“Indeed it is the function of the conscience to make human beings flee from God. . . . Conscience chases humankind away from God into its secure hiding place. Here, far away from God, humankind itself plays the role of being judge and in this way seeks to avoid God’s judgment. . . . Conscience is not the voice of God within sinful human behavior; instead it is precisely their defense against this voice.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Kyle Strobel and John Coe continue Chapter 6 of When God Seems Distant as they underscore that conscience is not meant to be in service to our moralism. Rather, conscience needs to be in service of our desperate need for Jesus. Therefore, the conscience must lead us to the cross. And not to strategies of the flesh.
Thus, the authors conclude, it’s not our responsibility to deal with the pangs of our conscience. Even though we assume that is what God wants. Instead, such an effort represents an attempt to take back from Christ the work He had done for us. A refusal to embrace His grace. Put another way, in this manner we reject the way of Christ to generate a way of life from within our own goodness.
Hence, Kyle and John observe, the conscience, meant to lead us to God, morphs into a strategy to avoid and manage God. Or to secure ourselves without truly repenting. So the conscience, like the law, is not the problem. Because the problem centers on our tendency to take what God gives us and use it according to the flesh. Not the Spirit.
Most significantly, Kyle and John conclude:
“Our greatest temptation as Christians [is] not abandoning the faith, but using the things of God to hide from him — using the ‘filthy rags’ of our works to imagine we can placate an angry God. . . . This is why the desert and desolation are gifts; it is in those places that we learn that God is our all in all.”
Today’s question: When do you find yourself prone to find a secure hiding place away from God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Attending to our self-talk”