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Defining Discernment
- 10/12/06
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There seems to be a great deal of disagreement about how we ought to define the word discernment. A quick Google check reveals a wide variety. One says it is “perception of that which is obscure” and another says “the ability to feel or perceive something with the use of the mind and the senses.” Several definitions revolve around decision making, saying discernment is “prayerful reflection and discussion before taking a major decision” or “discovering, with God’s help, God’s will for our lives.” A more thorough definition reads, “Discernment is a process of prayerful reflection which leads a person or community to understanding of God’s call at a given time or in particular circumstances of life. It involves listening to God in all the ways God communicates with us: in prayer, in the scriptures, through the Church and the world, in personal experience, and in other people.” I’d suggest that this final definition is similar to what many Christians think of when they consider discernment. To them discernment is a gift or ability that allows them to make good decisions. People who make poor decisions in life are those who lack discernment.
There are others who feel discernment relates to making binary distinctions between right and wrong, good and bad. J. Mark Bertrand discusses these people in an article entitled “Diss Isn’t Discernment,” focusing particular attention on so-called watchblogs.
[I]t occured to me that one of the problems with the self-appointed “watchblogs” where such logical errors are frequently coined, one of the reasons they’re taken a bit too seriously, is that we’ve allowed a flawed view of discernment to hijack the discourse. We see that the particulars are wrong, especially when the watchbloggers address things about which we have personal knowledge, but we make the mistake of thinking only the particulars are wrong, when perhaps it’s the whole system that’s at fault. In other words, maybe the watchblogging world operates on an incorrect notion of what discernment is.
What is this incorrect notion? Bertrand goes on to explain,
There are two groups of people and things: the good and the bad. Good is, well, good … and bad is off limits. The art of discernment involves examining them and determining which group to categorize them in. Everyone is called to make these category distinctions, but some of us are also appointed by God to make them for others. Because most people are undiscerning, it falls on the discerning few to lead the way, especially when it comes to exposing bad people and things that are generally held (by the undiscerning masses) to be good — the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
In other words, those with the gift of discernment are called to make the binary distinctions between good and bad and to relegate people in either category. Further, as “experts” in discernment, they instruct others how to categorize people and things. While this is a simplistic summary of such people, it is one that bears at least some degree of truth.
Dennis E. Johnson, Professor of Practical Theology and Academic Dean at Westminster Seminary California, makes a similar point when considering non-Christian scholarship:
You realize, of course, that this makes our study of theology less outwardly secure. We cannot simply compile a list of “safe” authors, stamp them with the Reformed equivalent of imprimatur or nihil obstat, and then confine our reading to them. We must do the hard work of exercising discernment - sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, argument by argument. Facts, insights, perspectives, and methods must all be tested in the light of the principles of Scripture. And we must keep alive our consciousness of dependence on Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Our safety is not in avoiding the ideas of the unbelieving world; our safety is in union with Christ, who transforms the mind of those who trust in him.There is hard work to be done in sorting and sifting the teachings of other humans, especially when we realize that we cannot simply cubbyhole the unpleasant or challenging ideas away and ignore them. But this hard work, like other exercise, gives us the necessary muscle tone to serve and lead God’s people. “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).
Discernment is difficult, and sometimes laborious work. If my forthcoming book is to be believed, it is also a discipline we must develop as Christians.
While the distinctions between good and evil are not always perfectly simple and clear, I do not wish to downplay the fact that truth and evil exist and are in constant opposition to one another. The very word discernment and its close relative discrimination imply the task of making such distinctions. In A Call To Discernment Jay Adams points out that the word translated in Scripture as discrimination means “to separate things from one another at their points of difference in order to distinguish them.” In Reckless Faith John MacArthur says, “discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. The discerning person is the one who draws a clear contrast between truth and error.” The biblical method for doing this is one I have introduced in the past in my “discernment filter” and is drawn from 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 which exhorts Christians to “test everything; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
I am not entirely comfortable with any of these definitions of discernment. I have spent a great deal of time studying biblical discernment and have read every book I can find dealing with the subject. It is my understanding that discernment is not telling other people what to think. It is not condemning those who do not think the way you do, even if you are convinced from Scripture and from plain reason that they are wrong. It is not an exercise in making good decisions in life.
