Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 13th July 1997

From the Pastor: Conscience II

In the computer game one hears from time to time about the so-called GIGO-principle, i.e. Garbage In, Garbage Out. It refers to the fact that a computer is only as good as the information fed into its programme: they have a habit of spitting out at the end the same information as was put into them at the start! Conscience is very much like that: it will give a correct readout in the form of say, a moral judgment, only if it is correctly informed in the first place. If misinformation is fed into the conscience-computer the moral dictates will have a way of reflecting that misinformation. Hence we should not be intimidated when, for example, some activist proclaims his "moral right" to do X or Y because "his conscience dictates". What sort of material has fed his conscience over the years which has led to this activity? Paul could be aware of a clear conscience, but he was not thereby innocent (1 Corinthians 4:4). For the Christian there can only be one source of information for conscience: the written Word of God. He must constantly absorb its content, let that program his spiritual and moral computer; then it will be a reliable guide to all aspects of experience and decision-making. "Thy Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee", (Psalm 119:11).