Six hundred years ago much consideration must have been given in Old England to Conscience, as round about the year 1340 two important works Were written by eminent members of the Body of Christ. Dan Michel of Kent translated from the French into English a treatise, under the title of "The Ayenbite of Inwyt" (or The Remorse of Conscience, literally, Again-bite or Back-biting of Inner Knowledge or Consciousness), while Richard Rolle of Hampole, Yorkshire, wrote a famous long poem called "The Pricke of Conscience."
The word Conscience is a Latin term, signifying together knowledge, that is, a consciousness of all the facts taken together; an honest and full view of all the features concerned. The Old English word Inwyt means much the same, inner witness, and has nothing to do with the modern meaning of the word wit as referring to what is jocular.
Conscience is defined as the knowledge of our own acts and feelings as right or wrong; sense of duty; scrupulousness; the faculty or principle by which we distinguish right from wrong.
The Greek term found over thirty times in the New Testament (suneidEsis) expresses the same idea of all-round awareness or consciousness. The ancient Gothic version of sixteen hundred years ago (old English-German) expresses the same ideas, all-round reflection and consideration, careful and serious thought.
Dr. Bullinger gave a very fine definition of the Greek term in his Concordance: "a knowing with one's self, consciousness; the being one's own witness; the testimony to one's own conduct borne by consciousness, esp. the consciousness man has of himself in his relation to God, manifesting itself in the form of a self-testimony. Consequently it is the effect and result of faith, for a man's conscience will never condemn that which he believes to be right, and vice versa; hence the only conscience worth having is that which springs from 'a faith unfeigned,' see 1. Tim. 1:5."
Webster & Wilkinson say that the conscience is a spiritual instinct, which operates without any active energy of the. intellectual faculty, while "a good conscience" is one which governs itself by sound reason, and adopts for its own regulation the rule of God's will, especially as revealed in His word.
Paul could commend the sensitiveness of Timothy, who was genuinely concerned about the affairs of the Philippians (Phil. 2:20). Timothy's interest in them was very conscientious and unselfish. Paul knew of no one equally sensitive.
But as for the rest, all of them were seeking their own interests, not the interests of Christ Jesus (v. 20). Paul put the facts very bluntly. And to-day he could have said the same things about the Body of Christ as a whole.
When the Lord washed the feet of His disciples we may be sure this was done naturally and spontaneously, humbly and without affectation. He did not do this to make Himself seem very pious, or to create a fine reputation for Himself. Immanuel—with us GOD—could do such things, but we cannot stoop so low, because our humility is not genuine enough; it is too artificial and too sophisticated.
Dr. John A. Mackay, in "God's Order," warns believers to be careful lest they should confuse the cause of Truth with the attempt to consolidate their own position and insure their own prestige. He mentions the difficulty which leaders have in losing themselves in a cause.
How can we be sure that any leader is acting honestly and conscientiously? We can prove this if he is obeying the precept found in Phil. 2:4—humbly deeming others to be superior to himself, and not taking cognizance only of his own affairs, but those of people who are different from him. It cannot be wrong to take a kindly and conscientious interest in our spiritual relatives and fellow-members. Paul, in fact, forbids self-seeking in 1. Cor. 10:24, and in ch. 12:22-26 advocates the divine principle that if the humbler members of the Body are accorded proper honour, the Body will be so blended that it will shew no schism.
Let us, in our meetings and gatherings, in our correspondence with others, in our prayers for all the saints of God, make a positive and deliberate effort to render special honour and respect to those plain and unpretentious members of the Body of Christ who are apt to be neglected or forgotten.
Schisms arise largely through the adherents in a movement showering too much laud and glory upon their leader. Where the leader fails to lose himself completely in the cause for which he is fighting, and permits himself to be lionized, he permits a new sect to come into being, and is therefore guilty.
It is quite wrong for anyone to condemn sectarianism if he cannot point to a definite remedy. Paul has stated the proper remedy, but we do not see it being observed among us. It is not enough to say the true course is to obey Paul's charge that we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, unless and until we also obey other precepts, such as shewing proper honour to the humbler members of Christ's Body. None of us can keep the unity of the spirit simply by thinking or assuming that we are so doing. Conscience cannot thus be satisfied.
Just picture to yourself what would happen were the high dignitaries in the State Churches to discard their grand vestments and insignia, and descend to the level of the plain deacon (that is, anyone who helps in Christian work). What a real revival in Christian effort this would create! Nothing would fill the Churches more quickly. But alas, these dignitaries are too conscious of money and position and reputation; what they lack is conscience—not only conscience towards their fellow men, but towards the God they claim to worship.
But are matters any better in the many sects which have sprung up outside the Churches within the past two hundred years? Not one bit.
Far too often men or women are quite ready to "reign as kings" or queens (1. Cor. 4:8) over their subjects, who become obligated to stand by all their actions and opinions, even when they know these are wrong.
There is none of us who lives to himself or herself (Rom. 14:7). We have a conscientious duty towards every human being with whom we come in contact, especially those who belong to God. Let us not become like neighbours and gossips who are satisfied with only one side of the story. How seldom do we hear of someone insisting on getting the other side of the story. An active conscience will take into account a sufficient modicum of the salient facts and features and aspects. Our "inner witness" must review all the pros and cons. If necessary, we must be prepared to swear to our own hurt: it is not a very difficult operation. Until we learn how to do that, we shall never ascend the Holy Hill of Jehovah (Pss. 15 and 25).
In the Old Testament, if there is no word rendered conscience, there are some words (tham, thom, thummah) which probably mean something very close to conscience. These words occur over forty times and are translated by "integrity," "perfect," "upright," "simplicity," etc. Jacob is called a "plain" man (Gen. 25:27). The R.S. Version makes him a "quiet" man, while the New World Version says he was a "harmless" man (or, sound, innocent). Alford also puts "harmless (literally, perfect, blameless)," as designating Jacob's gentleness and innocence. Some have suggested that the true meaning is sincere, artless, or aimless. But aimlessness has no congruity with integrity. "Flawless" has been suggested, but this goes too far and says too much. Jacob was not quite flawless. Can anyone possess integrity and be upright who does not act conscientiously? A thoroughly sincere person would be conscientious, but Job was more than sincere: I think his claim was that he was conscientious. That is why he became a special target for Satan's malignance.
The word integrity speaks of wholeness, completeness; an unimpaired state. The integer is literally something left "un-touched" or unbroken. Conscience implies a wholeness of judgment or outlook. May this wholeness be our great aim in life as we study God's revelation, and in all our relationships with one another. Conscience in the world is very weak and ineffective, but within the Body of Christ it ought to dominate all our actions.
Alexander Thomson