I spent the better part of a day last week wrestling with a definition for discernment. I eventually arrived at a long and a short definition. The short and simple definition I came up with is this: Discernment is the ability to think biblically about all areas of life. A longer, more thorough definition (which is also much more difficult to remember) might be something like this: Spiritual discernment is the God-given, Spirit-empowered ability to understand and interpret truth, so that we can apply truth to our lives, thus bringing glory to God and furthering our enjoyment of Him. It remains somewhat clunky and obtuse, but I hope to improve at as my work on the book continues.
In the meantime, I would love some feedback on these definitions and am eager to hear how you think discernment should be defined. If you are aware of any definitions of the word, particularly if they were written by Christians, I would be eager to hear of them.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (40)
Tim,I have no problem with the way you’ve defined discernment. Discernment in different areas of life will ultimately be based on the revelation of God and hopefully be applied to the glorification of God. But the different areas of life may require different bases of wisdom from which to decide. Discerning the teaching of John MacArthur and Creflo Dollar, though not necessarily a no-brainer for all Christians, requires different principles than discernment of entertainment options. In Dave Swavely’s book Who Are You To Judge?, he recommends a book on discernment by the same name. This book took a topical look at different areas where Christian discernment is needed. But there were some areas where taste seemed to override or go beyond what scripture had said about it. At any rate, this may be an issue you deal with in your book. How do we discern in areas where our personal opinions or tastes can be a factor? Could there be areas where my “testing everything” may lead me to a different decision than yours? But, I guess that may begin to bleed into the topic of Christian liberty.
Tim,
I like your definitions. I had one thought to add: I wonder if there might be a problem in defining discernment as a gift or ability. It might be used by some to suggest that they do not have this gift or ability, thus they are excused from using discernment.
John Piper’s bio on George Mueller identifies a similar concern that Mueller had with regard to the gift of faith vs. the grace of faith. Muller did not want to suggest that his dependence upon God for the ministry’s material needs was a “gift of faith” because he believed that God’s promises to supply the needs were for all who believed, not exclusively to those who had been specially endowed by the Spirit with a gift of faith.
I wonder if the same type of concept might be appropriate here with the definition of discernment - that there is a distinction between the “gift” of discernment and the grace of discernment. Some have been given the gift, but this does not exclude anyone from trusting in God’s promises by the grace of discernment to seek that which is God-glorifying.
AWHall - I have wondered about this. But I’m not sure how valid the argument is. After all, there are some who have been gifted in evangelism, but that does not mean that others are exempt from evangelising. The same is true of encouragement and other gifts…
Still, it’s worth thinking about. I do believe some are specially gifted in discernment and yet also believe that everyone is required to be discerning.
Tim,
Just a word to say “thanks” for engaging in the project of writing on discernment. If this is not the most-needed subject in evangelical faith upon which to write today, I’m not sure what is. Thanks.
Tim - The reason I mentioned my thoughts in #2 above was that there are people who are very gifted with discernment and see the fallacies in an argument right way. Others have to labour in the work of discernment - which in no way minimizes the importance of discernment, but is a reminder that they, too, are to test all things.
Just like evangelism, some people too easily dismiss the need for training and practice and the hard work that it requires because they don’t have the gift. While this is wrong, it happens often in experience. With discernment it can be the same - people can be tempted to stop discerning once they have found someone else who has more discernment than they and end up solely depending upon another’s thoughts without testing all things with the Scriptures.
Thanks for your post! It challenged me personally and also in terms of encouraging this quality in my four sons. Is it helpful to consider how discernment differs from (or is similar to) wisdom? Your definition seems to me to cover both.
The following article might be of interest “To Judge or No to Judge: The Rights and Wrongs of Biblical Discernment”, by G. Richard Fisher.http://www.pfo.org/notjudge.htm
Tim,
Are you writing a book primarily about theological discernment? Or will it cover a wider range of issues (ethics and wisdom for example).
If it was about theological discernment then you would be dealing with “the ability to recognise and receive biblical teaching, and to distinguish it from teaching that claims and appears to be biblical but in reality isn’t.”
Biblical teaching of course includes the things of first importance, where failed discernment has eternal consequences; and it includes truths that don’t fit into that category, where failed discernment leads to unhelpful, and often painful personal consequences, as well as an inability to glorify God as he intended.
