Some Basic Assumptions About Spiritual Discernment
by by Danny E. Morris & Charles M. OlsenThis 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.
Also read Defining Discernment and History of Discernment
Presence
1. We assume that God is self-disclosing and that God yearns for the created world and enters into a covenant relationship with God's people.
2. We assume that God enters into human existence with such vulnerability that people, in discerning the higher purpose of the divine will, are drawn into the vulnerability of God.
3. We assume that the indwelling Holy Spirit is the active and ongoing guide in personal and corporate discernment.
Practices
4. We assume that seeking God's will is the ultimate value in our knowledge and experience.
5. We assume the need to participate humbly in a faith community of grace.
6. We assume that people and communities need to patiently persevere in practices related to Scripture, prayer, and discernment until God's leading is known.
Posture
7. We assume that the willingness to change the heart and to make an appropriate response are preconditions of the gift of discernment.
8. We assume that God uses especially gifted people with skills and insight into the discernment process in the ministry of discernment.
9. We assume that the practice of discernment is ongoing-to discern God's will again and again and again.
Commentary on the Basic Assumptions About Spiritual Discernment
Presence
1. We assume that God is self-disclosing and that God yearns for the created world and enters into a covenant relationship with God's people.
The God whose will we endeavor to discern is neither detached nor aloof. God's yearning for relationship is affirmed throughout Scripture. There is no secret about who God is (God is Creator) or what God continues to do (God yearns for the created world and for a relationship with God's people).
God offers more than a token agreement or even a binding contract; God offers a covenantal relationship. That fact vouches for God’s monumental self-disclosure. Even if the covenant that God offers is rejected, God still yearns for a relationship with God’s people.
In discernment, we are given the opportunity to know the divine will, to see God who is self-disclosing and who is forever committed to having a covenantal relationship with God’s people.
2. We assume that God enters into human existence with such vulnerability that people, in discerning the higher purpose of the divine will, are drawn into the vulnerability of God.
God became incarnate in Jesus because God was willing to be humble and to become obedient to the power and focus of the divine creation. (Think of it!) Discernment means becoming vulnerable to other people and to God. Human pretense and the spirit of covetousness have to go. Protecting our turf and accommodating only ourselves will not do. Let openness come forth!
To be vulnerable is to be open to other people and to God, and it means taking risks. Discernment requires us to be vulnerable because God’s will cannot be shaped or manipulated by human beings. We are vulnerable when confronted by the divine because God has been ultimately vulnerable through God’s incarnation in Jesus. Vulnerability like we find in Jesus may be what moves us to discern the will of God.
3. We assume that the indwelling Holy Spirit is the active and ongoing guide in personal and corporate discernment.
Techniques, discernment principles, and skill in particular disciplines do not give us the power of discernment, but the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit initiates discernment. Then techniques, principles, and skills may be helpful. Spiritual discernment is more than a human endeavor, a set of slick principles, an intervention strategy, or a fix-it remedy to correct or head off problems in the church, it is a profoundly spiritual experience that requires individuals or communities to be profoundly spiritual. Since the indwelling Holy Spirit makes discernment possible, the Holy Spirit initially puts in place the human yearning to discern the divine will. The Holy Spirit enables and guides the process of discernment through rocky ground and rough waters and keeps us from getting tangled up in other motivations for deciding and acting. The Holy Spirit shows us the way by radiating the light of truth and the presence of God’s unspoiled will. The Holy Spirit shines divine light on the faces and hearts of people and communities so they can discern God’s will.
In discernment, we assume the presence and active involvement of the Holy Spirit. People hoping to discern the yearnings of God will be sensitive to the presence, the initiatives, and the movement of the Spirit because without the Holy Spirit’s involvement, there can be no spiritual discernment. The question is, Do we trust the Holy Spirit to be our guide?
Like an archaeologist, the Spirit works within us to uncover the wisdom and discernment buried deep within ourselves. The Spirit, who has planted a leading within us, brings it to the surface of conscious awareness.
Practices
4. We assume that seeking God’s will is the ultimate value in our knowledge and experience.
God’s will is obviously a higher value than the other values that motivate us: efficiency, expediency, unity at any cost, ego, politics, economics, charity, or concern about what other people think.
We hold dear and, often unwittingly, protect our motivations; but can we surrender them so that we can be open to God’s will? Everyone who hopes to discern the will of God asks a similar question: Am I able to give up my will for the sake of discerning God’s will?
Clearly focusing on God’s will as the ultimate value is necessary to the process of personal discernment. It is even more important when people engage in corporate discernment. Even one person can weaken or derail spiritual discernment if he or she holds on to motivations other than the ultimate one of knowing God’s will.
