A Matter of Conscience

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Thankfulness

Thankfulness has no meaning without an object.

I realized this simple fact years ago when I worked at a day care center. It was Thanksgiving season, and the staff had organized crafts and projects on the themes of gratitude and giving thanks. I saw a lot of blank stares from little ones whose faces reflected the fact that they had never been taught to thank their parents, let alone a Creator God, for Whom the holiday was declared.

It saddened me then, even as it does now.

Entitlement

Thanklessness and its evil twin, entitlement, have become commonplace in our youth, as the postmodern, post-Christian generation is raising children who have no idea why they should give thanks, or to Whom it is due. Nor should it come as a surprise when individuals who have never received instruction in a moral code based on absolute values struggle with concepts like respect and concern for others, both of which are outgrowths of morality.

Conscience

It naturally follows that a thankless society has little reason to develop a conscience.

Reliable old Merriam Webster offers this explanation of what the word conscience actually means:

“Conscience… derives from… Latin roots—the prefix com- (‘with,’ ‘together,’ ‘jointly’) and the verb scire (‘to know’), and the combination, conscire, means 'to be aware of guilt’—and… relates to… a state of… moral awareness.”

It seems clear that internalization of a basic moral code is a needful prerequisite to the operation of conscience. Just as thankfulness requires an object, conscience needs a reason to exist. In other words, development of that internal voice goes hand in hand with the inculcation of moral principles in daily life.

This brings to mind an incident I recall with bewilderment. Years ago in my day care career, one of our students was misbehaving. The staff was instructed to try to curb the behavior without causing the child to feel any remorse. Since then, I have raised my own family, and noted an interesting phenomenon in school evaluations. When behavioral interventions became necessary, documents often contained the following kind of language:

Johnny struggles to control his impulses. Susie struggles to stay focused. Benny struggles to (fill in the blank).

I humbly suggest that the child in question is doing the very opposite of struggling, as he or she has likely been deprived of the very impetus which would bring about inner conflict in the first place – a feeling of remorse based on a rudimentary moral understanding.

Disclaimer: I am NOT recommending instilling pathologic guilt or shame in our youngsters. I, myself, am a recovering shame addict (not brought on by my parents, just residing in my brain for as long as I can remember), and it’s no fun. Rather, what’s needed is a sensible, balanced message of morality and awareness of other people’s rights. Basic religious underpinnings are helpful, as they provide the rationale for following a moral code. Our country was built on this foundation, and requires nothing less to continue.

The Three C’s – Confirmation, Conviction and Causation

One of my church leaders recently preached on the subject of conscience. He broke down the Bible’s teaching on this topic into the following “three “C’s,” stating that conscience:

·         confirms the existence of God (Romans 1:20-22 and 2:14-16)

·         convicts of sin (John 8:4-11)

·         causes or enables people to take hold of salvation (Hebrews 9:7-14 and 10:22; Titus 1:15; 1 Timothy 1).

The Fourth C – a Clear Conscience

This same gentleman followed up with a second sermon explaining how one can enjoy a clear conscience. Rather than summarizing these two excellent sets of teaching, I have linked them as resources for my readers, especially those who may be experiencing guilt about choices they have made. It is worth noting that one of the points he emphasized is the fact that the conscience can become defiled or “seared” when not cultivated or, even worse, once it has been squelched. That still, small voice can be snuffed out rather easily and, once stifled, can be surprisingly resistant to reawakening.

The Shaping of Conscience

There are many ways to categorize humanity, some of which have been called into serious question by an unbelieving world in a frighteningly brief period of time. The very idea of categorizing has come under fire in recent years! Nevertheless, along with basic groupings such as ethnicity and religion, let us consider the less obvious distinction between conscience driven versus conscience deprived individuals.

It seems to me that most meaningful activity is governed by the absence or presence of conscience, which, in turn, is often shaped by consequences. Inborn curiosity is bridled or unbridled by consequences – do consequences matter enough to check the behavior? Who is issuing the consequences, and is that person a solid role model, someone whose behavior is worth emulating?

One caveat: I am an enthusiastic proponent of positive training of children, i.e., linking positive feedback and rewards to desired behavior. I am fully on board with using this technique in conjunction with consequences – but therein lies the key. It is the combination of two vital ingredients that makes for success.

Soup without salt is flavorless. Salt without a medium to disperse it is overpowering. Likewise, consequences without praise may lead to devastation and hopelessness; praise without consequences can result in egocentrism and entitlement.

Balance is essential.

Takeaways

As the United States has ousted God from such basic institutions as education, family planning and most recently, marriage, our country seems to have lapsed into ever more dangerous behavior. If we want to stem the tide of rebellion and destructiveness that we are seeing in our youth, we must start with the end in mind with our children.

Instilling the sister virtues of thankfulness and conscience isn’t a guarantee that all will be well. Sadly, the numbers of religiously trained kids caught up in the world’s system closely mirror those of the unchurched. That’s because the human heart remains just that – human – and we live in a fallen world in which temptation and instant gratification are the desirables du jour.

Furthermore, we can’t, nor should we attempt to remove the Pandora’s box of technology from the public square. The tools it offers are vast and beneficial. However, knowing most of our kids have the equivalent of an adult bookstore at their fingertips before they’re old enough to cross the street independently ought to give us great reason to instill the counteragents of conscience and accountability from the moment they can mouth syllables. Realizing the daunting array of choices available to their little minds, we must at least give them a fighting chance to combat the impulses of entitlement and self-gratification.

A Happy and Hopeful Ending

I love the old Dick Van Dyke show. This classic sitcom is a product of its time and, therefore, assumes some sex roles that have become outdated, but it sure found a way to combine humor and principles without ever uttering a four-letter word or even taking the Lord’s name in vain.

One episode in particular illustrates the point I’ve been trying to make in this article. Rob has the opportunity to work for Drew Patton, the equivalent of Hugh Hefner, and the job will come with all the fringe benefits of Playboy Mansion. Laura is understandably fearful that her morally upright husband will “crumble” under the pressure. Her relief is palpable when she overhears Rob opine to his would-be employer that “marriage, like a lot of other things, has boundaries, and to some guys, those boundaries represent walls, and that makes marriage a prison to them. But to other guys, those boundaries hold everything that’s good and fun in life.” Our hero turns down the job.

This is the kind of thinking that conscience begets – the idea that boundaries, be they in marriage or any avenue of life, need not be viewed as prisons. They are, rather, safeguards that offer security and protection, so that those who abide by them may proclaim with the psalmist, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” – Psalm 16:6

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