Tim,your definition of discernment is good. I do agree with you many people place discernment to only mean decision making and yet neglect the fact it is suppose to be concerning one’s whole being. As I was reading your blog and you were talking about certain people having the ability to discern for the bigger party I started to think how that’s an excuse of other christians not not learn discernment but just allow someone to think for them. Many times I see this occurence within the American churches where they allow others to think for them and to categorize things for them…leading to not learning how to discern for themselves and depending on others. It’s a sad state that I see within churches and the people and many times this is just being ignored.
Hi Tim — It’s a pleasure to find myself quoted in such august company. My two cents, for what they’re worth: discernment ought to be approached through the neglected Old Testament rubric of wisdom. (Your related post “Gain Discernment in Five Easy Steps” makes the connection clear, I think.) The Bible devotes so much ink to how a person ought to live and make decisions, but instead of applying ourselves to wisdom we would rather be told what sort of prayer elicits God’s green light or what feelings might denote his favor. It’s as if the Holy Spirit is a tool that allows us to do an end run around wise living. God promises to give wisdom generously to those who ask in faith, but he seems to bestow it in the same way he sanctifies — through a process of work done through us, accomplished over time.
I would love to see more people answering questions about “God’s will for my life” and decision-making by looking to wisdom literature and not a form of baptized divination. In keeping with my words quoted above, I’d also like to see THEM doing the looking, and not some authority figure doing it for them.
Good study. Have to think on these things.
“And immediately when Jesus perceived [epiginosko] in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said to them, ‘Why reason ye these things in your hearts?’” mark 2:8
“When Jesus therefore perceived [ginosko]that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone.” John 6:15
Tim -
I’m really excited about your book project. I said a hearty “amen” after reading Justin’s outline of Dennis Johnson’s talk on Common Grace and Non-Christian Scholarship, especially regarding the “hard work” of understanding what others write and say. What are your thoughts about the relationship between discernment, disagreement and charity? I know that, as a evangelical who has also spent time in graduate-level teaching, I find it incredibly frustrating when we, as evangelical Christians, quickly dismiss an idea, a book or an article simply because it’s (1) secular; (2) Christian, but it’s written by someone who we’ve heard or read is “heretical”; (3) Christian, but has been endorsed by someone with whom we are in theological disagreement; or, on a related note, (4) Christian, but it’s been put out by a publisher or a forum we consider to be theologically “suspect.” I suppose that this is, in a sense, discernment — one has a standard, and one uses that standard as a filter. But is this always “charitable discernment?” Engaging in the “hard work” of mapping out and understanding an author’s arguments, his/her logic chains and his/her use of evidence can be, I believe, a way of demonstrating Biblical charity and discernment. And then there’s the verbal and/or written expression of one’s discerning activity - the physical expression of agreement and disagreement (whether verbally, in writing or both). Should “charitable discernment” lead to a different way of expressing our theological or doctrinal agreements and disagreements?
I know that in the past Justin has highlighted Mortimer Adler’s “How to Read a Book” on his blog. I’d second that and add another to it. Although it’s not theology-related and it’s deals with American political science and Cold War history, Marc Trachtenberg’s book “The Craft of International History: A Guide to Method” (Princeton University Press, 2006) has two great chapters on how to do that “hard work” of close textual analysis (especially of secondary sources).
Best,
Brian Auten
Tim,
Check out page 22 of John McArthur’s book “Fool’s Gold?”, where he provides his thoughts on the word and idea of discernment. This is from the chapter entitled “All That Glitters….A Call for Biblical Discernment”.
” So discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. The discerning person is the one who draws a clear contrast between truth and error. Discernment is black-and-white thinking - the conscious refusal to color every issue in shades of grey. No one can be truly discerning without developing skill in separating divine truth from error”.
Tim:
I confess that I have not read all the comments closely, so I am risking re-stating what may have already been said. Given that caveat, I’ll toss in these two thoughts:
1. Your definition of discernment is closer to what I would call wisdom, the latter being broader than the former.
2. Discernment, which is necessary but not sufficient for wisdom, is (drumroll, please) the ability to see through the apparent to the actual. Now that would be consistent with God’s view of things, of course, but I think of discernment as active and a means to an end; the end is to see life from God’s perspective, i.e., wisdom.
