Let's Be Honest, Consistency Is the Best Policy, Part II
In Part I, we noted how difficult it is to balance guarding our conscience while at the same time living a life of consistency. I used the example of being sensitive to our conscience when disturbed by a candy bar company (Twix for example) promoting gender confusion among a number of other concerning issues. The problem I raised is that, while we might be able to swear off Twix bars for the remainder of our lives, Twix is actually owned by Mars, Inc. “Why is that an issue?” you ask. Mars, Inc. is a multinational manufacturer that sells a number of products spanning many different uses. So, you can live without Twix but can you go without Peanut M&Ms? How about Ben’s Original rice or Wrigley’s gum or Iams pet food? Let’s say you can find it within yourself to meticulously study the 50+ brands owned by Mars, Inc and add them all to your “Do Not Buy” list. Chances are you’re going to have to move to a competitor who, as it turns out, has the very same values (or lack thereof) as Mars, Inc.
Paying attention to our God-given conscience is vital to the Christian life so do we only wear robes made from camel’s hair and eat locusts and wild honey so as to not have to buy goods from corporations that espouse wicked ideals? After all, if we are serious about not doing business with companies we don’t agree with, there will be very few we can buy from. Part I concluded with a few questions I’d like to attempt to answer in this article: Why is consistency important to our Christian witness? How do we guard our conscience while living consistently? What does consistency look like in our day and age?
Consistency and Our Christian Witness?
Consistency matters because, as Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20), and, how we represent Christ carries immense weight. We, as jars of clay, reveal to the world “the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor 4:7). I want to argue that where the makeup of a Christian’s conscience can be subjective, whether that Christian is being consistent is objective. We can’t see someone’s conscience under a microscope but we can sure measure whether that person is being consistent. I’ll flesh this out a little more in the next point but with respect to our witness, what matters more - what can’t be seen or what can? Hear me, I’m not diminishing the importance of conscience. It is vital to our existence as humans. What I’m advocating for here is that we’d consider what we, as Christians, are communicating to the world when we only consider our conscience and pay no mind to whether we’re being consistent in our choices.
Guarding Conscience, Living Consistently
If we, in an effort to guard our conscience, don’t pay as much attention to whether we’re being consistent, we run the risk of trivializing big issues. Here’s what I’m wondering - what good is a clean conscience if we are completely inconsistent in our pattern of life?
As important as guarding our conscience is, being consistent as ambassadors is, I would argue, just as important. If we are living consistent with Scripture, we will be caring for our conscience. But, how do we consistently guard our consciences where Scripture is silent? Put another way, when Scripture doesn’t prescribe obedience and tending to our conscience is not black and white, how can we guard our conscience while living consistently?
Again, how do we guard our conscience and live a life of consistency? One suggestion is to keep a close eye on our justifications. It is easy to justify our decisions and to soothe our conscience in order to get what we want. This not only leads to inconsistencies in our lives but it can also do harm to our conscience. Over time, our consciences can become seared if we give in to a pattern of justifying our wants should they amount to a mass of inconsistencies.
A simple solution to avoid this pitfall is to ask ourselves if we are wrongly justifying our desires or if we are being consistent. One example I gave in part I is speaking out against one streaming service (Netflix for example) because of their content while justifying your decision to watch another service (Hulu for example). Why have you rejected Netflix and given Hulu a pass? Are you being consistent in the application of your justification? Again, you may have a great reason for canceling Netflix but, if you are being consistent, shouldn’t you also cancel Hulu?
Being Consistent In Our Day
In order to help us today, let us consider an ancient example. Daniel had been exiled to Babylon and was living in a land hostile to his sensitivities. In many ways, Daniel found himself facing challenges very similar to some we face today. Daniel was troubled by the progressive culture he was surrounded by. He was asked to do things that went against his conscience, namely to eat the king’s food and drink the king’s wine. We read in Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” If Daniel would not partake in the royal provision, what would he do for food? Daniel offers an alternative, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
Notice, Daniel observed his conscience which told him to not partake of the king’s food and wine. Some today might accuse Daniel of participating in “cancel culture” by rejecting the king’s portion but Daniel wasn’t completely allergic to all that Babylon had to offer. We know this because we can be sure that Daniel’s sustenance wasn’t imported from Israel. No, his vegetables were grown in less than ideal soil. After all, Daniel had to eat. So, if Daniel rejected the King’s food to protect his conscience but turned around and ate Babylonian vegetables, how can we say that Daniel was being consistent? Am I disproving my point that consistency matters? Not at all. What follows is Daniel modeling consistent conscientiousness. Daniel, in minding his conscience, intentionally sets guardrails for himself. He had a plan and didn’t deviate from it. He didn’t say, “I won’t eat the King’s steak but I will partake of his chicken.” He also didn’t say, “I won’t drink the King’s wine but I will drink his pineapple juice.” Daniel doesn’t fudge. He is guided by his conscience and he is consistent in his plan to avoid the luxuries afforded by the royal offer. He sticks with what he set out to accomplish and is both mindful of his conscience and consistent in his living.
It’s obviously not for me to say you should harm your conscience and eat a Twix bar. I also can’t tell you to watch Netflix along with Hulu. But, as one who lives alongside you in Babylon, I can plead with you to be consistent in your deciding what you will and will not partake in. And, I can ask you to hold me accountable too. Just as Daniel had to eat, we’re going to have to (perhaps through gritted teeth) eat “Babylonian vegetables”. As we figure out how to navigate the difficulties of this world we live in, let’s be consistent.