By David Hegg
Sometimes things we hear all the time can slowly creep into our belief system as though they were true. But, as a general rule, most general rules generalize truth to the place where they are untrustworthy. They may be clever, but that doesn’t make them useful.
Here’s an example. We’ve all been told, “Just let conscience be your guide.” And while this may have some general benefit, in most cases, we should never let our consciences be our guides.
The conscience is really just your own morality alarm clock. It goes off when you are about to cross over some line. But the problem is, like your alarm, you get to set your conscience, or at least feed it the information that informs it as to what is right and wrong. You train your conscience according to your own beliefs, and then you expect it to tell you when you’re about to color outside the lines. When you’re sleeping, and your alarm goes off, you have a choice. You can get up or hit the snooze button and drift off for seven more glorious minutes. The conscience acts similarly. When it starts poking you with some conviction, you can reprogram it through rationalization and continue down your chosen path.
But here’s the problem. As you reprogram your conscience, it becomes less and less your guardian and more and more your advocate. As you change the information used to program it, you adapt its warnings to fit your lifestyle. We call this a seared conscience. It is no longer sensitive to wrong. Now it isn’t your guide but your cheerleader, encouraging you to do things once considered out of bounds. In this state, letting your conscience be your guide is like letting a con man handle your investments. You are getting taken for a ride with your eyes open on a street with no guardrails.
Another popular aphorism is “they won’t care what you know until they know how much you care.” In certain situations, this is so true, as in my world of preaching. People want to know I care about them, and caring for people is certainly essential in pastoral ministry. But in most cases, we ought to care more about whether the person teaching us cares for the truth more than we do. In some respects, it is both foolish and selfish to restrict what I might learn from someone else based on whether I feel loved.
If I end up in the emergency room with a serious injury or illness, frankly, I don’t care if the attending physician cares about me as a person. What I do hope is that he cares about being a good doctor. It would be nice if he were nice, but I’ll take a crabby, aloof, isolated expert in saving my life anytime. Of course, in both cases, there is enough truth in the clichés to help us, if we think about them correctly. If we instruct our consciences with something other than personal needs and wants, it can be a helpful guide. I fill mine with biblical beliefs and try to keep it honed by not going against it or hitting the snooze button.
As for the connection between caring and learning, it is always best if a relationship accompanies instruction. But while that is the goal, I hope you’ll recognize the need sometimes to learn from those you’ll never meet, never know, or never go to lunch with.
And here’s one that should never become part of your life’s philosophy. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Ha, wrong! Those who fully enjoy life and the changing world around them see every day as an opportunity to break new ground, broaden their knowledge base, and enter new spheres of understanding. As we age, those who are fully engaged in life continue to mature like fine wine. They refine what they’ve learned, pushing it through the grid of experience, disappointment, and even failure, and in so doing, they end up with not only knowledge but, more importantly, that most precious of intellectual commodities, wisdom.
This year, I’ll reach the milestone of turning 71. Frankly, I’m looking forward to it! There remains so much life and learning ahead of me, and as long as God gives me intellectual ability, I’ll be in the business of learning new things that can increase my usefulness in all the spheres of life in which God has placed me. I hope the same is true for all you old dogs out there!
Clichés are nice, but they should never replace virtues, values, or carefully considered ethical standards. Neither should they hold us back from pressing forward to be better tomorrow than we are today. Remember, cliches are just a simpleton’s way of sounding wise. They roll off the tongue and may seem clever, but they are not comprehensive enough to trust. And you can take that to the bank.
Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically Speaking” appears Sundays.
