“Raccoon” John Smith: A Conscience Not For Sale

The conscience, if properly trained and used, will help one to be faithful to the Lord. Once one knows the truth, his conscience helps motivate him to practice it. If he does not, his conscience strikes him with guilt, motivating him to repentance.

Unfortunately, there are many who know the truth, but choose not to practice it. They may feel guilty at first, but eventually they become “seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). They have forfeited their good conscience and all the benefits of it. Many sacrifice their conscience for such things as riches, comfort, security, and the approval of others.

This was the test put against “Raccoon” John Smith when he left the Baptist church in order to practice and preach the simple gospel of Christ. Yet Smith made it clear that his conscience could not be bought with any earthly enticements.

John Smith’s conviction is vividly seen in his change from Calvinism to the free gospel of Christ. When he broke with the Baptists he was told, ‘Your friends will abandon you; you will get nothing for your preaching; your debts will press you to the earth, and eventually your home must be given up.’

How did this man of courage and faith respond? Did he line up on the easy side?

His reply was, ‘Conscience is an article that I have not brought into the market; but if I should offer it for sale, Montgomery County with all its lands and houses would not be enough to buy it, much less that farm of 100 acres’” (Restoration Principles and Personalities, p. 117).

When we know the truth, we cannot allow anything in this life – riches, comfort, security, the approval of men, etc. – to turn us away from what is right. If we persist in a way that is not right, eventually our consciences will be seared (1 Timothy 4:2) and we will have forgotten how to blush (Jeremiah 6:15). When we reach this point of guilt-free wickedness and rebellion against God, our conscience can no longer help us and we are in serious danger of facing divine punishment. Notice the warning issued by the Hebrew writer:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receive the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27).

We must not allow our conscience to be “brought into the market,” as Smith said. When we sin, we need our conscience to provoke us to repentance. Nothing in this world is worth the value of our conscience, especially when we realize that the conscience is there to protect something far more valuable than itself – the soul. Remember what Jesus said:

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

Do not offer your conscience for sale to the highest bidder. Instead, keep it and use it so that you might continue to please the Lord.


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