“Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world …” (2 Cor 1:12a, NIV)

“David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men…” (2 Samuel 24:10a,NIV)

“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience also beating witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.” (Rom 2:15, NIV)

One year, one of my colleagues was appalled to receive a Christmas card from a Christian parent. “Who does she thinks she is? Does she think she is better than the rest of us?”

Strangely enough, that same teacher had received many other Christmas cards, and the messages in those cards were quite similar to the one she was so opposed to. The problem was not that she received a Christmas card. The problem was Jesus.

Why should this be? Why would she be offended by what that mother believed? There are many people, after all, who believe in different things. Some believe in UFOs. Others are adamant that Elvis Presley is alive…No one objects to their beliefs; but for whatever reason, it is popular to object to the beliefs of Christianity. Why is this so?

If Christianity were a religion of pure hatred, I would concur that people should object. Most Christians, however, live a life of love, helping the needy wherever they are. Have we become so opposed to love?

The problem is that something pricks the conscience when faced with true Christianity, and as their consciences begin to blame them, people become very angry.

If there were no God, everything would be permissible. There would be nothing to tell us the difference between right and wrong. No one can be condemned when everything is permissible. How can we explain our consciences in a world where there should be no right or wrong? When we feel guilt, where does this feeling come from? If we truly believe there is no right or wrong, why are we so concerned about genocide and other atrocities? Why do our consciences concern us at all about anything? Why should we care? The conscious obviously does not generate from us. We have to wonder where it comes from.

There is only one possibility: There’s a God who cares for us, who warns us all, even those who don’t believe there is right and wrong.

During World War II, Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian diplomat stationed in Paris, had but one goal in mind: To save as many Iranian Jews as possible.

He used the Germans’ own logic against them. After all, at the beginning of the war, Germans considered Iranians to be of the Aryan race. Abdol absolutely insisted that the Iranian Jews were not genetically connected to the European Jewish ancestry. All the Jews of central Asia were Aryan, not Semitic. They were Aryan, just like the Germans.

At one time, Adolf Eichmann blew up against Abdul. Abdul’s arguments were so convincing that the Racial Policy Department in Berlin asked the opinion of the Research Institute for the History of the New Germany in Berlin, as well as the Institute for Research of the Jewish Question in Frankfurt their opinion on the question.

In the meantime, Abdol began giving out Iranian passports to Jews. Thanks to his efforts, more than 3000 Jews were saved. These passports were also given to non-Iranian Jews, as long as they were recommended by Jewish Iranians.

In 1941, when Russia and Great Britain invaded Iran, the new Iranian government declared war on Germany. Iran ordered Abdol to leave France immediately. He refused. His duty was to save Iranians as well as Jewish Iranians.

As a result, Iran suspended his salary, and with hardly any heat, no money, and often going without food, Abdol continued his work of saving Jews. He never took credit for this, for his conscience was guiding him in everything.

A conscience can be quite powerful!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Why I am a Christian” devotional series, please click here.)