Again, discernment is seeing through the apparent to the actual. (Feel free to quote me in your book.)
I appreciate what Mark Lauterbach has said many times about discernment—he laments the fact that “discernment” in many Christian circles = “spotting error and condemning it.” I agree with him in that when talking about discernment, there should be more emphasis on finding what is good—noticing and drawing attention to evidence of God’s grace.
Mark Lauterbach could say it better, I’m sure, and perhaps will—but in case he doesn’t comment here, I wanted to bring that perspective.
Amy, that is a great point. I don’t know that I have much to add to this discussion except to remind us all that being a good Berean means not only testing everything but also being very eager for more teaching (Acts 17:11). I have come across many who sadly think discernment is being closed to anything beyond their own experience. This closed skepticism is certainly not to be confused with biblical discernment within eager learning.
-Tony
Brad Smith, thank you for posting that quote from MacArthur. I read Tim’s original post, and before reading the comments, I thought to myself “I believe one who is discerning is one who is good at exercising ‘black and white’ logic”. Then you post MacArthur, pointing to the same thing. I think that quote summarizes the concept quite succinctly.
But, there is one missing piece - exercising that kind of discernment in a Biblical fashion. One can be discerning, but in a non-confrontational, loving manner. And that’s where “black and white thinkers” often err.
——bill
To be able to think so truthfully that error is obvious because you cannot understand it.
One of the passages I have memorized as part of the men’s group that I am involved with is Proverbs chapter 2. It seems to equate discernment with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom (as it seems to use those words interchangeably)…and it is something that takes hard work to attain (seeking for her as for gold, and searching for her as for hidden treasure).
I would think that discernment defined must include something about it not being just head knowledge…it is something that bears out in one’s life. Proverbs 2 talks of being able to discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course, and how it will watch over you and deliver you from the way of evil.
Verse 20, in summing up all that has been said in the previous 19 verses, says, “So you will walk in the way of good men, And keep to the paths of the righteous.”
Discernment, I think, must include in its definition that it is more than just knowing…more than just understanding…it is borne out in the way a person lives.
In your post, you speak of a “gift of discernment” and characterize this “gift” as being doled out to some and not to others. Hebrews 5:14 states, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” The Word characterizes “discernment” as belonging to each and every believer. In addition, while many like to go back to the Old Testament for wisdom ethics, proper exegesis would deal primarily with N.T. scripture such as this one.
Thanks for this Tim.
When discernment is used in the context of attempting to label something or someone as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, people often find something that is bad, and therefore label the whole as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It’s important to realize however that the good and the bad may be intermixed because without the appearance of a sheep, the wolf cannot hope to get close, and things are often nearly right but misled by satan, so even an imperfect entity it may convey knowledge or wisdom if we are careful to accept only what is good.
kenny,
Truthfully, I don’t understand. Though it may be obvious.
I agree with others here that the longer definition seems to be more related to “wisdom” than “discernment”, although I’m also inclined to think that might be getting a bit into semantics. Certainly wisdom and discernment go hand in hand. I would think that one could not properly discern without being wise, and one could not be wise without the ability to discern.
Anyway, one other thought that came to my mind was that the longer definition was more accurate than the shorter. This may come from the fact that I’m not “Reformed” in the typical use of that word, and I’m non-Calvinistic, and a continuationist to boot! ;) But I would be inclined to think that instead of the word “biblically” in your short definition, you would want something that was more along the lines of “Spiritually” (as in, related to the Holy Spirit). This would, of course, include biblical, but would not be limited to it.
As I said, that would probably not sit well with a Calvinist, and I understand that. Just thought I’d chip in my two cents’ worth (or whatever your Canadian equivalent would be, Tim!)
