Conscience

This passage has taken on a whole new meaning for me recently:

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.a Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.

4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

7But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

I've spent a considerable amount of time over the years trying to get my thoughts and actions to line up with Scripture--to examine what it says regarding the things I encounter in life, and to try to live in a way that demonstrates consistency with what's taught there.  But I'm beginning to believe I've taken a responsibility as my own that was never mean to be--namely, the shaping of my conscience on the basis of truth.

I never noticed it before, but in this passage Paul doesn't really focus on what is true and what is misunderstanding.  He states rather matter-of-factly that idols are nothing; therefore, eating food sacrificed to them is no real issue: nothing we eat makes us closer to or further from God.  But these statements are almost an aside--a parenthetical "taken for granted" statement that isn't the focus of what he wants to communicate.

Paul doesn't suggest that a believer who knows this should try to convince his friend who does think it's wrong that it isn't; rather, he suggests that causing this person to do anything contrary to his conscience--even in light of what is true--is causing them to sin.  The focus is on being faithful to that voice within us--that red warning light that goes off when we are about to do something that we think is wrong.  We're not to exercise liberties based on truth if it runs over someone else's conscience.

This gets really interesting when we think about how we relate to our own conscience, particularly in matters where Scripture isn't very clear.  Do I let how others interpret a passage of Scripture determine how I will act?  What actions do I take when there's no way to weigh all of the passages relating to a topic and come up with a clear set of principles?  In other words, in the matters of faith where believers around the world have differing opinions, how do I know what Jesus wants me to do?

The solution, I'm beginning to think, is to be diligent to understand what Scripture says--both to the audience who would have heard it then and to me living today in my culture--but to ultimately be at peace with my conscience.  I have to trust that in time Jesus will mold my thoughts and heart as I walk with Him so that my conscience leads me to walk as He wants.  This makes sense; it allows believers of all spiritual ages to participate in walking by faith--not just those who can afford the time and expense of seminary training. Walking by faith becomes an exercise in listening to His Spirit speak to mine and being obedient in what he asks me to do...and all the while, the truth of his Word matures me and shapes the direction and path my conscience leads me to follow him down.

Some will say I'm advocating we follow our emotions rather than live by the hard black-and-white truth of Scripture, but that's not what I'm saying.  Anyone who's had to follow the advice of conscience in spite of what our emotions want will know exactly what I mean...