Building Economy Through Community Conscience

Conscience in Community as a Guideline for Living

We are now working through another election process. Sometime we feel as though this never ends. In our election processes, various questions of values are brought forward by politicians, pundits and voters at every level. Seems real.

This is perhaps one of the finest moments of any democracy.

In every community, questions of conscience arise. The community, and especially the Church must wrestle with these. Some would argue that these questions are irrelevant to Christianity. It is my belief that these questions are at the heart of Jesus’ mission.

The great witness to this perception is Jesus statements in the Sermon on the Mount, and especially in the Beatitudes. These statements are specific guides for the human conscience as it guides the person through life.

Conscience in Community

The community is able to see both the good and the evil that come from its Vision, its labor and its patterns. It can see what changes are needed in its value system to deal with the realities of today and tomorrow. Justice is integrated into the Vision, the strategy and the tactics.

Revelation 18:1-10

Come out of (Babylon), my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so you do not share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities; ... and the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn for her, since no one buys her wares any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense and myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves – and human lives.... The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud.(NRSV)

The ancient Hebrews seem to have had as much struggle with conscience as have any people. The Lord brought the deluge to the people because of their refusal to live justly and faithfully. Noah and his family were the only survivors of the flood.

Moses and Aaron were accused of "lording it over" the common people among the refugees. (Numbers 16) They eventually seem to have had their accusers, Korah and his people, killed for making this accusation. Amos pointed out that other peoples were being destroyed for their injustices, and that the Hebrews would reap the same harvest.

Questions to help us understand Jesus’ call to our conscience:

*. Are we able to look ourselves in the mirror and be certain we have lived in justice with one another?

*. Have we promoted justice and lived in mutual support by the way we deal with one another in our lives?

*. Do we make a strong point of doing what the Lord requires?

Examples of working toward good conscience in community:

A. The struggle for Civil Rights has been a focus of faith community action for many centuries. The drive toward abolishing slavery has existed almost as long as humankind itself. The American Civil Rights Movement has depended n the Church to lead its motivation, supply its personnel and empower its struggles of conscience.

This has not been an easy matter. But it would be a mistake to assume that any particular region or denomination or sect has had a lock on providing power. When Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered in Memphis in 1968, I was serving as pastor in Pineview, Georgia. I participated in the service and the march afterward. Then I drove my VW bus west and east along the march route, carrying mourners back to their vehicles or out to the airport. I worked at this for several hours.

On the following Sunday, the congregation at the little church I served in Pineview was most interested in that experience. I abandoned my prepared sermon which completely avoided the issue of racism and segregation. Rather, I talked, and they asked questions. They honestly wanted to know what had happened. It was probably the first time they had talked about these issues in such tones. Perhaps it was because it was in the church building. Progress was made that morning, although it may have been slight.

B. Peace is also a matter of personal conscience and enormous consequence. As long as people are free to speak, someone will protest any movement toward war. That is the nature of war. It chews up everything and everyone. That leaves it squarely on the shoulders of God’s People to call things back together through study, prayer, speaking and singing.

C. It seems that Jesus believed that focusing on our relationship with the Creator would be the best way to live. He both implied and said explicitly that, although monetary wealth was not the point of life, overall good life would come to those who tried to make this relationship right. The overall struggle of spiritual activity is to find the best way to live in a world where the deity reveals the sacred presence in some way. The response to the sacred presence, if done properly, should make human life as good as it can become. That is the point of religious activity, including the work and mission of the Church.

The Beatitudes seem to be a re-statement and re-focus of ancient laws aimed at peace and prosperity. From some thousands of years before Christ many had stated the secrets of the good life in legal format. Hammurabi had a lengthy detailed code nearly two thousand years before Christ. Moses wrote down the ten commandments about a thousand years later. There have been many others.

Jesus re-stated the code in six or eight statements in a slightly more positive way. He said that those who operate this way will be blessed. "Blessed is the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Finally someone asked him to boil even these simple commandments down further. Jesus complied by saying "You know the great commandment, the Shema. ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength.’ And the second commandment is like it. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"

Questions for evaluating your community and congregation:

* What questions of conscience are covered by your local media, including newspaper, radio, television, church newsletter?

* What sermons and liturgies built around issues of conscience in local congregations recently?

* What issues of community conscience have been topics of discussions in the community and congregation gatherings?

* What have been the outcomes of these discussions.

What are your own brainstorms and creative thoughts?

1. What evidence have you found to support the rating you have given your own community for Conscience?

2. What evidence have you found to support the rating you have given your congregation for building Conscience?

3. What programs might work in your church and community?

4. What will be your work in this process?

5. How will you reveal these thoughts to your church and community?