

This was typical wisdom about how to live life. You should make decisions that are noble and upright, ones which allow you to sleep easy at night. It makes sense

 

Follow your heart.

It sounds the same, but in reality, it just encourages you to embrace choice. Whatever you would like to do, whatever will make you happy, do that.

This philosophy marks our age and the belief that happiness is the highest priority.

The only problem is the inconvenient conscience. Though we are told constantly that this new ethic is good, though movie after movie endorses this position, our conscience doesn’t.

 

So what do we do with our conscience? I think people try different strategies. Firstly, there is the “ignore it” strategy. If we get court up in activity (of importance, of course) then we don’t have to think about it. We don’t need to ask questions about what we ought to do, about right and wrong, or make any assessment of our actions.

 

Another approach is to justify our actions. I find that moral outrage on talkback radio often reflects people who are uneasy with their course of life but don’t want to change. So they state their position and call for tolerance.

 

Finally, people try and clear their conscience. They can do this by acts of service, and confessing to a friend, on television or in a diary. They engage in some ritual of purification, hoping that the guilt will leave them.

 

As much as you try to clear your conscience, you can’t. Your conscience testifies to your life before God. That said, here is the wonderful news of Christianity. Jesus CAN clear your conscience. He not only takes away your sin, but He makes it possible to approach the Father without shame and guilt. Because of Christ, you belong in the presence of God.

 

Praise God that whatever you have done, it is not only removed, but so is the guilt that goes with it.