moral condition. Hence its chief characteristic is its sincerity. Hypocrisy accuses the conscience. For the conscience to remain the practical thing that it is, we must make correct use of it and take proper care to heed its warnings and cultivate its powers.—Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:12.

The diligent servant will continually examine and correct his own conscience. Properly looked after, the conscience has power to lead the servant of God to reach a greater responsiveness to the call of duty and higher virtue. Whereas the negligent servant, and still more the perverse, may become dead to the workings of his conscience.

It is fear-inspiring to contemplate the execution of God’s judgment against all wrongdoers. (Mal. 3:5) Yet not just for motives of fear should we avoid wrongdoing and do good. The motivating force should be a conscientious love of righteousness. Hence Paul says: “There is therefore compelling reason for you to be in subjection, not only on account of that wrath but also on account of your conscience.” For conscience’ sake, therefore, we should want to subject ourselves to God and do right.—Rom. 13:5.

CONSCIENCES OF OTHERS

Christians must show regard not only for their own consciences, but also for the consciences of others. To disregard one’s own conscience will force it to callous and scar over for its own healing and protection. To disregard the consciences of others is to offend them and stumble them on the way to life. Paul was well aware of this fact. He said that he preferred to forego his freedom, if by using it he would trouble his brother’s weaker conscience.—1 Cor. 8:7-13; 10:27-29.

On the other hand, Paul would not compromise his conscience just to satisfy the miseducated consciences of false religionists. It was up to them to re-educate their consciences. While regard must be shown for weaker consciences, under no circumstance should the defiled and faithless consciences of worldlings be a Christian’s guide.

If all the world had a true Christian conscience, men would feel an obligation toward one another, as brother to brother. They would be moved to love, not only themselves, but their neighbors and enemies. Where there is a Christian conscience there is no desire to kill, no desire to destroy savings and the fruits of toil, no desire to threaten the unity of millions of homes throughout the world. There is only a desire to live and to let live in peace, according to God’s principles. Therefore, all men should seek a good conscience. Request God for such a conscience and act in harmony with your request.—Matt. 5:43-48.

A Closed Corporation

“A church which has ceased to be the agency of his creative love, which knows no barriers, and has settled down to be a closed corporation of nice, respectable, middle-class people, a bourgeois ghetto, as someone has called it, has ceased to be Christian.” So stated Taito A. Kantonen in his work A Theology of Evangelism.