You’ve often mention obeying your conscience on this website, but shouldn’t my conscience just conform to whatever the truth is?

Sincerely,
Mind Over Mind

Dear Mind Over Mind,

Your conscience is not a perfect guide, but offending it is not okay either.  Your conscience makes you feel bad when you do what you think is wrong, and it makes you feel good when you do what you think is right.  Notice how we emphasize ‘think’.  Your conscience is your mental guide in all matters moral, but it can be wrong.  Paul had a clear conscience his whole life (Acts 23:1), yet Paul also killed christians (Acts 26:10).  That is because Paul used to think that killing christians was a good thing (Acts 26:9).  “There is a way of a man that seems right, but the end is death” (Pr 14:12).

Your conscience is merely a compass; it will begin to point whatever way your knowledge tells it.  If you think killing christians is a good thing, you will feel good when you kill christians.  If you think killing christians is a bad thing, you will feel bad if you kill them.  Paul followed his conscience his whole life; it was his knowledge that changed.

Many people think they are serving God, but they will be sent to hell on the Day of Judgment (Matt 7:22-23).  Jesus made it clear that many people with clean consciences will end up in hell because their conscience was clear, but their minds and lives were corrupt.  We must fill our minds and lives with the Bible if we want a firm foundation we can trust (Matt 7:24-27).  It is only through God’s Word that we can have salvation; a clear conscience is not enough (Rom 1:16).

Having said that, it is important that we do have a clean conscience.  It is impossible to serve God without one.  Wicked people sear their conscience (1 Tim 4:2).  If you obey your conscience, you may do the wrong thing, but if you don’t obey your conscience, you will ALWAYS do the wrong thing.  If someone believes something is wrong and still does it, they are in for real problems.  It is always a sin to disobey your conscience (Rom 14:23).  A pure conscience is not the only requirement for service to God, but without it… you won’t go anywhere.

Is it wrong to ask a preacher to leave a church?

Sincerely,
Exit This Way

Dear Exit This Way,

If this question is asked by someone at our congregation – absolutely not :).  Otherwise, we’ll try and give you the Bible answer.  A preacher is simply someone who is proclaiming the news of Christ.  A congregation has the right to support a preacher (1 Tim 5:18), but they do not have to.  There is no requirement within the Scriptures that a congregation have a full-time, or even part-time, preacher.  Preachers certainly are expedient; they are able to teach classes, preach sermons, help strengthen a congregation against false teaching, etc., but they are not necessary.

If a preacher is teaching false doctrine or doesn’t meet the requirements for a preacher laid out in the Bible, then there is no doubt that a congregation should tell the preacher to leave (2 Jn 1:10).  But even if a preacher just isn’t a good fit for a congregation, there is no reason that a congregation can’t simply decide to stop supporting him as a minister.  A congregation must make sure it is using wisdom in how it teaches and admonishes mankind (Col 1:28), and wisdom might dictate that they ask a preacher to step down.  As a Christian, he would have a right to stay with the congregation even though he no longer served as a preacher.  Any preacher who puts the gospel before himself should be willing to step down if it is what is best for the congregation and God’s people.

Is it wrong not to pray before a meal?

Sincerely,
Let’s Eat

Dear Let’s Eat,

It is easy to get caught up in constantly asking, “Is it wrong to...”; in many circumstances, thinking about things in the negative can be the wrong approach.  Christianity isn’t merely about avoiding bad choices but also about making good choices.  So the positive version of this question is, “Should we pray before meals?”  The answer to that question is: yes.

Christians are to imitate Christ (Col 2:6).  Our lives are supposed to be modeled after His pattern of living (1 Pet 2:21).  Jesus gave thanks before eating a meal (Matt 15:36).  The apostle Paul also told us to imitate him (1 Cor 11:1).  Paul gave thanks before he ate (Acts 27:35).  Paul even told Timothy that we are to receive food with thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:3-4).  Jesus told us to pray for our daily bread (Matt 6:11), and then later we are told that whatever we pray for we should also give thanks for once we’ve received it (Col 4:2).  It is appropriate and godly behavior to constantly give God thanks for the blessings we receive in this life.  After all, all our blessings flow from Him (Jas 1:17).

I’m looking for the Bible verse where God told a man to walk around naked for three years.  Where is that story, and what is it all about?

Sincerely,
Modesty-Minded

Dear Modesty-Minded,

God commanded Isaiah to walk around naked and barefoot in Isa 20:2, but ‘naked’ doesn’t mean ‘without any clothing’ in this context.  The sackcloth robe that Isaiah would have removed was just his outer garment.  God commanded Isaiah to walk around wearing what a slave would wear (Isa 20:3-4).  The slaves of that time period wore very short tunics that reached from the neck to somewhere between the waist and the knee.  Although technically wearing clothing, Isaiah would have appeared as if he left his house naked because he wasn’t wearing his outer garments.  This was a visual prophecy that God used to tell the nation of Judah that they would be ashamed for trusting in Egypt and Ethiopia for aid because those nations would soon be destroyed by Assyria.  Judah needed to trust in God and not other nations.

Why do people in church try to make you tell others about when you catch the holy ghost, like you don’t know what happened and like they didn’t see what you caught when you get prayed for?

Sincerely,
Ghostbuster

Dear Ghostbuster,

To be honest with you, we are unclear exactly what you are asking, but it is clear that you don’t have a complete understanding of how the Holy Ghost works.  The Holy Ghost is not something that you catch.  The Holy Spirit is God (1 Cor 2:11).  He is a distinct being – as much as the Father and the Son.  He was there at the creation of the world (Gen 1:2) and the baptism of Jesus (Mk 1:10).  He has emotions, like sadness (Eph 4:30).  He can’t be caught, stolen, snatched, or captured.  The Holy Spirit is the one that gave the apostles knowledge of what to say and write (Jhn 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit that guided the hands of the Bible writers (1 Cor 2:13).  The whole Bible is what the Spirit has written for us to know (Rev 2:7).

You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you when you obey what the Scriptures say (Jas 4:5).  The Holy Spirit being “in” us is the same as us being “in” Christ (1 Cor 1:30).  It is relational, not physical.  The Holy Spirit dwells in us as far as we are one with Him and His wishes.  We are family through the faith found through the Spirit’s words.