Defining Discernment

by by Danny E. Morris & Charles M. Olsen

This article is an excerpt from Discerning God's Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church, by Danny E. Morris & Charles M. Olsen. The book may be purchased online at The Upper Room.

Definitions
To discern means

to separate or distinguish (from the Latin discernere);
to test in crisis or to distinguish good and evil (from the Greek diakrisis);
to find the authentic and valuable and to recognize the counterfeit (like biting a coin to see if it is gold);
to see to the heart of the matter with spiritual eyes; from God's vantage point, to see beneath the surface of events, through illusions within human systems, and beyond the immediate and transient;
to locate the immediate and particular within a vision of the broad and distant landscape (to see the trees in the forest);
to possess immediate and direct insight.

"Spiritual discernment makes operational our faith that an ever present Guide . . . is present to lead us in the way of truth and love as individuals and congregations. It opens our sails as a church to the Spirit whose winds we believe are always blowing and will always move us closer to Christ, closer to one another, and closer to the world that God wills."(1)

Biblical Citings of Discernment

Israel's symbols of God's presence - the burning bush, a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day - attested to God's investment in and commitment to human beings. Dreams, angels, and the "sound of sheer silence" affirmed the mystery of God. Practical observations of the fate of the righteous and the unrighteous became a body of wisdom used to instruct the young.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, discernment is mentioned only once; in 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon asks, "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil." (Many verses equate discernment with deciding and understanding.) The Old Testament includes marvelous, dramatic stories of people who sought God's will above all else. The prophets, if they were not false prophets, were first-rate discerners of the divine will. They were the seers of Israel; they saw from the divine perspective. The prophets saw the big picture, Israel's vision of shalom, in which God would reign and neighbors would be at peace. Without spiritual discernment, the prophets would have been silent; they spoke what they discerned.

God chose people to be agents of discernment. Elders, who were wise and who discerned the wisdom of God, sat at the gates of passage and commerce and made God's ways known to the community. Schools of prophets grew out of the charisma of particularly gifted and insightful people. Often their simple and austere spirituality validated their calling and freed them to speak to the powerfully elite while advocating justice for the poor. National rulers had court-appointed, in-house prophets who could discern God's will and provide counsel in political, economic, and military matters.

Discernment engages hearing. Elijah stood in the entrance to a cave and felt the earth shake and saw the lightning flash and finally, in the "sound of sheer silence" (1 Kings 19:12), heard the voice of God. Discernment didn't come in the display of God's pyrotechnics, but in the hearing of a voice.

Discernment engages sight. God sent Samuel to select one of Jesse's sons to be king. When he saw Eliab, he thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord." But God told Samuel not to rely on appearances: "The Lord does not see as mortals see, they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:6-7). He looked over seven sons and could find no king among them. Then young David was brought in from tending the sheep; and Samuel recognized the heart of David, a future king.

Discernment engages speech. Moses was not eloquent, but God gave Aaron his brother to speak for him. And God said to Moses, "You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him" (Exodus 4:15-16).

Discernment recognizes the presence of God. Jacob wrestled all night with an emissary of the Lord. When morning came, Jacob, who was slow to discern, said, "'Please tell me your name.' But he said, 'Why is it that you ask my name?' And there he blessed him" (Genesis 32:29).

Discernment is distinguishing good from evil. Solomon asked for "an understanding mind . . . to discern between good and evil"; and God gave Solomon a "wise and discerning mind" (1 Kings 3:9-12).

In the New Testament, discernment is mentioned directly in the following verses:

Romans 12:2: "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect."
1 Corinthians 12:10: God gives the gift of "discernment between spirits."
1 John 4:1: "Do not believe every spirit, but test [discern] the spirits to see whether they are from God."
Ephesians 1:18: "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you."

The New Testament also tells about people who, as the usual focus of their lives, discerned the will of God.

Mary yearned for deeper wisdom about her son. Joseph eventually discerned God's will and dared to think about Mary in a new way (Matthew 1:19-25). For Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, discernment of God's will seemed to come naturally (see Luke 1: 36-45).

Jesus discerned the heart of God. He was named God's beloved son, and his baptism provided a foundation from which to discern the spirits. When he was driven into the wilderness to be tempted, he saw through illusions of power, fame, and possessions and chose servanthood, humility, and poverty. Seeing clearly the kingdom of God, Jesus told stories that cut to the heart of human self-deception, illusion, and desire. Jesus was a sage, embodying the heritage of the wisdom tradition. His passion and faithfulness presented a criterion for discernment and offered good news for the poor and sinful. From his baptism-when a voice from heaven announced, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17)-throughout his ministry-until his death and his final cry "It is finished" (John 19:30) - Jesus' life bespoke a total commitment to discerning and doing God's will.

The apostles discerned God's will and proclaimed the good news about Jesus Christ. Peter discerned God's call to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10). Paul, on the way to Damascus, heard God's word (Acts 9:1-22) and discerned God's will for his life. Young Stephen discerned a reality that others did not see, and he had a unique relationship with God (see especially Acts 7:59-60).

Let us not forget the First Church, Jerusalem. The book of Acts records four occasions when the church sought to discern God's will (see Acts 1:12-26; 6:1-7; 11:1-18; and 15). Members of the New Testament church believed that God would guide individuals and communities; they expected to be led by the Spirit (see Galatians 5:18, Romans 8:14). Their relationship with God, their awareness of the presence and gifts of the Spirit, their practice of prayer, their reception and proclamation of the good news, and their infectious love of the community present a convincing picture of a way of life with discernment at its core.

Early Christians feared the voices of false prophets, so they tested the spirits. Only the presence of the Spirit of God would determine what served the common good of the community and would offer the love and knowledge to provide the community with authentic spiritual leadership. "We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).

When the church in Jerusalem heard that Christians were arguing about whether converts should be circumcised, the apostles and elders met to consider the question. They came to one mind and heart through discernment (read Acts 15). The church never decided to discern God's will. Discernment seemed to come as a gift; the apostles and elders knew what to do. The early church used the language of discernment: "Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided . . ." (Acts 15:22) or "It seemed good to the apostles and elders, with the whole church . . ." (nrsv). Paul and Barnabas were sent to Antioch with a letter that said, "We have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you" (verse 25). Again, the letter reads, "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials" (Acts 15:28-29). All of this is the language of discernment.

When the delegation arrived in Antioch, they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter sent from Jerusalem. "When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation" (verse 31). The discernment of the apostles and elders was worked out in the congregation. The right and happy result was that God's will on a difficult issue had been clearly discerned.

Discernment is deeply rooted in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Jerusalem church, discernment naturally moved out of the biblical record and into the church.

Also read History of Discernment and Some Basic Assumptions About Spiritual Discernment

Endnotes:

1. Stephen Bryant, "What Is Spiritual Discernment by Consensus?" Raising Prayer to a Lifestyle; Vol. 2, Issue 1 (July-September 1994), pp. 2.

This article is an excerpt from Discerning God's Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church, by Danny E. Morris & Charles M. Olsen, copyright 1997. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The book may be purchased online at The Upper Room or call 1-800-972-0433 (U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico) or 615-340-7284 (International).

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