Why Discernment is Something You Cannot Do Without Discernment has got to be the main difference between effective leaders and those who crash and burn. What is discernment? Can it be learned and what happens if you ignore it? There is an alarming lack of discernment among Christian leaders in our world today. The result is that society does not see the church as the solution to their pain or problems. Discernment is defined in the dictionary as the power to see what is not evident to the average mind. Keen perception or judgment. Biblically, discernment takes on a broader context. Discernment is the ability to recognize and distinguish between the influence of God, Satan, the world, or the flesh in a given situation. Someone without discernment as a Christian would be a person incapable of distinguishing between what God is saying vs. what their feelings or ideas are directing. Lack of discernment is in epidemic proportions in the Body of Christ. National leaders in many instances proclaim things from God that originate from man. These messages confuse the church and neutralize our effectiveness. Leaders must be ready to stand for what is from God and disassociate themselves from what is not from God. Many years ago, I was invited to attend a seminar given at a local high school by a fellow pastor. His bishop was a national leader who presided over a significant ministry in the Southern United States. When I attended, my pastor friend motioned to me to join approximately 20 other ministers on stage. Personally, that concept repulses me. I hate the idea of ministers sitting together on stage as unified when many of them don t even know each other. Putting a bunch of pastors on stage also signals some spiritual validation for the event itself. Despite my protests, I reluctantly agreed to the request because I did not wish to embarrass my host.
While seated on stage, I came to understand that another more well-known minister would preach that evening. As I had never heard him speak, my interest was peaked. His message called Christians to join together in Washington, D.C. for a national rally to pray for the nation. They hoped for at least a million to participate, but it would cost quite a sum of money to execute. At the close of the message, the speaker suggested a specific method to raise the funds needed. By way of disclosure, I am not a rally kind of guy, so it was interesting to hear the plan, but I was now thinking of just getting home. After the main speaker sat down, the minister above with a church down south stood and called on the assembled congregation of approximately 800 to commit to giving x amount of dollars through a special offering. I have heard financial appeals before; some are fine others are a little dicey, but there was nothing necessarily wrong with his desire to raise funds for this upcoming event. He then said something off. He said to the congregation, If you believe that this offering to give x amount of dollars each is God s method of funding this important event, please stand to your feet. Uh-oh. He used the G word. It is one thing to lift an offering. It is another to bring God into the direct influence for that particular offering. My spirit did not like what he said. What made it worse, was that I was on stage with other ministers facing this large audience at a crucial moment. When he called everyone to stand to their feet, I knew that to do so would violate my conscience. How could I affirm publicly that this particular fundraising method was from God s mouth? I could not because I discerned it wasn t from God but just a clever fundraising scheme. So, nearly everyone, including many ministers immediately rose to their feet while I sat looking like a fish out of water. It must have seemed like I was a real rebel, but that was not my intent.
Discernment demands we address what wrong irrespective of the cost to our reputations is. It means we call a shovel a shovel, not a rake. We do not do this for self-righteousness sake, but the Lord s sake. I unwittingly created an uncomfortable moment for the speaker, and when I opened my eyes, I noticed one other minister who remained seated. I was glad for the company. After the meeting concluded, the speaker attempted to gather the pastors together to implement his plan. I wanted nothing to do with it, so I left. Sadly, a few years later this same minister was charged with sexual sin and his ministry completely collapsed under the weight of scandal. I feel sorry that there was this kind of issue going on in his life and in the end, he had no friends to help him out of all that and stopped serving the Lord. All that to communicate this vital truth: discernment always involves a cost. Jesus promised his followers would suffer persecution. Why would his followers be persecuted? For exercising discernment. For willingness to stand against what everyone is applauding. For willingness to address fellow believers about wrong behavior. It takes guts to be a minister for God. As you have heard me say in previous podcasts, not everyone who identifies themselves as a minister or pastor is authorized by God. I have had the misfortune of knowing men and women who got their Rev. title through various means but showed little evidence of a calling on their lives. The missing characteristic is nearly always discernment. What do I mean by that? Ministers incapable of distinguishing between what is a nice idea vs. what is a directive from God. I had a very close friend several years ago. For more than five years we shared life on many levels. I truly loved the man, especially for his love for God. As time went on, he went through some personal struggles and began to make poor decisions. We talked about these things, and I advised him to take a different course. I could see that many of his choices and actions no longer reflected God s purposes, but a need to cover his weaknesses.
