Op Ed Piece: Christian Conscious

Christian Conscious
By: Ronald Barnes

How is our Christian behavior influenced? Is it by church, fellowship, seminary, life experience? Conventional wisdom suggests a positive response to each. However, experience tells us that going to church, attending seminary, and sharing fellowship with other Christians does not erase the imperfections in our humanity; often we fall short of our expectations. Our Christian Spirit can positively influence frailties in our human behavior and help us progress in our Christian development, which is a lifelong process. Consistent consciousness of our Christian behavior can be reinforced by church attendance, fellowship with other Christians and attending seminary, but how does Christian consciousness translate into Christian behavior or Christian acts?

My testimony:

My first semester at McCormick, I was in a study group with a person I sensed was not receptive to my manner. Initially, our feelings were cold and insensitive toward one another. I responded with likewise indifference. We interacted in close proximity by ignoring one another. My reaction was "since you show me no warmth, I will show you none as well." My basic human instinct and my Christian consciousness were in conflict. We both sensed and felt lack of warmth. We avoided one another a good part of the semester.

We are in seminary to learn how to give Christian direction to the lives of others, console, counsel and help people reconcile life conflicts in a Christian way. It disturbed me to neglect my own conflicts. My Christian conscious made me uncomfortable with the existing tension. I took initiative, approached this person, asked if I had offended him/her and stated that I sensed a tension between us and didn't understand why. By breaking the ice, I got a straight answer. "You are too pushy." I replied that my "pushiness" is often mistaken for my "passion." Talking, we discovered more commonalities between us than differences. Instantly, mutual comfort entered our spirits. Our first impressions could have determined our relationship, if we had not act on our Christian Conscious.

If our human nature is not in harmony with our Christian conscious then we need to take action. Listening to our Christian conscious gives positive influence on our human behavior. I believe one reason we are all at McCormick is to develop and practice our Christian conscious. What do you think?

Note: The views in articles, blog posts, and opinion pieces are specific to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of McCormick Theological Seminary or The Herald.