Love this post, though, and the direction you’re headed. I’m praying for your writing endeavors and the resulting book and its impact.
steve :)
Has anyone ever heard of Fred Phelps? For those of you who don’t know, he is the guy that advises the pickets at soldiers funerals and other places, and the signs are titled “God hates fags” and “Fags doom nations” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.” Well anyway, I visited his site and found that he is a 5 point Calvinist, and is famaliar with reading Luther and the Puritans and is ”reformed” if you could call him that. I too would consider myself reformed, but my problem is although he might have “truth” about theology, he still does not know the Lord. His way is what he calls presenting the “gospel” and letting his fellow Americans know their sin. He’s a quack, and an apostate, but if you visit his site, all he has is Bible verses to prove his point. He uses tons of scripture but to no avail. So my point is, although you carry truth you may not have the Holy Spirit, so the excersise of discernment is also being able to see the Kingdom of God, true discernment must test the spirtis also, not just truth on paper. Sad thing for Phelps is, he has a definite point that God will judge America for its sin. He is making true statements but I still would still characterize him as a false prophet.
Tim,
I’m your target audience for the upcoming book. It’ll be a great asset the next time I teach a Bible study ( or rather book study). Here are my thoughts.
I like your short definition. It is somewhat similar to the definition of a Christian or Biblical worldview. I do like the emphasis on the Bible since that is our one objective standard for determining right and wrong. However, your long definition does not seem to be an elaboration of the short definition but you appear to be going in a different direction. In fact you even begin the sentence by saying “Spiritual discernment is…” vs. ” Discernment is…” Moreover, you never mention the one objective standard that we do have. I do think you are on target when you mention that discernment (aka wisdom) is God-given and Spirit empowered. But, you then lapse into a restating of “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” So though I agree with that statement about the “chief end of man” I think your definition will be stronger if you continue to flesh out your ideas. For instance, check out James Sire’s definition of a worldview in “The Universe Next Door” p. 17. He really adds the details that relate to worldview.
I hope you don’t take my comments as being too picky. I like your writing and ideas and look forward to the book (and will continue to pray for you). But this is very personal to me. I attend a church that has bought into Foster, Haley Barton, Nouwen and the other “spiritual formation” gurus. I have spent tremendous time researching and speaking with others outside my church. Now, I’m at the place where I need to speak to leaders at my church and ask them to Biblically support the ideas they are teaching. It is one thing to recognize that teaching may be a little off and it is an entirely different endeavor to figure out how to communicate to leaders, who have authority over you, that you think they are in error. I’m in dire need of discernment, tack, wisdom…. Thus, I support you with constructive ways to improve your text - which I so sorely need!!
Also, I like comments #5 by awall. This is the second time I’ve commented on your blog and the second time I’ve given thumbs up to Martin Downes (#8)! Oh.. and kudos to J Mark Betrand (#10). He really hits the nail on the head with “I’d also like to see THEM doing the looking, and not some authority figure doing it for them”
Thanks for your hard work!
Thanks Tim for your post. I’ve gathered a lot of food for thought from it and the kind commenters. I leave a few thoughts here:
1. “There are 10 kinds of people. Those who understand binary and those who don’t….”Ok, let’s get serious ;) (btw, the quote is not mine)
2. Perhaps learning what ‘discernment’ is not should be helpful. For instance in his book Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius Loyola gives us his definition:
“Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed.”
that I found in this link http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/loyola-spirex.html
3. I am not sure what you mean by “I do not wish to downplay the fact that truth and evil exist and are in constant opposition to one another”My take is that falsehood is the opposite of truth and falsehood is nothing else -applying Augustine’s definition of evil- but the corruption of truth.
4. I agree with your definition of discernment. If discernment is meant to be a spiritual discipline (like prayer, meditation in God’s word, etc), you do well in reminding us that discernment is not an end in itself but a means (perhaps another means of grace?) toward the end: glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.
5. It has been my personal experience that seeing discernment by itself as an end can make us mean, gloomy, bitter and perhaps even think that we might have been called to be an OT prophet! By this I don’t mean to neglect the role of those mighty man of God in the bible storyline. I guess my point is that we have to remind us all the time who we are before God and consequently extend grace to others -regardless of their agreement with us- as we consider how to confront their error with God’s truth in love. Better said than done…but we are getting there!
6. Also we need to learn how to avoid the easy traps of ‘either/or’. For instance, Christians who hear others emphasize grace might regard them as preachers of antinomianism. On the other hand, Christians who hear others emphasize holiness might tend to regard them as preachers of legalism.
