Conscience: What it is, How to Train it, and Loving Those Who Differ

Christian, meet your conscience.

What do you do when you disagree with other Christians? How do you determine which convictions are negotiable and which are not? How do you get along with people who have different personal standards?

All of these questions have to do with the conscience. Yet there is hardly a more neglected topic among Christians. In this much-needed book, a New Testament scholar and a cross-cultural missionary explore all thirty passages in the New Testament that deal with the conscience, showing how your conscience impacts virtually every aspect of life, ministry, and missions. As you come to see your conscience as a gift from God and learn how to calibrate it under the lordship of Jesus Christ, you will not only experience the freedom of a clear conscience but also discover how to lovingly interact with those who hold different convictions.

Table of Contents

Illustrations

Foreward

Preface

1. What Is Conscience?
2. How Do We Define Conscience from the New Testament?
3. What Should You Do When Your Conscience Condemns You?
4. How Should You Calibrate Your Conscience?
5. How Should You Relate to Fellow Christians When Your Consciences Disagree?
6. How Should You Relate to People in Other Cultures When Your Consciences Disagree?
7. A Closing Prayer

Appendix A: Similarities between Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8–10

Appendix B: Conscience Exercises for Cross-Cultural Effectiveness

Acknowledgements

General Index

Scripture Index