5. We assume the need to participate humbly in a faith community of grace.
A Christian community is essential for discernment. The community may be represented by one person who is part of the larger Christian community and brings its faith and values to a particular situation. Or several people may be a community that will focus on the needs of one person by his or her invitation. No one should attempt spiritual discernment by himself or herself without putting decisions to the test of other spiritual friends.
In corporate discernment, the Christian community involves itself in complex ways:
• Many people are involved in discerning God’s will related to a single issue.
• They may have a variety of opinions and motivations.
• They may have different time constraints, and the community may have additional time requirements.
• They bring to the group psychological, theological, historical, and emotional differences.
In the church, it is often a board, council, committee, or work group that is given the opportunity and challenge of discerning God’s will for God’s people.
If discernment of God’s will is not pursued in the faith community, the church will be left with secondary motivations (efficiency, expediency, politics) for decision and action.
Whether discernment is personal or corporate, Christian community cannot be ignored. The Christian community understands that spiritual discernment requires a special calling and commitment.
6. We assume that people and communities need to patiently persevere in practices related to Scripture, prayer, and discernment until God’s leading is known.
Discernment is not a quick fix for spiritual damage or a way to bail out a person, a group, or a situation. It is not a clever way to get people to agree. And it is not desirable simply because it is spiritual discernment.
Let us acknowledge the truth about our history and admit that it has often been devoid of spiritual discernment. We will require patience and perseverance to take even one step toward discernment and fortitude to continue until we have a sense of commitment and a smattering of experience and knowledge.
The habit and the practices of discernment may aid our understanding.
If we habitually practice the spiritual disciplines, our souls will find a focus and foundation. Then spirituality becomes for us a way of being.
The practices of discernment may also be helpful. There are proven principles that aid the discernment process. To ignore them is to settle for lesser motivations and outcomes.
As important as the practices of discernment are, it would be improper to list them before the habit of discernment, because if the Holy Spirit has not been welcomed into the life of the discerner, practices of discernment will be empty and impotent. The habit of discernment constitutes a way of being, by which we are steeped in spirituality as a way of life; and spirituality becomes as necessary as the air we breathe. The habit of spirituality precedes the practices of discernment.
Not practicing discernment in the church is unthinkable. Without spiritual discernment, we still have to be patient and persevere, which are essentials for discernment. Without discernment we also have no hope of a new kind of church in which God’s will is valued above all else.
Posture
7. We assume that the willingness to change the heart and to make an appropriate response are preconditions to the gift of discernment.
Perhaps all of the basic assumptions of spiritual discernment come down to this one. Once we have received the gift of discernment, once we feel that we know God’s will in a particular situation, are we willing to make the appropriate response? Or will we walk away?
An appropriate response and our willingness to make an appropriate response are not one and the same. Our ability and willingness to be vulnerable and open will more than likely determine whether spiritual discernment will bring about a change of heart.
The question of willingness must be answered before the process of discernment begins: Are we willing to do God’s will even before we know it? Or do we prefer to play games with God: “God, show me your will; and if I like it, I will do it.” Spiritual discernment is not a game, and playing games with God leads to nothing but frustration. So the question stands, Are we willing to do God’s will? If our answer is yes, what is an appropriate response? When we have properly discerned God’s will, we will know the proper response.
8. We assume that God uses especially gifted people with skills and insight into the discernment process in the ministry of discernment.
God promises that leaders will emerge within the community and that they will have gifts that have been bestowed for the upbuilding and health of the community. Discernment of spirits is a gift.
Business management, education, athletics, and the arts all recognize particularly gifted people. The parliaments of the world find the skills of parliamentarians helpful in decision making. Surely, the people of God, who are called to follow God’s guidance, will benefit from people who have been graced by God and who have had opportunities to probe the depths and nuances of the practices of discernment.
Particularly gifted people do not appoint themselves to the ministry of spiritual discernment. Their ministry is initiated by the call of God and validated by the community. Self-awareness, the prompting of the Spirit, and the confirmation of the community bring people to the ministry of discernment.
9. We assume that the practice of discernment is ongoing—we discern God’s will again and again and again.
Spiritual discernment for an individual or for the larger Christian community is not an occasional exercise. The person or group will want to know God’s will on every substantive issue. Therefore, the question keeps arising: Is this God’s will?
Not every situation raises an issue of discernment. God is not likely to be concerned with whether someone drives the brown car or the white car to work. Some items (approving the minutes, receiving a report) that come before the group are not issues for discernment. However, there are times (more often than we honor) when God’s will should be known and a response taken. Deciding whether an issue is a matter for discernment is itself a matter for discernment.
Let us habitually keep in mind and heart the discernment question, Does God have anything to do with this situation or issue? If the answer is yes, then it is a matter for discernment.
Ask the question again and again and again and again and again. The goal is to make discernment a pattern, a way of life, so that individuals and congregations can begin to discern the unspoiled will of God.
Also read Defining Discernment and History of Discernment
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).
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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