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From William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, comes the oft-repeated adage, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Although these words of Hamlet are spoken amid a discussion with Rosencrantz associating Denmark with prison, they usually are quoted to convey some sort of divine truth to be applied in every disagreeable situation. Hamlet’s line is frequently used by the world to excuse the conscience and free it of all guilt, disparagement, and intolerant sentiment.
The conscience is sometimes depicted as a small angel on one shoulder and a little red devil on the other, whispering advice in the corresponding ears of an indecisive cartoon figure. But the conscience should not be so trivialized, for it necessarily governs our every thought, word, and deed. The conscience is not some morally neutral apparatus that kicks in when we allow it to. Rather, it is an always-functioning awareness that gives credence to human responsibility and divine judgment. Whereas the consciences of unredeemed human beings have been seared by the noetic effects of the Fall and the continuing pursuit of sin, the Christian’s conscience has been quickened by the Holy Spirit and reborn in Christ.
Thus, recognizing that the Christian’s conscience is qualitatively distinct, consider Paul’s proposition in Romans 14:14: “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” How are we to understand Paul’s words in light of the pervasive attitude that suggests all is relative and that everything is simply a matter of perspective?
Paul’s instruction comes at a crucial point in his epistle to the Romans. It follows his assertion that “love is the fulfillment of the law” and precedes his instruction concerning the law of love and the necessity of bearing one another’s burdens. The apostle is striving here to show Christians how to have clear consciences before God, as well as peace with their brothers and sisters. In other words, he is not just waving words about to establish a license for liberty. Rather, his aim is to promote both conscientious discernment and brotherly love.
Unlike the consciences of unbelievers, which are calloused and virtually immune to offense, the Christian’s conscience is of a different standard. Living in the greatest tension, being in the world and yet not of the world (1 Cor. 5:10), and recognizing that there exists an entire realm of things indifferent—the world of adiaphora—we are those who live in a world of both accountability and unsuperficial love, so that we might glorify God in whatever we do (1 Cor. 10:31).