Anyway that’s my S/. 0.02 (peruvian currency ;)
Tim,
If you’ve got access to The Master’s College Chapel podcasts, there’s a 3 part series on discernment from MacArthur from this August that should be a helpful resource for both definition and quotable material.
Tim:
“It is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ. It is plainly by this means, principally, that he has prevailed against all revivals of religion, since the first founding of the Christian church.” —Jonathon Edwards in the Preface to Religious Affections.
A thought on the difference between wisdom and discernment: wisdom is “biblical truth applied” to everyday life issues. Discernment seems to go more to the issue of what is actually true, right and good.
I published two articles this past May on the subject of discernment, by a friend of mine, Pastor Lars Larson, PhD. He was very helpful in thinking through this issue.
Here are a few of his thoughts which may be an encouragement to you in this process:
“The Bible refers frequently to the concept of discernment. The two words that are most frequently used to connote this process are the Hebrew word bin and the Greek word diakrino. According to Jay Adams in his book, A Call to Discernment, the Hebrew word is used 247 times in the Old Testament. The word has been translated variously as understand, discern, and distinguish. When it is used, the word suggests to separate things from one another at their points of difference in order to distinguish them. Adams goes on to write, It refers to the process by which one comes to know or understand God’s thoughts and ways through separating those things that differ.
The Greek word is used similarly in the New Testament. It too refers to a process of separating or discriminating whereby truth may be set apart in relief from that which is false. In short, discernment is a filtering process by which a person distinguishes and separates good from the bad, right from wrong, and truth from error.
We should emphasize that discernment is not merely a function of the mind. Discernment is a spiritual work which uses the mind to ascertain what is true. And as a spiritual work, only the Spirit of God can illuminate the mind, thereby enabling us to make proper judgments.”
Have you addressed or researched “the discernment of spirits” yet?
Praying for you in this process,StevenCol. 1:9-14
Sorry about the bad link on Lars’s name. Here is the correct one.
Tim,
As one who has the “gift” of discernment, I have to go with Dr Mike’s definition. “Discernment is seeing through the apparent to the actual”. I find myself saying often “How is it that no one else sees this, when it is so clear to me?”
I humbly add that while this has served me well in life, it has also caused me great anguish in fighting the judgmental spirit that can accompany such an ability. I think we have a few bloggers out there who “see” the truth which is great! But their pride takes over and unfortunately negates the beauty of it by their judgmental behavior.
May God bless you in your pursuit of discernment for God’s glory!
Phyllis
Tim,
A thought just came to me that Dave Hunt used to be considered as one involved in a discernment ministry. I’m thinking of his book, Seduction of Christianity, which I read as a young christian and remember thinking it was quite helpful. Of course things have changed a lot since then with Dave Hunt. My first serious questioning of Dave Hunt came with the publishing of his book, America the Socererors New Aprentice. There was a chapter in this book describing the amazing new age powers of Uri Geller, plus the amazing healing power of other new age/vodoo healers. About the same time I was reading another book by Andre Kole, a magician. In his book Andre Kole had sleight of hand and illusionist explanations for Uri Geller and the some of the new age/voodoo healers that totally blew me away. Andre Kole made Hunt seem foolish and naive. Soon after this Hunt began his crusade against the doctrines of Grace.
I’m writing this little story because it taught me something about discernment. While I used to try to buy every book Dave Hunt wrote - I wanted to be discerning….I learned there can be a rather undiscerning approach to marketing discernment. I’m not trying to endorse Andre Kole (other than his book I know nothing else about him) or discredit Seduction of Christianity (it did contain a good warning concrening the influence of false gospels within Christianity) but rather an additional aspect of of discernment that should be considered.
Really looking forward to your book, appreciate the the writings on discernment you have written previously and with the kind of input you are getting from so many (example Steve Camp’s note above) this could prove, by the grace of God, to be a great gift to the church. Especially as you exercise discernment in writing about the same.
scott
My only question is: Will you include in your book a discussion of the practical application(s) of discernment within the Church?
Discernment as I know it: Discernment is intuitive hair-splitting with a purpose.
