A pure conscience

For my devotional reading I am currently reading J. I. Packer's book, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. This is not an easy read. In fact, I've tried to read it before and never could get more than half way through the book. This time it is really speaking to where I am in my life. It's still not an easy read, but it is challenging my own spiritual walk with God in ways that can only be beneficial. In today's reading I came across this section

In Western society as a whole, conscience is in decay;apostasy has set in and hence, as always when faith fails, moral standards are falling...In the Christian church, consciences should be sharp and alert; but are they? It is to be feared that we whom Christ calls to be the salt of the earth have lost much of our proper savor. Are evangelicals noted these days for goodness and integrity? Are we distinguished in society for sensitiveness to moral issues, and compassion towards those in need? Do our preachers, earnest and eloquent as they may be, win for themselves the name that God gave to Noah - 'a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:3)?...Once Christians were taught to commune with their consciences daily, in the regular discipline of self-examination under the word of God; but how much of this remains today? Do we not constantly give evidence of our neglect of this secret discipline by unprincipled and irresponsible public conduct?

Before reading this morning I saw on the news a politician who was recently caught on a live mike telling another politician about his sexual conquests with two women neither of whom were his wife. Once the news broke he confessed how sorry he was for his behavior, but listening to him tell of his relationships with these women he didn't sound sorry. Could he have only been sorry he had been caught? In recent months we have heard similar stories of various individuals in leadership positions caught in relationships outside of their marriages. Of course, we cannot point too many fingers at the politicians because we've also heard story after story about ministers caught in similar situations. Everyone is sorry after they've been caught, but none seem to have been too sorry while they were enjoying their relationships.

The conscience is a funny thing. When a person first contemplates doing something they often know is wrong the conscience cautions them loud and long to not yield to the temptation. Even if they do yield, their conscience begins to convict them of how wrong that behavior or action was. Many times there is remorse. But, when our conscience is ignored long enough it becomes silent. The alarms no longer go off, and we no longer feel conviction for our wrong actions. At that point we are in a dangerous place in our lives. We no longer hear the voice of the Spirit trying to guide us in paths of righteousness.

In order to have a pure conscience, we need to examine it on a regular basis. In the Psalms David cried out asking God to search his heart to see if there was any wicked way in him. That is a prayer that we all, minister and lay person alike, need to pray on a regular, perhaps even daily, basis. And when we do pray that prayer we need to take some time to listen for that voice that does begin to convict us of sin in our lives, and we need to listen for the directions in righteousness that will come, and then we need to be obedient to what we hear. Doing this will be a little like reading Packer's book. It won't be easy, but it will be beneficial to our souls.