the need for discernment
Our devotion to the Lord is true, but we have ups and downs with what we think is true or not. Jesus builds us up, like a building under construction, for we belong to him and he does not abandon us, ever, as we develop. This means some of our substance is on well founded ground while some is questionable. But when we recognise the sense of what is real in Him, we know it and we have that as a sure and steadfast backdrop to lean on when needed. Or, it is like a lamppost. It will either be there for us, or not when needed. This is important because various things will come along to shake us up, to cause us to question and then fear.There is a lot of material “out there” that is mixed with truth and incorrectness, or content that is partial, within a context we do not have properly described to us. Some things are presented as knowledge, which concerns me as we need to focus on Jesus and our relationship to him as we become more discerning, righteous and holy. Knowledge never seems to do this for me. If the Holy Spirit helps teach me, my inner being by using knowledge as it is presented to me, that is of course a different matter.
For example, we take communion as a sacrament. Good. But if the Holy Spirit enlightens our mind and heart at the same time to say how much Jesus has done for us, then in that magnitude it is good to spend a little time having the sacrament in the light of this, and we know we are encouraged to do so. See the difference between knowledge of a thing, compared to some revelation about it? If it is not with revelation, it is intellectual, in this case a task to follow. It is like people saying you must do x,y, and z to be a Christian. This sounds burdensome to me as we need to hear something from the Lord. Instructions can benefit, but we are not in Old Testament times based on a system of ordinances, decrees and laws. We are under the covenant of Jesus Christ. This really bugs some people.
I know the things I have learnt from the Lord are real. Foggy ideas, imaginations – these we learn over time are not real. However, this does not stop some real challenges that will by their nature take us through to the next step of our growth in the Lord. Some of this stuff can be very upsetting. If we dive off a cliff thinking that is what we must do, it will not produce fruit. Again, remember that Watchman Nee wrote a lot about the normal Christian life. Normal meaning what we are supposed to be like, what we should be doing. It is not a meaning of plainness. If we are in fellowship one with another, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, and we grow. This growth appears to be accelerated because we were not previously used to it, but in fact it is in spiritual terms normal.
What do we have to help us? We can wait upon the Lord, not rush into views about how to think or be. Just wait. As we settle down, we find our normal position in the Lord, then we see if something is questionable, partial, or wrong. We know at times in our lives we have big decisions to make, tasks to do, but there is a difference between when this is essential, or when the Lord says yes to a thing but take it in steps, or when it is a temptation to make a major disaster in the happening. I recall I had an idea once about placing money into Bonds and earning interest. That idea is fine, but the market was not in a good position. If I had purchased the bonds I would have been in a serious position. The temptation was to do the deal, but it felt way too big a decision for my scope. Yet, I have had to make other big decisions. We may be in a situation that increases our scope, which could be important for something else in the future.
We also have situations where there seem to be two paths. This introduces confusion, so where and when did the confusion start? That may help to identify where peace will be. I remember once I had a choice of apartments. One was larger, grander, more light through the windows. I was confused to which one to live in. I naturally took the larger one. It was a disaster. It had terrible heat in the afternoon, and thunderous noise form a main road with trucks nearby, and a 24×7 industrial building with non-stop sound. There was no confusion when the smaller apartment was available without the second choice causing the confusion. It turned out that the smaller apartment was not actually smaller in any significant way. It was on the side of the building without the excessive noise. When we are younger we will make bad mistakes.
Another earlier experience was to take up a new job. It was too hard for me to break away from the current job with that company, even though I needed to. This led to a new job in the same company that turned out to be the worst I’d ever had. I effectively rebuked the manager on leaving. The next job outside this company was great. In this case, there was too much confusion for direction, and I was not really capable of making a good decision. This started to teach me about introduction of confusion. We are limited, no doubt about it. Our discernment is not always a simple yes or no, and we cannot always calmly follow a decision because we are not in that place of knowing or having capacity to deal with a tough situation. It may be that we learn more about waiting. If I had waited and stayed in the first job, I would not have entered into the bad job, and the good job could or would have come up later anyway. This is just an admission of our own immaturity or limits at a point in time.
Now comes the kicker you did not know! I friend declared he had a psychic reading about my job situation, and this made the confusion far worse. No good comes out of psychic readings, they are lies, they are never true. That is another topic, but a huge percentage, I believe, of our population consult other spirits to get decisions made for them. I don’t understand how this makes a decision easy. I have known where a family does a reading and from there chooses to believe something wrong about another person, taking action upon that, when the person is completely good and innocent. Jesus wants to teach us of being involved in decisions with Him. It is participant and co-operative. This develops our discernment.
We may hear some idea or apparent knowledge. If we cannot concur, maybe it is prudent to dismiss it, or put on hold to think and pray about later. Jesus does not condemn us and is fully able to help us, and change us over time. Forcing us to move into some other position, or someone else’s position is not how the Lord works. That process will have consequences.
