Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide? I Don't Think So!

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was Disney's "Pinocchio." Jiminy Cricket was my favorite part of the movie, and when I was young and growing up, his motto, "Let your conscience be your guide" became my motto. That may sound like sound advice, but as I grew older, I discovered that our conscience changes; and that can lead to a lot of problems. 

A pure and undefiled conscience may in fact be a good guide. But as we live and breathe in this world, life treats us to some harsh realities and can make us hard and cynical. Our conscience can and does become seared as we become "used to" the pain and grief of this world. Ever wonder how a sweet and innocent child can grow up to become a cold blooded killer? They were not born that way. They allowed their hearts to become hard and calloused, just as a man's hands become calloused and when he uses them to perform hard labor. When a heart (conscience) becomes calloused, things that once troubled the person no longer does. The conscience once was bothered and we knew not to go any further, but that hardened shell has now been formed and the voice that cries out to stop can no longer break through. It is kind of like when we sear meat.  To sear meat, the surface of the meat is cooked rapidly at a very high heat, which causes the juices to caramelize and form a crust, sealing in the juices. It is the same as cauterizing a wound where it is burned, thus sealing off the wound so that it will no longer bleed. When the heart is cauterized, it no longer feels in the same way that it used to feel.  Paul warned Timothy about false teachers whose conscience have been seared with a hot iron in 1 Timothy 4:2.  

My point is simply this...
Just because a person's conscience no longer "bothers" them does not mean that the activity they are doing is now "OK" to do. Once their conscience pricked their hearts and they felt guilty or ashamed; or we might say "bothered" by that which today they do without giving it a second thought. It's not that God's standard has changed; it's the case of callouses forming which have built a hardened shell around the heart and the person is no longer sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We must all make an honest effort to be aware of just where we are and the need to keep our hearts (conscience) tender. If not, we would find ourselves doing things we once knew to be wrong and becoming bitter and cynical people.