Discerning Discernment

At our session meeting we discussed the meaning of the word “discernment.” I kept mentioning this word and some of the session members finally stopped me to say they had little referent to the meaning of that term. Since the process of discernment is vital to Spiritual growth I thought I had better explain it. Christians discern the will of God practically every moment of their waking hours. The more disciplined our discernment the deeper we grow in grace and knowledge.

Here is the common definition for the word “discernment.” It is according to one dictionary, a “keenly selective judgment.” For those who might appreciate a biblical definition here is a verse to consider. In further study you may notice there is a clear connection with becoming “sober minded” or becoming keenly alert or being “watchful”. These are the marks of discernment.

Hebrews 5:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Jesus uses the word “watch” when he speaks of discernment.

I found a fine process on the topic of discernment by an author named Paula Marolewski. http://ezinearticles.com/?Christian-Discernment---A-Practical-Definition&id=1359823

She commends three stages 1. Is to define; 2. Is to discriminate; and 3. Is to decide.

What I would call detection is where you gather the facts. Here is where you seek the scriptures first for insights, then you seek out what other sound Christians have written about a given subject. Here is also where you inform yourself about the question you are considering in more practical terms. Paula Marolewski suggests we cultivate an attitude of deep awareness. As we read the Scriptures, we also read carefully our own responses to those passages from God’s word that would address our question. We need to take care to give the greatest attention and prayful consideration of those “hard passages.”  The disciples once admitted to Jesus that his words were “hard words” and not easy to hear. Such passages are only as hard as our hearts.

Here's how discernment might breakdown. (See Marolewski)

Define: In this stage we develop further what we found in our detective work. We ask ourselves the hard questions about ourselves. Why is the question so important to me and why now? Here is where we turn the situation over and over in our minds. We allow a conversation between the situation, our attitudes about it, and the facts we uncovered in our detection stage.

Discriminate: It is best that I quote Paula Marolewski directly because she puts it best. "I've thought about this thing, this thought, this situation, this decision in my mind. These are its characteristics. Now, what does the Bible say about this? What does my reason tell me about this? What do trustworthy Christians think about this? What is God's Spirit telling me about this?"

The final “D,” word Decide, is the hardest, more or less, for each of us. It is the unavoidable moment to Decide which courses of action are good and which are bad that will bother us most. Here is where we begin to exercise our trust in Divine Providence. I think the Paracletos (translated “counselor” in John’s Gospel) is at work most decidedly here. Jesus promises the Christian the ever-present Holy Spirit (God) to “lead us into all truth.”

The Christian cannot exist without the continued exercise of the spiritual discipline of discerning between what is bad, what is good, and what is best.