The Mandate of Discernment (1)

We’ve been examining the principle of discernment using several examples of popular teachings that simply are not supported in Scripture. All those examples (and believe me, a myriad of others we could list) demonstrate how completely undiscerning the Church has become. Now, we could understand this if the Bible only mentioned discernment once or twice, but the fact is that the discerning of Truth from error is a recurring theme throughout Scripture.

Consider when God asked Solomon what he wanted most, Solomon answered, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (I Kings 3:9).

Most people are aware of the old adage, “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” which is based on Matthew 16:2-3. The occasion was when the Pharisees tempted Jesus to perform a sign from heaven. He turned it around on them, however, and said, “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” In other words, they could discern a simple natural phenomenon, but they had no spiritual discernment of Who Jesus really was. The Greek for “discern” is diakrino, one of several similar words that speak of judgment and discernment. It literally means “to make a distinction,” something the Pharisees could not do and something many Christians today will not do.

A graphic, and excellent, picture of discernment appears in Acts 17:11. After leaving Thessalonica because of much bitter treatment from Jews there, Paul and Silas headed for Berea, about forty-five miles away. Upon entering the synagogue, they found a group of new believers who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” While many in Thessalonica had “received the word of God which [they] heard” (I Thes. 2:13), the Bereans were totally dedicated to the study of Scripture to see if what Paul said was true. That is discernment. What does the Scripture say (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 4:30)? That must be are credo, our motto, and our only discerner.

Paul also declared to the Corinthians (who were anything but mature, discerning, or spiritual), “He that is spiritual judgeth all things” (I Cor. 2:15). “Spiritual” (pneumatikos) means “non-carnal” or “dominated by the Spirit, in contrast to [the] natural.” To really be spiritual, then, means that we are characterized not by our natural instincts or opinions but by the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul further says that the spiritual person “judgeth all things.” Here is crucial principle. “Judgeth” is the same word translated “discerned” in the previous verse: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The Greek for “discerned” here is anakrino. From about 400 B.C onwards, it expressed “the questioning process which leads to a judgment: to examine, cross-examine, interrogate, enquire, and investigate. Other concepts in the word are scrutinize and sift.

So, to discern something means that we don’t say, “Well, as long as that Bible teacher talks about God or Jesus, then he’s okay.” True spirituality, maturity and discernment mean that we examine everything, that we investigate, question, scrutinize, and sift through every aspect of what is being taught and practiced, not from the perspective of the flesh, natural inclination, or personal opinion, but by the domination of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. Most people are, like the Corinthians, anything but spiritual; they are, in fact, the very opposite, looking at everything from their perspective not God’s. The truly spiritual person does not accept everything that comes along; rather he or she first examines it Biblically to see if it’s right or wrong.