If the conscience is the inner compass, then Scripture is the map.

Without the map, what the compass can do becomes limited. Without a compass, Christians can become a people who may hear and study the Word endlessly, but with little obedience.

The inner compass is therefore not the only thing that we need for the journey, but it is an important item in the essential things we must pack for the journey.

Just bringing it along is, of course, not enough. We must use it.

This is where we encounter serious problems. The inner compass is hardly noticed these days in our pragmatic and self-centred world, not even in church. In our consumerist and competitive materialistic world, the inner compass is considered as outdated or a burden to carry along.

What is considered more important, is to carry a watch or clock.

Organised, efficient, and lost

We live in a fast-paced life of increasing demands. People are often so busy following the crowd that they forget to check their directions. Our modern culture seems to be obsessed with speed rather than direction, with efficiency rather than destiny.

A pilot was flying a plane and unfortunately got lost because the instruments in his plane malfunctioned. He managed to contact a control tower and reported his situation.

The flight controller, wanting to help the pilot find his way back, asked for his co-ordinates. Not being able to pinpoint his current location, the pilot radioed back, remarking: “I don’t know where I am but wherever I am headed, I am making it in good time!”

We are often like this pilot. We don’t know where we are or where we are going; all we know is that we are making it in good time. We watch the clock and congratulate ourselves for the efficiency of our lives. We manage our schedules and timetables well; we make the best use of information technology; we organise our lives meticulously.

And yet, something is missing. Our lives may have efficiency, but no direction.

We have become experts in clock-watching, but are increasingly in danger of not knowing how to check our compasses.

 Guidance from within

It is important that in the church, the inner compass is brought back in sermons, discussions and committee meetings, and that Christians are reminded of the importance of having their conscience regularly educated and calibrated by the Word and Spirit, and used well in their daily walk with God.

Whether they are alone in solitude, or living their lives in their families, workplaces, the marketplace and the public square, Christians ought to be people who live with a clear conscience. Otherwise, the moral fabric of our churches and societies will fray and be lost. Christian virtue will be forgotten and sin will continue to dominate our inner and outer landscapes.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788), one of the Methodist founders, wrote a wonderful hymn on the conscience in 1749. It expresses the longing to live a holy life, according to the will of God:

I want a principle within of watchful, godly fear,
a sensibility of sin,
a pain to feel it near.
 
I want the first approach to feel
of pride or wrong desire,
to catch the wandering of my will,
and quench the kindling fire.
 
From thee that I no more may stray,
no more thy goodness grieve,
grant me the filial awe, I pray,
the tender conscience give.
 
Quick as the apple of an eye,
O God, my conscience make;
awake my soul when sin is nigh,
and keep it still awake.
 
Almighty God of truth and love,
to me thy power impart;
the mountain from my soul remove,
the hardness from my heart.
 
O may the least omission pain my reawakened soul,
and drive me to that blood again,
which makes the wounded whole.

Charles prays for a “tender conscience” (as opposed to a hardened heart) that has “ filial awe” based on our relationship with God who is our Father in Christ.

Christ, our True-North

This tender conscience operates on the principle of a “watchful, godly fear” that feels pain when sin is near and is sensitive enough to spot the first stirrings of sin, however disguised.

It fears God and loves Him enough to do away with even the faintest suggestions of sin. It sets the alarm going whenever the will of the person strays from God’s will. Its soul is spiritually awake and vigilant, and is bathed in the truth and love of God.

Not only is the conscience sensitive to approaching sins of commission but it is also mindful of neglected sins of omission.

It keeps recognising that on its own, it cannot bring about transformation and healing, but is always driven to the cleansing blood of Jesus and finds wholeness there. It is valued as a friend who warns against ungodliness and leads to the One who alone can change us and make us holy and whole, the One who owns all truth, love and power.

This hymn captures well much of what we have been looking at in this book, and not only provides sound teaching on the conscience and its role in our lives, but is also a moving and profound prayer that we can pray with regard to the conscience and our call to follow Christ and to be transformed into His likeness.

Righteousness and godly character are the results of allowing the conscience to do its God-given work in us.

The Christian conscience will not allow us to take the easy road; nor will it allow us to deceive ourselves with self-congratulation. Instead, it will keep us humble and dependent on God, walking along the way of Jesus.

This article is an excerpt from the book, The Conscience: Rediscovering the Inner Compass (Singapore, Armour Publishing, 2014) and is republished with permission. The book is available for purchase here.