I recall when I first read Watchman Nee. He was imprisoned for the Gospel in China for 17 years. I was reactive against some of the things he wrote. I learnt to put those things on hold. Then over the years I would read the same and start to understand what he was really saying, how it did match up to my experience. At the previous reading it did not. If I was not aware of how I was reacting, I could have ignorantly dismissed the books and maybe never read them again. Awareness.
When people move into areas of judgement about what God will do to you, this is really dangerous stuff. Your walk with the Lord has no reason to become ineffective, even if you are in battles. Jesus does not destroy your inner man, and yet, people say things that like arrows or missiles try to do. We do not assert ourselves in certain situations, rather focus on Jesus. The person who judges and harms may have viewpoints based on a proposed set of criteria they call knowledge and facts. Why do you want to please another person as a behavioural problem.
We do not wish to pace or place ourselves above the Lord, but we have to find that sense of genuineness, which we know from our past experiences of the Lord. He is consistent and does not suddenly try to teach us in another way. That would undo all he has done over the years. When Jesus brings us into newer things, it will fall in line with who we are spiritually and as a whole person. There are many who are not resolving their problems, thinking they are right, that they have a ministry, and others should follow them. All the while, their behaviour is persistently narrowed down by major personal issues. Where can a person go with this? Well, they can tell others they are wrong, they can leave, they can judge, and so on. I understand why people are damaged from the Church and leave it, but at some point the Lord will help on this front. But I don’t like people leaving the Church from a position of judgement and saying they will start up their own Church or group, and justify it because they have a following.
I am basically saying there is a lot of strange stuff going on, as well as online. A good approach is to be open, but not in judgement unless it is plain obvious something does not fit with scripture or witness to you by the Lord, or your developing experience. People are quick to defend. If you are living in truth, you do not feel the need to defend, because righteousness knows her own children. We learn to listen more, switching from our previous position of always wanting to be heard.
Added to this I am saying that discernment is like a composition, not one thing, not some sudden voice from above that tells you if something is right or wrong. (Not saying it cannot though.) If we are not being judgemental, we have no fear in considering what is before us. If we are being condemned and placed into fear, be really careful because there is a lot of stuff going on in the world and the Christian media. Discernment is true, it is real. It is not imaginary, so you can trust that reality. We should be thankful for this being embedded into us from the very day we accepted Jesus and were born of Spirit. We are happy to develop in our faith through Jesus, so why not develop in our discernment, being part of our spiritual DNA.
Jesus knows you completely and how to work with you so that you are fully dependent on Him and not basing your life on other people’s demands and views. Other people help along the way, but the ultimate position is in Christ. If you are challenged, work it through as best you can, but at some point you will know where you rest, where you trust the Lord, because you must develop with genuineness, not some other method.
If a person is not growing in the fruits of the Holy Spirit, or has been diverted into some other “thing” that they liked, not having been submitted sufficiently to the Lord, there will be error, plain and simple. Watchman Nee also points out that as one become more led by the Lord, more a spiritual person, there will be temptations applicable to that realm that are even more dangerous. We should think about this. Spirit recognises spirit. When you see it with others it is a great joy. I recall a wonderful spiritual connection with someone, but others who did not have it judged me, saying I must be after that person’s money. The Lord did not want me to be ever involved with those people again. It is sad.
If a person is not developing, these things I am saying will not make sense or people will substitute discernment with what they want or imagine. Patience is a friend. Our actions over time become based on a certain kind of rightness. How many times do we jump the gun and say woops!
There are full-on challenges in our journey because we are at a disadvantage on several issues. The backdrop or lamppost I mentioned is real. It helps. And if the issues are around sin, you will work through that too, because your heart has dedicated yourself to Jesus. He honours that every day. I can only re-state that apparently great people will say bad things, and when that happens there are reasons we may not understand. This is really difficult for younger people. You do not have to be concerned over what is ultimately another person’s responsibility. King David, Jesus, the Apostle Paul, were all concerned over the well being of younger people. Too often they are cast out by their supposed righteousness, rather than being available to help in time of need. We see a number of artificially made environments. We too were once unsaved. We too were once making the same mistakes as everyone else. Humbleness helps us for the next round of the match.
Discernment is our friend, and at times our sword. It only develops as we develop with the Holy Spirit. This way we see more than we were seeing before, more able to help others, becoming more alert to an array of issues.
As a last thoughts, I believe the word of knowledge is linked into discernment, even though there are differences. Some may want to demand spiritual gifts from the Lord, but there is a place for everything. You cannot have, for want of a better description, a wedding cake without the icing.
As we read in 2 Corinthians 3:6, the letter kills, but the Spirit brings life. We discern between the two, death or life, freedom or slavery, darkness or light.
