Why Conscience is Necessary

 

Have you ever felt like the plug was pulled out of your life? How did you cope with the power failure? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1289). 

“When you give up your own truth to win at someone else’s game, everyone loses.” (Stephen C. Paul).
 
The greatest empowerment of all is the respect shown for conscience.

I can tell you of an electronic picture frame upon which several photos are alternatively displayed. One photo is of unusually large lily pads floating tranquilly upon dark, still water; another photo is a portrait of a woman; the third is of a Black Angus cow standing in the luminescence of sunlight. To a stranger looking at these pictures, very little meaning may be telegraphed. But if I were to tell you that the pictures are displayed in my living room, and that the woman is my wife, and that the Angus belonged to my wife’s father, and that the lily pads were photographed by my wife on a cherished outing we had together not long before she passed – then one begins to understand the meaning that the photographs have for me.

My point is a simple one – meaning heavily depends upon context. Without context there is a sense in which meaning cannot be understood or even existent. Yesterday I wrote a blog regarding a recent news event which showed how justice can be denied when context (the big picture) is not considered [found here]. And this applies of course not only to a high profile incident, but to literally millions of everyday occurrences. One of the truly legitimate cries of many Afro-American people within the United States is that those not sharing their experience “just don’t understand.” I remember vividly one day a youth I was mentoring mournfully observed that a mutual friend of ours who happened to be wealthy simply did not understand the hurt of exclusion and grinding poverty.

Today in a discussion with a person of power and authority within an organization, I found a troubling tendency to find great self-satisfaction and security in bureaucratic rectitude – a smug confidence that so long as policies and procedures as narrowly defined are followed, then there can be no question but that justice has been served. This is so far from being true that it approaches the realm of the surreal and even tragic. For it is certainly true that legalism and “the letter of the law” can be totally blind to reality as it exists in the daily lives of many. That is why it is essential that the warning I received from my friend Cato today be heeded: “When you give up your own truth to win at someone else’s game, everyone loses.” But we must be rigorous in the application of this warning applying it with equal force and sincerity to those who do not agree with us as to those who do. The respect for individual conscience must be absolute so long as the result is not vicious. This is especially true in countries like America where individual rights are plainly enunciated. If the country were to do otherwise it would for short-term expediency sell its own soul and forsake its ultimatel raison d'être.  Conscience brings to bear individual realities upon public life.

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Stand Your Ground

Over my lifetime I have seen many instances when people have stood their ground; after which they found themselves subjected to a zinging “Got You” moment stunning in its profound implications. I have known a student who was ridden by a teacher. After long abuse the student couldn’t take it anymore and snapped at the teacher—whereupon the student was hauled to the principal’s office and forthwith expelled.

I have seen a work situation in which the spirit and atmosphere of the workplace were poisoned by an arrogant and obnoxious boss. At some point the employee couldn’t stand it anymore and snapped at the boss—where upon with great and somber deliberation before a formal board of discipline—with the focus entirely upon the employee—the employee was summarily fired.

The essence of the pattern here is of long and continued abuse followed by an overdue response followed by weighty and sanctimonious proceedings in which the victim of abuse is found at fault and punished. The big picture—essential to give a shred of meaning to the incident—is entirely ignored.

I see the Trayvon Martin case in this light. A young man minding his own business is stalked by a stranger armed with deadly force. As the one pursued, Trayvon eventually summons great courage and stands his ground. The stalker responds with deadly force killing the victim. After great and somber deliberation by a court of law, Trayvon effectively is found to blame because the big picture—in which he is innocently going for a walk—is held to be completely irrelevant. Justice, it inevitably follows, is indeed blind. The lesson, dear children, is that the letter of the law is often purblind and thus does not and cannot achieve justice.

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More Information Needed

The United States has numerous labeling requirements regarding country of origin.**  For example a shirt I wear may indicate that it was “Made in Bangladesh.” This tidbit of information tells me almost nothing I need to know. In addition to that, it should also indicate average daily wage of worker including any health benefits and pensions. I think this not only should apply to foreign nations, but to the United States as well. It is not enough to know that my orange juice was made in America; I need as well to know the average wage of the migrant worker who harvested the oranges that I purchased at a premium price. The ideal label might look something like this: Grown in Florida. The price paid is divided thusly: Retailer, xx%; Farmer, xx%; Supplemental Labor: xx%. This would give me a better idea of how the product price is distributed.

Ask yourself, if you were the millionaire owner of Papa Johns Pizza, would you prefer having slave labor (in which case you are responsible for worker housing, health, and welfare); or would you rather pay workers a poverty wage and thereby cut yourself loose from all other obligations while famously decrying government for exercising its social justice and public welfare concerns? In my view, as in Biblical times, God is going to judge us in this matter if we don't address it with love and devotion to justice and righteousness.

Today I was in conversation with a young man in his mid-twenties. We were discussing social issues and the young man said that he felt he did not know enough yet to speak out on social, political, economic, or religious issues. The young man holds an advanced degree and was virtually a straight-A student. I responded thusly: “And just when will you feel you have enough knowledge? What will indicate years hence that you have enough? And remember, no matter how much information you have garnered, if the matter is at all controversial there will be hordes who disagree with you and think and call you misguided, treasonous, stupid or worse. I challenged him to join the public issue debate.

