“But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”           Romans 15:1-6

“I must follow my conscience.” Many of us have heard someone or even have made this bold statement ourselves. It appears to be a sound principle — right? In my devotion I shared with you yesterday we talked about how we might go about discovering truth. Although we want to believe that the human community might be able to discover truth, the harsh reality is that the human community rarely acts in a unified way. We all live in communities – each, however, has its own values and commitments.  For example, as Christians we look to scripture to provide the basis for our convictions. But we are also living in the 21^st century with all of its consumerism, materialism, and advertising. Often these communities are in conflict. As such we must make choices every day about which community will direct our choices and decisions in our lives.

It is in this context where our conscience is formed – but this is a lifelong task. Conscience is not that little voice that talks to us telling us to do this or that. It is more complex than that. It is my personal opinion that it is our own “self” trying to make sound judgments about moral questions. Timothy O’Connell, Loyola University summarized the Christian traditions understanding of conscience describing it in 3 dimensions of the self:

• General Moral Awareness
• Search for Truth
• Concrete Judgment

In General Moral Awareness, humans are generally aware that we should do good, not evil.  In the Search for Truth, then, we search to discover what really is the right course of action. As such we use a variety of sources for guidance: scripture, church tradition, the sciences, etc. Finally, the Concrete Judgment is where the individual reaches the point where a decision must be made. This is where the individual says “I must follow my conscience.” What follows then is a decision that comes only after we have done our best in discovering “Truth” – and not just doing what we “feel” like doing. It means doing the hard work of discernment – in the manner Christians should.

Have you tried to answer Pilates’ question?

Pastor Dave

The devotions for this week have been written while I have been in residence at the San Damiano retreat center near Oakland California for some pastor training. As such my time and access to technology for writing devotions has been limited. Therefore I have decided to write devotions based upon a devotional I found at the retreat center. The book I am using is titled “Creating a Culture of Life” written by Kenneth R. Overberg, S. J.  Kenneth is a professor of theology at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio and holds a PhD in Christian Ethics from the University of Southern California. Each devotion utilizes some part or theme from a chapter from his book.    Enjoy….

“Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked, “What is truth?” When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. But it is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)” John 18:36-40

We all face moral dilemmas. Our moral choices are significant because they shape the kind of person we become. Those choices impact not only us, but the lives of others, whether they be our children, spouse or even complete strangers. So, what are some of the moral dilemmas of our day? What are some of the moral dilemmas our communities experience? How do we make moral choices? Some say that the answers to these questions have, at their very heart, the ultimate question “What is truth?” (Thank you Pilate)

Many people adhere to a very fuzzy policy of moral relativism – the view that there are no universal moral rules. They decide what is morally good based upon their context. Their stance on what is morally good may not be morally good for you, but the individual always trumps the human community. As Christians we recognize the values and limits of human laws, human values, and human decisions. And after careful discernment, the individual must decide what is morally appropriate in the context of the community’s wisdom as they seek to understand what IS happening in all situations, not just what we would LIKE to happen. There should be objectivity to our actions.

Truth then is not simply what I say it is, but what we, the human community, guided by G-d’s revelation, discover the truth to be. Morality, what we ought to do to be truly human, is based upon G-d’s revealed truths and what we discover together about human life.

How would you answer Pilate’s question?

Pastor Dave