Over time, I saw that my advice was increasingly ignored and that he began to say and do things that were frankly wrong. Worse still is that he claimed these decisions were led by God. As we talked, I challenged him about several of his words and actions, but I could see that stubbornness had replaced discernment. His foolish decisions caused him to lose his ministry and income. Still, he was my friend, and I did not wish to abandon him in his time of need. Unfortunately, he doubled down on many of his assertions and became more obstinate than ever claiming to be led by the Holy Spirit. This eventually led to a time when we parted ways. Years later, we still have no relationship. He continues to travel the country attempting to spread his ideas claiming they are from God, but they are not. He has become spiritually blind, and I say with sadness that our friendship has ended. As much as I loved him, discernment demanded I make a choice. No friendship is worth looking the other way towards sin. God will test us to discover what makes us tick. We cannot afford to hold views or beliefs that do not square with scripture. Equally, we cannot afford to hold onto friendships or emotions that do not reflect how Christ would act if he were us in the same situation. The scripture James tells us is a mirror. We go to scripture to receive correction and instruction. When something is out of place, we change ourselves, not justify ourselves. Discernment ultimately means affirming God s words as true and everything else a lie when necessary. Are you in the ministry because you desire the accolades of appreciative people slapping you on the back for a good sermon? That is an occasional perk, but not a purpose in life. If that is what drives you, you are in trouble. Peter got 3,000 souls on the day of Pentecost. Stephen got 3,000 stones. Both men demonstrated a willingness to suffer for their faith but got entirely different results. If you are a faithful minister, you stand ready to suffer on behalf of Christ. You stand ready to be misunderstood, mistreated and even rejected if
necessary. Indeed, you do not seek these things, but should not be moved by the opposition. Let God be true and every man a liar. Why is this important? Because we lead men and women and therefore represent God. If we fail to distinguish what is from God vs. what is from the mind of man or the philosophies of the world, our congregation will be led into error. Throughout the Old Testament, we see examples of what occurred with the Israeli people when their leaders led them astray. We see false teachers and false prophets misrepresent God s will and the destruction which follows for the Jewish people. At the heart of this confusion are leaders that want their own will accomplished rather than God s will. They use the people of God to receive praise or fame or even money. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others put aside their safety and comfort to call people back to God. Many people hated them for their messages because it meant they would have to abandon their idols and selfish way of living, but that did not change their message. The idols we face are not as noticeable. We don t have statues in our public squares easily identified as idols, yet the church is rife with idolatry nonetheless. People bow down to their bosses at work and compromise their ethics to get a promotion. They bow down to their houses, cars, and boats ignoring the church Sunday after Sunday. They bow down to entertainment vacationing for weeks at a time and running up massive credit card debt. They bow down to the pressures of relatives or friends, refusing to take a stand against worldly lifestyles. As a leader, what standard do you set? Can you teach your congregation to discern by your example? How can our churches be salt and light if our behavior is no different than those we are trying to reach? So often we try to reach society by being like them. I get the Pauline reference to becoming all things to all men, and there is wisdom in utilizing
technology and cultural norms to reach people. However, our Christian principles must remain the same. Discernment demands that we as leaders don t quickly jump into every idea that proclaims itself as God s purpose or will. Wisdom requires that every leader carefully reflects on what claims to originate from God. Paul said it this way to his protégé Timothy: Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. Essentially, become a leader who practices discernment. Well, we re out of time. I hope these few moments have been helpful to you in your ministry. If you are new to the podcast, I encourage you to visit ministerstoolbox.com where there are more than a hundred podcasts dealing with virtually every issue facing ministers in today s church. If you like this program or any you hear, be sure to give us an honest review on itunes or Google Play. As usual, I end each podcast with a quote especially for you. This one is from Corrie Ten Boom who said: Discernment is God's call to intercession, never to faultfinding.