** Labeling requirements listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_of_origin

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Knowing Who (& Whose) You Are

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly (prudently) with your God.

(Micah 5:8 NIV)

When have you ever seen one of your parents get really angry? Over what issues? How is your anger like, and unlike his or hers? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1287).

I find this almost impossible to believe based upon my own errant behavior, but over the course of my lifetime I never once saw my mother or daddy get angry at all – and this of course includes extreme anger. When I consider how I have become the slave of anger many times, I must wonder how they were able to have complete freedom from it. I was an exasperating child at times I'm sure; how were they able to avoid anger?

I think at least in part their freedom from anger derived from their philosophy memorably expressed by my father when we children would become discouraged. He would say “do the best you can do; that’s all that you can do.” I think they had deep assurance flowing from faith and obedience that they were doing their best; hence never felt compelled to project anger sourced from a sense of their own irresponsibility.

Below is mother's Philosophy of Life which she wrote for me at my request when I was an undergraduate. The poem is one I wrote on her 84^th birthday.

                                MY PHILSOPHY OF LIFE

                                   (Written aprx. 1965)

          I believe God is the creator of all things. Mankind

may make many things from that which God has created. 

           God made man in His likeness, therefore man has

the capacity to love, to be kind. thoughtful and honest

toward everyone and himself. He has the power to think,

and use his mind to gain knowledge from all the vastness of

God’s creation. Also, the ability to choose what is right or

wrong. 

           I believe God sent Christ into the world to seek and

to save the lost, as found in Luke 19:10. 

           Christ came to reveal God’s likeness through his

teaching, healing and saving power and His concern for all

people. His spirit is present in the world today always

working that his will be done. 

           As far as I possibly can, I do and will teach of the

love of God, visit the sad and broken-hearted and try to

help them find the Way, and help all that I can regardless of

race or creed. I must not hold a grudge against anyone or be

prejudice. I certainly feel to be a true Christian we must

forgive as Christ was always forgiving. I know l have had

to be forgiven by Him many times. He is my redeemer,

and the redeemer of all who will come to him in sincerity. 

           He is my refuge and strength, a very present help in

trouble. He is so real in times of joy and gladness as Well

as at all other times. 

           I feel as sure as I live and breathe (and oh how

real), that life is eternal (John 3:16), For God so loved the

world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever

believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting

life. I believe I am choosing Where I will live it, when

death comes here, by the way I live daily. 

           I shall endeavor to live as near Christ’s Way as

possible, He being my helper and guide.

Christ and God the center. 

                                      Mother 

                        (Mrs. E. T. Standifer)

Happy Birthday !!!l (1997)

Down the years your light has shown,

Securing night and day,

Complex events were made OK,

By your steady care.

Reliable kindness & affection,

Now light your words and deeds,

You have mastered life itself,

By being Jesus’ friend.

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Not Any Dream Will Do

The following quote is taken from Francis A. Schaeffer's book How Should We Then Live?

"Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788) said that the following five attributes marked Rome at its end: first, a mounting love of show and luxury (that is, affluence); second, a widening gap between the very rich and the very poor (this could be among countries in the family of nations as well as in a single nation); third, an obsession with sex; fourth, freakishness in the arts, masquerading as originality, and enthusiasms pretending to be creativity; fifth, an increased desire to live off the state."

The Romans had a system and the system was based on structure. In the short run most any structure with some semblance of inner integrity can survive. That is, persistence and consistency together can provide a certain momentum. But is the firm belief of many, including me, that organizational structure is not amenable to relativism. That is, given the nature of mankind, not any and all systems will do. And not only the nature of man is at issue here, but the nature of man within what can only be called a context of organizational physics. These principles of organizational structure are indeed in the end ineluctable.

Whether one is a believer in God or not (or as some would fancy a grandfather in the sky) is in this sense quite beside the point. A people I suppose do not have to believe in a supreme being so long as they humble themselves before the sanctity of structure – not any structure, but the only tenable structure with long-term durability for human interaction – a structure built upon love. For the human being, not just any nest will do; for nurture has its requirements.

As a Christian I must revert in this discussion to my concept of a God of love. Now love has implications – an ineluctable set of disciplines. Throughout Scripture we see repeated failures of societies that forgot this and erect idols of their own choosing. In other words, they forget the disciplines of love that require structure imposed by organizational physics and in one form or another try to escape the inescapable. They strive to escape the hard fact that only organizational structure based upon the disciplines of love can long endure.

All addictions are at base attempts to escape reality – to escape the truth. In the Bible we learn that money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil. Likewise the Romans desire for affluence was commendable for it represented a society that wanted to achieve a good measure of material abundance. But never must affluence be lusted after at all costs. For then affluence becomes an idol that supersedes and usurps the unsentimental necessity and requirements and disciplines of love. An obsession with sex rather than love is one of the oldest forms of escapism seeking to flee from bedrock emotional reality and human responsibility. Likewise, the fundamental basis of art is creativity (and by art I refer not only to the fine arts but to the scientific and industrial arts). People can become so recalcitrant vis-à-vis creativity that they substitute for creativity its very opposite – disorder, death and destruction. Mankind has certainly had its share of nightmares in this regard.