-the intuition discovers that something is wrong, or that something contains a kernel of truth, and this intuition is part of God’s gift of discernment to man-the intuition is also what discovers the purpose of the subject being investigated — whether the subject exists for God’s purpose, or man’s-hair-splitting (thru God-given intellect, or reason) is the process of defining (usually in words) what the intuition has discovered about a given subject-the purpose in discerning is simply to clarify the subject of the investigation
Discernment is passive. It need not pass judgment, morally or otherwise. Wisdom is active, it is applied discernment or applied ‘good judgment’.
Discernment is wanting among our churches today. New theories abound, about how to reach the contemporary unbeliever. Yet these new theories, in my view, are largely derived from contemporary cultural and philosophical trends, and most often bear a cultural or philosophical agenda, rather than God’s agenda, or a theologcial agenda.
Hence my question.
I appreciate you wanting a better definition of discernment. I’d be very interested to read your final product.
This caught my attention because I recently posted a bit on my blog that touched on discernment, from 1 John where it talks about testing spirits. I focused more on the idea of how love plays into the process of discerning ‘the good from the bad’. Interesting that Steve Camp asked you about discerning of spirits, since I think we tend to forget that good and evil are not just forces, but there are real personalities behind them. Since every believer has the Holy Spirit, we should all be able to cultivate discernment, the ability to know when something or someone is of God or of the world/Satan.
When we experience fellowship, we are experiencing the unity of the same Spirit at work in all of us, and when we are with an unbeliever we experience the opposite, and we know that the spirit at work in them is not the same Spirit we have in us. Just as when read or listen to teaching, we can identify that which is truth and is in harmony with God’s Spirit in us, and that which is not.
But discernment is definately something we need to practice and grow in, because we can all be deceived. I have tended to live like discerment would just happen somehow (since it is supernatural), but it needs to be applied to situations in order to avoid being deceived.
Clarification: To be able to think so truthfully that error is obvious because you cannot understand it.
I was only going back to the counterfeit money analogy. If you only study what It true (I define truth as any and all divine revelation - the Bible) and know what it true and live truth and think in truth when error comes it will always make you pause. You will usually get that gut feeling that something isn’t right something does not add up there is confusion because it does not agree with the truth that you know. Before the fall Adam only knew good. He did not know evil but was responsible to discern evil based on what God revealed good to be. Adam should have discerned based on the truths that God must be obeyed and God does not lie. Therefore when Satan contradicted that truth, surely it brought confusion to the mind of Adam. He should have listened to his discernment and asked God for clarification before acting.
Sometimes I try to make my comments so brief that I wind up saying nothing at all. I reread my last comment today and had to laugh at myself - It didn’t even make sense to me! Almost sounded like some postmodern teenage punk kid trying to sound profound. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speek and remove all doubt :-)
I appreciate you explaining your previous thought. I believe the Lord is pleased when we laugh at ourselves. We probably don’t do it enough.
A couple verses that came to mind:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11
“Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable”. 1 Pet. 1:8
Tim,
Thank you for the article. Your short definition of discernment seems too broad so that it encompasses what discernment is, but includes more than simply discernment. At least that’s my initial thought. My thought on your longer definition is more concrete: Your definition is really, “the ability to understand and interpret truth.” The “God-given” and “Spirit-empowered” adjectives describe the source of where discernment comes from or how it is empowered, but is not part of the definition of what discernment is. The last part of your long definition simply states two effects or results of discernment, one immediate and one ultimate. So in your long definition I see the source of discernment, the power of discernment, the definition of discernment, and the results of discernment. Maybe in defining it you could concentrate your thought on the “ability to understand and interpret truth” part of your long definition to help you get more precise and accurate.
I hope this helps brother. May Christ use the grace he gives you to think about this to serve Christ’s body and the gospel.
Very good and helpful post. I have often wondered about some of the so called ‘discernment’ blogs. This gives me food for thought for how I write my own posts. I have recently come to realize that spiritual discernment is simply having a biblcial world view…seeing everything in this world through God’s eyes. The truly discerning Christian has not only taken an effort to educate themselves, but is empowered by the Holy Spirit who gives them a desire for holiness.
