Jiminy Cricket is just a whistle away!

The fairy god mother told Pinocchio to, "Always let your conscience be your guide." James Moore doesn't think that it is quite that simple, does he? Paul doesn't either, i.e.;

Romans 7:18-25"For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

Even when Jiminy Cricket explained it to Pinocchio, it got confusing. Moore insists that we all do, in fact, have a conscience. The problem is that sometimes it gets out of kilter. Life's experiences can cause the conscience to be tricked or corrupted. We have become familiar with the corrupted file on the computer. Moore lists the Worn down conscience, circumstances simply wear the conscience down with repeated temptations. The Rationalized conscience is like situational ethics. "It will be okay in this situation given the circumstances." These people don't deserve a fair deal because they cheat all the time. The Consequence conscience is only concerned with getting caught. We don't worry about what we have done; as long, as we don"t get caught. Our Childish conscience is only concerned with the "Shall nots". We will be punished in relation to the number of rules we break. I have been told not to eat a lot of candy and sweets because they cause cavities. My conscience is pleased and complete when the dentist tells me that my teeth have been damaged. Just as our view of God can get out of whack when we forget to measure our knowledge of God against the measuring stick of Jesus. It has become a trite statement, but true, "What Would Jesus Do?"

Paul's words ring in our ears, "Wretched Man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"