Free Conscience: What It Is, How To Train It, And Loving Those Who Differ Ebooks Online
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.
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Crossway (April 30, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1433550741
ISBN-13: 978-1433550744
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #169,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #263 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Theology > Ethics #3801 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology
Sometimes I get well into a new book and suddenly find myself wondering, “Why on earth have I never read a book on this topic before?” This was exactly the case with Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andy Naselli and J.D. Crowley. How is it that I’ve read so many hundreds of books, but have never read one on conscience? Whatever the answer, I am very thankful that I read this one. I benefitted tremendously from doing so.Is this subject worthy of a whole book (granted that it is a fairly short one)? Yes, by my judgment. Naselli and Crowley say, "Our modest but potentially life-changing goal is to put conscience back on your daily radar, to show from Scripture what God intended and did not intend conscience to do, and to explain how your conscience works, how to care for it, and how not to damage it. We’ll show you how awareness of conscience increases church unity and strengthens evangelism and missions. We’ll talk about how to get along with others whose consciences enable them to hold different personal standards. And we’ll give you principles for how to calibrate your conscience to better conform to God’s will. We’ll even include a chapter on how missionaries and other cross-cultural servants can avoid pitfalls that arise from misunderstandings over differing consciences across cultures."What is the conscience anyway? In short, “The conscience is your consciousness of what you believe is right and wrong. It’s basically your moral consciousness or your moral awareness turned back on yourself.” Conscience is a God-given capacity to make moral judgments in areas in which we do not have clear revelation from God or where we lack the spiritual maturity to properly understand his revelation.
It is not often that the Church talks about conscience, let alone sermons. What is the meaning of a "clear conscience?" How relevant is conscience for Christian living? What is the role of conscience with regard to Church unity? What does bringing our conscience under the lordship of Christ really mean? These questions are covered in this unique book about the inner workings of a person with regard to critical issues of life, relationships, and faith. In this book, authors Andrew Naselli and JD Crowley aim to bring back the topic of conscience to the Church, believing that such awareness will bring about greater church unity, empowers evangelism and missions, improves relationships, and minimizes misunderstandings among servants. It is also hoped that this book on conscience can even strengthen our spiritual maturity.In chapters 1 and 2, the authors show us what conscience is and is not. In it, we learn that conscience is more than shoulder angels/demons. Animals do not have a conscience. Our consciences reflect the image of God and for us is very personal. Two simple principles apply. First, God is lord of conscience and second, we need to obey our conscience. The word conscience in the New Testament is "syneidesis" which occur 39 times in the Greek New Testament. It is used positively in two ways and negatively in six ways. Positively, it means being blameless and clean. Negatively, it means being weak, wounded, defiled, emboldened to sin, guilt, and seared. Conscience can lead us to witness, to judge, and to act upon. With such powerful links between conscience and behaviour, Naselli and Crowley highlights four challenges to be covered in the later chapters.What do we do when our conscience condemns us?
If you were to take a quick browse through any decent sized Christian bookstore you would likely find multiple options for a book on just about any topic. We live in an age where we are quite blessed to have so many sound books available from past and present authors on just about every topic imaginable. With that being said if there is one topic which seems to be neglected it would be the conscience. Over the past few years I have read hundreds of books, none of which have been solely devoted to the matter of the Christian's conscience. For this reason I was very excited to receive a copy of Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andy Naselli & J.D. Crowley.In Conscience Naselli and Crowley set out to help the reader answer questions like the following (p19):What exactly is the conscience?What should you do when your conscience condemns you?How should you calibrate or adjust your conscience?Who should you relate to fellow Christians when your consciences disagree?How should you relate to people in other cultures when your consciences disagree?Conscience works through these questions with the reader in six chapters. These chapters are grouped as follows (p19-20):Chapters 1-2 describe what conscience is.Chapters 3-4 talk about how you should deal with your own conscience.Chapters 5-6 explain how you should relate to other people when your consciences disagree.In Chapter 1 Naselli and Crowley are helpful in addressing what our conscience is. I found particularly helpful their description of the conscience wanting to be an "on-off switch" not a "dimmer." They state, "conscience is all about right or wrong, black or white. It doesn't do gray scale very well. It doesn't nuance.
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