Rebecca and I have a routine we follow nearly every Sunday. It goes like this—at some point after we leave church, I ask, “How was the sermon?” She knows I’m not asking whether she enjoyed it or even liked it; I need to know whether it was faithful to the text and whether it made sense.
I don’t ask her for positive reinforcement—I’m actually looking for constructive criticism. She knows me better than anyone else, and she will tell me if something was unclear, if an illustration was effective, if an application was helpful, or if the sermon was too long.
Well, this past Sunday I followed our custom and asked the question. She said the sermon was good, but I needed to include some of the things I said on the screens so she could take more careful notes. So I decided to write this quick post to share some of the information you might not have been able to write down in your journal while listening to the exposition of Romans 14:13-23. I hope these things are helpful as you contemplate the sermon this week.
The conscience is our inward awareness of what we presently believe to be right and wrong.
Definition of Conscience
The conscience is our inward awareness of what we presently believe to be right and wrong.[1]
As you unpack that definition, you must recognize that your conscience does not necessarily tell you what is objectively right or wrong; it tells you what you presently believe is right or wrong. That means your conscience can be correct or mistaken, and it can accuse or approve you. Therefore, your conscience must be continually trained by Scripture. In other words, don’t let conscience be your guide—Scripture must guide your conscience.
Four Questions to Ask Before Exercising a Disputed Freedom:
- Is this practice actually permitted by Scripture, or am I just calling a personal desire “Christian Liberty?”
- Can I participate with a clear conscience, giving thanks to God while I do this thing?
- Could my example pressure another believer to do what he or she still believes is wrong?
- Am I willing to abstain when love makes abstention the right choice?
I mentioned in the sermon that this list is not original to me. In fact, similar lists are readily available with a quick Google search. Below is a chart by Vaughan Roberts that might also be helpful.
Recognizing Eternal Values
Paul wanted believers in his original audience to understand and recognize the foolishness of damaging God’s work in each believer and in the church as a whole over something as unimportant as food. So, in verse 20, he makes a critical value statement, “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.”
This means we, as God’s people, must frame decisions about disputable issues in light of their potential impact on weaker brothers and sisters. Here are three additional questions to help determine what is most important:
- Is God’s work more important than my appetite?
- Is the spiritual health of another believer more important than my personal preferences?
- Is the construction of God’s church more important than displaying my freedom?
The world defines freedom as the ability to do whatever you want without any interference. But Christian freedom is the ability to serve Christ and seek the good of His people without being ruled by selfish desires. If your freedom consistently ends with your preferences, enjoyment, rights, or reputation, you are not exercising liberty as God intended.
Matters of conscience and Christian liberty are complex. This is ultimately why we need to love one another (1 Pt. 4:8), bear with and forgive one another (Col. 3:13), be kind, compassionate, and tenderhearted toward one another (Eph. 4:32), pursue peace with one another (Rom. 12:16-18), and consider how to stir one another toward love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25).
May we believe God’s Word and rely on His Spirit as we apply truth to our heads, hearts, and hands.
[1] Adapted from Andrew Naselli and J.D. Crowley’s book, Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those who Differ, Crossway, 2016.