Thought this might interest you:http://www.thefaithfulword.org/cryfordiscernment.html
hello mr. challes,
your project intrigues me greatly. and i appreciate reading so many comments expressed by others. my interest is personal, as i am trying to be dicerningly supportive of a friend who has difficulty being dicerning. (smiling) yes, i see the humor in that!
my friend recently heard a voice speaking to him…addressing a course of action regarding some poor choices in his life that have resulted in pain. (no, the voice was not the creepy kind. rather the kind all christians hear from time to time. the kind we hope is the voice of God speaking to our hearts.) he has sought my counsel.
this has given me long pause to think and ask, “what is dicernment, really?” it would seem , mr challes, that we share the same quest. while my friend is dealing specifically with the dicernment of spirits, and i will be writing this comment in that vein, i believe that it is applicable to the full spectrum of circumstances requiring dicernment.
i think much of what you and the other commentors have already said is very good. it’s just a question of how to distill it to the most essential, purest form. so rather than add to that, i really just want to tackle one component of dicernment that i think is vital to that distillation process.
the main thing is that dicernment is all about perceptions. and perceptions are always at risk of being flawed, because we are imperfect beings. not only must we be dicerning of all things…including our mentors, teachers, and spiritual leaders…but we must also be dicerning of ourselves, understanding that we cannot even fully trust our own perceptions. so while a broad definition of dicernment may be accurate, i think it may not be very useful.
in order for the definition of dicernment to have any meaningful value, it is crucial to address this issue of flawed perception. we must have a uniform standard by which to measure everyone’s perceptions. and that standard must be not from us, but from outside of ourselves. further, it must come from some place outside ourselves that is not, in itself, flawed.
that presents a problem, since we must use our own flawed perceptions to locate and determine that standard. but then, that’s where a leap of faith must play in. we have a 50/50 chance at being right. if we are wrong, every premise we form based on that error will only increase the error. if we are right…..lol….well, whew!
personally, i am in agreement with the you and all the commentors here. that standard is God…..His truth….His desires….His beliefs.
since God may and does choose to speak to us in many ways, unique from one individual to the next, then my friend’s voice may indeed be from God.
in your opening statement, mr challes, you quote that, “God communicates with us: in prayer, in the scriptures, through the Church and the world, in personal experience, and in other people.”
this is true. but, in terms of risks of perception, these are not all equal. unfortuantely, many christians treat them as such. but the scripture, the Holy Word of God, rises above the others. my concern is that this should not be ignored or assumed to be understood, while forming the definition for dicernment.
it is true we still fall to the perils of perception as we read God’s Word….but the risk is at least minimized. and if we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, our assurance is even greater. because, without the Holy Spirit opening our eyes, Scripture is but type on a page. but the danger of emphasizing the Holy Spirit’s role, and not the importance of Scripture, is like dropping one shoe and not the other.
mr edwards (#1) says, “Could there be areas where my “testing everything” may lead me to a different decision than yours?
my response to that would be, no…..not if we are using the same standard. though i would expound on that by saying that seeming identical areas may not be identical at all…hence the potential for different decisions. the very fact that a situation calls for a response from two or more individuals, occupying different space and time, and introducing unequal variables into the situation, may indeed result in different decisions. (just to be clear, i am not advocating relativism.)
what will coalesce these different decisions into closer uniformity will be the extent to which Scripture will be unyeilding in it’s instruction (for example: the consequence for murder). in other words, there are no black and white answers, only black and white situations. here again, the paramount need for the biblical filter is clear.
in conclusion, i really like dr. mike’s (#14) definition for dicernment: “Discernment…is (drumroll, please) the ability to see through the apparent to the actual. Now that would be consistent with God’s view of things…”
but then he distilled it to:”discernment is seeing through the apparent to the actual. ”
i would prefer the undistilled version, emphasizing a standard outside of ourselves.
i also agree with nancy (#26), that your short definition hits closer to the mark than the longer one, in this regard.
many of the other comments also touched on some of what i am trying to say. (mark bertrand #10, for example)
therefore, i would agree that much of what i have said was addressed by yourself and the other commentors, perhaps more eloquently. but i wanted to offer my own perspective and emphasis on it, for whatever that may be worth. at the very least, the exercise in writing has helped me to sort things through in greater detail myself. and i thank you for that opportunity.
may God bless you as you seek His will,helen
dear mr challies,
i see that, even after my efforts to edit my post, i erred and mispelled your name. my eyes are not what they once were (smile).
my deepest apologies. please forgive me.
-helen