The
other day someone asked about how they could know the very best (in their
context, God’s will] for their lives – as it related to making a career
choice. This young person would soon
face a choice – pursue higher education (in which case they needed to know
which university and which program they should embark on) – or make a different
choice - perhaps begin work immediately, or join the army, etc.
Such
a clearly marked out life choice is not a daily decision. But every day we do make decisions, and the
essence of the matter is always the same.
How do we make GOOD decisions? As
I answered this young man’s question, it occurred to me that what he was really
asking is how to gain the skill of discernment.
Discernment isn’t a word you hear too often anymore. My dictionary defines discernment as, “noun: the ability to judge well: an astonishing lack of discernment.” Unfortunately it’s the example my dictionary gives that is so often modeled for us. Headlines are made when people do not use discernment, and headlines are made every day. Rare is the case when the headline is because of a well-made decision!
The
problem is best seen in the context of something a man named Paul said to a
group of friends many years ago. In
talking about seeking God (the best possible decision) he said, “For from the creation of the world, his
invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned
clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without
excuse.”[1] That’s absolutely true – even the smallest
amount of discernment will result in understanding that all we see around us
mandates a creator. The core of the
problem is that so many fallen people LACK discernment at all.
You
would think that such a gaping need would be quickly filled. Yet there are no classes (or at least, I’ve
never seen them, neither in high school or college or university) that are there specifically to teach you discernment. As a skill, it is left for the individual to
pick up themselves along the way entirely through their own faculty. What that looks like is a degree in the
school of hard knocks and expensive mistakes.
But
learning that way costs much. There are
many painful errors, and the consequences of those errors do not fade so
easily. What then of the church? Will it teach discernment?
When
I google, ‘sermons on love’, I get 21.8M hits.
When I google ‘sermons on grace’, I get 10.5M hits. When I search for
‘sermons on salvation’ I get 6.6M hits.
But if you search for sermons on discernment, you get only 0.58M
hits. In a way that’s expected, yet how
can one even CHOOSE love, or grace, or the Kingdom of God, without either
exercising discernment (making a wise choice) or being prompted by
another? One could make a case that ALL
discernment must be prompted by another, and that God in His grace and love for
us has deliberately put us in community SO THAT we might have others to go to.
But
such a case would require that every decision be discerned through community,
and there are clearly many (most) decisions that we must make on our own (for
lack of time if no other reason).
Further, many times the majority of people we are in community with are
not making wise choices themselves. If
they were, we wouldn’t have so many headlines, and ‘common sense’ would
actually be common.
There
is however, a way to get what you lack without earning it. It can be given to you by someone who has it
to give. Most fortunately, the Lord has
all discernment, and He is willing to give us a gift of discernment if
we ask for it! And asking for it is always the first step in exercising it.
Ultimately,
my young friend must do exactly that.
END.
[1] Barry, J. D., & Kruyswijk, R. (2012). Connect the Testaments: A Daily Devotional.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
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