I have written elsewhere regarding the persistent attempts of mankind throughout history to escape the plain fact that the doctrine of man’s own devising regarding the distribution of wealth – namely, that possession is 9/10 of the law – is a craven and reprehensible form of escapism. (The Bible teaches us that in the last analysis we don’t possess any material thing.) The undeniable reality is that wealth has widespread sources but tends to be filtered into a relatively few hands. Mankind will never ascend beyond the plagues of war and social upheaval until it looks this fact squarely in the face and deals with it within the resources supplied and required by the disciplines of love. I have said it before and I will say it again with some national pride, that America will be the one to transcend this Gordian knot for it is a nation in which love and respect is extensive and persistence and patience embellish goodwill. It has not yet “grown-up” and cynically given up its earnest desire for justice – both social and economic. But it must turn from escapism in all its forms (which can be quite sophisticated and intimidating in appearance) and humble itself before Providence – the Providence that was instrumental in the nation’s initial creation. Will government play a role – a big role – in the redistribution of wealth to more clearly reflect its sources? Of course it will; it is its sacred duty to do so. Controversy will swirl aplenty for the idol of capitalism will always tempt us with the excesses, delusions, and the overreach of doctrinaire egocentrism.

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Needed: Kind Conversation

Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, nor quick to take offense. Love keeps no score of wrongs; does not gloat over other men’s sins, but delights in the truth. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New English Translation, 1961. Emphasis mine).

In yesterday’s blog I mentioned a New Testament Bible that my father gave me in 1961. It is the New English Translation of that year. I am struck by the above passage, especially the words which I have emphasized in bold. 

Gloat defined: to observe or think about something with triumphant and often malicious satisfaction, gratification, or delight (gloat over an enemy's misfortune) [Merriam-Webster]. 

It seems to me that a midcourse correction is way overdue. We have traveled a long ways down the road upon which a fetish is made of other people’s misfortune evidenced by endless trash-talk chatter in the media or, sad to say, by ourselves when we slam others at work or even in our homes. There is no better or self-revealing term regarding this than gloating over. It lays bare our eager meanness, excited delight, and unrelieved hatred when we trash others and coincidentally show our own highly starched self-righteousness. Let us like Joshua begin at home. Let us pledge that for me and my house a sweet spirit of kindness, hope, and generosity will prevail—the writhing stew of cynicism and darkness that characterizes the outside world will be banned. I may not be able to control the climate everywhere, but I can control the tone and tenor under the roof of my own house. Then I will be able to affirm that trash talk filled with self-aggrandizement and cynicism are strangers here: here; belief, faith and charity reside.

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A Life as Evidence

What did your father do for a living? What impact did that have on your development? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1274).

My father was a Methodist minister and pastor. I ask myself what would daddy want me to say here – what would he most like for me to say regarding his impact on my life? I think he would like for me to say that I was blessed with a head start on the path of life. This head start was purposively set by my father to include training in and cultivation of appreciation for the truth and power of Scripture. He presented me with a New Testament in 1961 with the following inscription:

I think he also would like to me to say that I had a model in him and mother of people who genuinely believed in the efficaciousness of God’s love within and among the lives of people. That is, my father would insist that I focus not only on him and his occupation, but on the impact of being persistently exposed over a period of development and growth to a community of believers. If I ever wanted to understand where my father was “at” I only had to look at those who he regularly fellowship with in the congregation of believers. And finally all rested ultimately in faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ.

In last Sunday’s sermon pastor David Miller referred to a challenging question:

This last week as I was reading Peter Rollin’s book – How Not to Speak of God! In it he asks – would we follow Jesus if there was no eternal life? He acknowledges that it’s not a very good question because we know that Jesus did rise again. But all the same, if there were no heaven after death – would we follow him? He says we are always rushing from the cross to the empty tomb. But sometimes we need to slow down and reflect on the motivation of our faith. That is, do we believe because of what we will receive? Do we follow Jesus because of the reward of eternal life? I would like to say that I would follow Christ even if there were no heaven. Because following Christ means peace beyond this world and power that is greater and freedom from sin. But even those are things I receive in response to my faith. (http://pastordavidmiller.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/galatians-3-sermon/)

Would I believe in Jesus Christ even if belief did not promise to secure eternal life? Would I believe in Jesus anyway?” My answer to this arises with total confidence and complete conviction—the value of Christ’s life of earth quite apart from any “eternal reward” considerations is self-sufficient and self-validating. It represents a naked (in this sense indefensible) conviction something like that attested to in the Declaration of Independence—some things, we must aver in the end, are self-evident truths. In regards to my father, even if Christianity is a story woven by dreamers, the expression of faith found realized in his daily life evoked clarion chords that are not contained by time or death. The validity of my father as a role model for abundant life is self-evident.

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