Conscience

As we seek to proclaim the gospel and uphold, defend and establish the truth of God’s word, it is helpful to remember that God has implanted a witness to the truth within each person’s heart. While those who don’t want to hear our message may protest, the reality is that God has inscribed the fundamentals of his message so clearly on each human soul that dissent can only be manufactured as one fights, ignores or suppresses the biblical moral compass the Bible calls “conscience” (Romans 1:18; Romans 2:15). That is not to say that with repeated practice people can’t so “sear” or damage their conscience that the programmed resonance with God’s truth is hardly felt. No, that can and does happen (1Timothy 4:2; Hebrews 10:22; etc.). But even then, there must be a memory of this internal struggle, when their “hearts raged against the Lord” and his truth (Proverbs 19:3; John 8:9). It may seem we are bringing a completely foreign message to those with whom we speak, but it is not so. The truth is something that has been evident to everyone on a very personal and profound level. Our job is to lovingly turn up the volume on God’s instructions, articulating the written blueprint of God’s revelation which is (or at least was) speaking from within their own hearts precisely the same things.

Words

When reading through Proverbs one can’t help but perceive a handful of predominant and recurring themes. One of the most persistent sets of exhortations relates to our chronic tendency to say too much. Over one hundred seventy inspired proverbs seek to impress on our hearts that fools are “babblers” and the wicked are “rash” with their words, but the wise “restrain their tongues”. We are warned in dozens of ways that “When words are many, transgression is not lacking” (Proverbs 10:19). Sounds easy – say less and you’ll sin less – but it’s not. It may be simple, but it’s certainly not effortless. The words of a gossip, for instance, are said to be “delicious morsels” (Proverbs 18:8). We love to hear them, and in turn we find an evil pleasure in feeding them to the ears of our friends. But as with food, our gluttonous hearts must learn to show restraint. It is easy to dispense our critical, cutting or belittling commentary in just about any situation, but the wisdom of Proverbs tells us, “Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent” (Proverbs 11:12). So whether it’s the exaggeration of self-promotion, the belittling of gossip, or the expedience of betraying a confidence, let us all take to heart the wisdom of God which promises that “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life” but the one “who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3).

Hate Evil

Psalm 97:10 says it as succinctly as it can be said: “O you who love the Lord, hate evil!” This terse exhortation may come as a bit of a surprise to many Christians. “Hate” after all is something we modern followers of Jesus never want to be associated with. We prefer to be described as loving. And of course we should be. But to love what is good involves hating what is evil (Romans 12:9; Amos 5:15). Especially when it comes to loving God. How can we say that we love a righteous and holy God while being passive about the things that nailed his Son to a cross? How can we draw near to have fellowship with a perfect and pure Lord and not disdain that which is perverse and impure? Yes, we need the psalmist’s curt rebuke, to hate what is evil, regardless of how unpopular it may be. And though God commands of us this uncomfortable emotion, he clearly prohibits any sinful expressions of hatred. “Be angry and do not sin” God’s word tells us (Ephesians 4:26). That may be hard, but indifference is not the solution. “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil” (Proverbs 8:13). This indignation may drive us to passionate prayer, ardent proclamation or even stern rebuke, but never apathy. So may our zeal for God and love for good be evident. May it rightly be said of us: “They love the Lord and hate evil” (Psalm 97:10)!

Our Mindset

The Bible persistently calls us to fix our attention on Christ (Hebrews 12:2), to set our minds on Christ’s agenda (Colossians 3:1-2), and to keep thinking about and praying for the triumph of Christ’s return (Matthew 6:10, Matthew 6:33). Add to this a long list of exhortations for Christians to be mindful of the needs of others and thoughtful regarding the concerns of others (Hebrews 10:24; Philippians 2:3; Ephesians 4:29; etc.), and there is little time or energy left to expend much of our thinking on ourselves. This is clearly by design. Our sinful, default proclivity is for our thoughts to be entrenched in pondering our advancement, our appearance, our acceptance and our advantage. And that pattern remains relatively unchanged for far too many of us. If for any given period we were to honestly monitor the focus of each of our thoughts, we would likely be surprised at what a vast majority are selfishly fixated on ourselves. The Holy Spirit wants to change that. His instructions are for us to occupy our minds with thoughts of God’s kingdom, Christ’s fame and the needs of others. Let us, with his help, understand our fallen inclinations and purposefully set our minds on God’s glory and the good of others.