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Conscience is a human faculty that can be wounded, scarred, and eventually destroyed. However, like most of the spiritual faculties of man, it can only be damaged from the inside. If conscience is wounded, it will not be by an external enemy; it will be due to bad choices that are made from within.

As a means of review, it might be good to simply look at some relevant New Testament passages that deal with conscience and the various types of consciences that exist as well as what can be done to or by our conscience. The conscience can convict (John 8.9). The conscience bears witness (Romans 2.15 & Romans 9.1). The conscience can be pure (2 Timothy 3.9) or it can be defiled (Titus 1.15). Consciences can be weak (1 Corinthians 8.7) or, they can be without offense (Acts 24.16). The conscience can be cleansed (Hebrews 9.14), and it can demand action in order to set it right with God (1 Peter 3.21).

Many years ago I made a decision that I would never again partake of alcohol as a beverage; I made it for my own reasons and I did so without attempting to place judgment on any one who made the opposite decision. While on a business trip with several of my coworkers, we went to dinner one evening and the group ordered a round of drinks; I ordered cola. Some within the group began to mock me and basically dare me to drink something a little stronger. I stood my ground but the taunting grew louder and more cruel. Keep in mind that it was not my place to condemn those who chose to drink (though I think the Bible clearly has those instructions in it), it was a personal choice for me, a matter of conscience.

After several minutes of escalating taunts, an older man who was part of the group spoke up and defended my right to decide the way I had and chided the group for their actions in trying to persuade me to do otherwise. This story is not about me nor is it about the decision I made; it is about the wisdom of Mike who said, “Leave him alone; he is a bigger man than you are in making his decision.” I know for a fact that Mike was not on my side as far as abstinence went, but he was on my side so far as the right to make such a choice, and the responsibility that others have to respect such choices of conscience. He was not standing up for me being a teetotaler; He was standing up for my right to decide according to my conscience and rebuking those who did not honor that decision.

Here was the valuable lesson that Mike helped to reinforce in my mind. Only very, very small people attempt to persuade others to violate their conscience. Whether I agree with a person’s decision or not is not at issue; my responsibility to respect the conscience of another is at issue! When I goad someone into doing things against his/her conscience, I inflict a wound that, for all I know, may be fatal! What an awful deed it is to attempt to cause others to act contrary to what they believe to be right! What if my encouragement was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and moved a person to a point of no return? Is that a laughing matter? Would that call for celebration and cheers? Of course, any person who has any respect for the moral traits within us has to admit that the failure to respect the conscience of another ranks as one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against humanity!

Mike taught me something that night forty years ago, though it was probably unintentional. When he honored my right to choose, and respected my conscience, he taught me how easy it is to be little, and also how easy it is to be a hero by simple deeds underwritten by wisdom!

Questions:

1. Where did the faculty of conscience originate? Is it a product of evolution? If yes, what was it forerunner? What was altered to produce conscience?

2. Do I have a special obligation toward someone who has a weak conscience? If so, what is it?

3. Why is it doubly wrong to urge another person to violate his/her conscience?

4. Do you think Mike was a hero (I do)? Why or why not?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

3 steps to peace...