A Call to Discernment
In my role as pastor, it is a common occurrence for someone to catch me in the hallway and ask about an author or other Christian leader with, “Is he/she good?” It’s always the case that they’re looking for a quick thumbs up or down, thus the expectation that the answer can be provided while simply passing by. But unless the person in question is named ‘Beelzebub’ or ‘Lucifer’ or ‘Joel Osteen’, the verdict is not so clear cut. The reason has to do with two truths the Bible teaches that must each be taken into account when we evaluate any proposition or person.
Total Depravity
Scripture teaches that every human being is totally sinful. It teaches what theologians call ‘total depravity.’ “Total depravity means that sin has penetrated and affected the whole of the sinner’s being.”1 The Bible says, “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (Ephesians 4:17-19). “Specifically, depravity affects man’s body … mind … will … [and] heart, the control center of the human personality. Jeremiah says that ‘the heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; who can understand it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9).”2
The phrase ‘total depravity’ leads some to believe that, outside of Christ, people are completely evil. But “total depravity does not mean that the unsaved have no disposition to do right … that the unsaved never do any good … that the unsaved commit every possible sin … [or] that the unsaved are as evil as they could be.”3 And, those of us who are regenerate still battle the effects of depravity on us and will until glory. The apostle Paul said of himself, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Romans 7:21-23). But while Christians have the Holy Spirit to overcome sinful impulses, how are those without the Spirit restrained?
Common Grace
This expression of God’s grace is ‘common’ in that it affects all people, saved and unsaved alike. “Common grace usually operates through secondary causation, such as the influences of the gospel, the church, home, state, school and the like. Wherever truth is propagated, by whatever means and for whatever motives, restraint of the progress of sin and the performance of civic good will ensue … Because of common grace, man retains some idea of what is good, beautiful, true and upright. Philosophically one needs to include the depravity of man, the sovereignty of God and His common grace to explain why unsaved men can rise to such great heights of accomplishment in certain areas and descend to such bestial depths in others.”4
Discriminating Taste
Therefore, evaluation of people and their positions is rarely simple. Non-Christians can and do have genuine and good contributions to make to our discourse and overall flourishing. Of course, Christians do as well. But we are all susceptible to muddled thinking, wrong choices, and inordinate feelings, which means our judgments require separating truth from error, right from wrong, good from bad. The Bible calls this ‘discernment’. Spiritual discernment is the divinely given ability to distinguish God’s thoughts and ways from all others. The Hebrew word bin is used 247 times in the Old Testament and refers to the process by which one comes to know or understand God’s thoughts and ways through separating those things that differ.5 The New Testament Greek word diakrino carries the idea that through the use of separating discrimination a person makes judgments and decisions. The ability to do this is obtained by a developmental process. So, the author of Hebrews says: “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).
Learn to Discern
In the information warfare of our day, it is imperative that we begin to practice the Christian discipline of discernment. Among other things, it means …
- We reject the ‘genetic fallacy’. This error sees the source of an idea as the determinant for its veracity. That is, a statement is deemed true or false based on the person making the claim. But, in politics, believe it or not, a Democrat may say something true, a Republican something false, and vice versa. In religion, a Presbyterian may (and often does) make good and helpful observations from God’s Word and a Baptist (my tribe) may get it wrong.
- We eschew knee-jerk reactions. Labels are the bane of careful thought. It’s much easier to simply label an individual or policy with an epithet than it is to take them and their position seriously and apply the mental energy required. You know, the FBI is probably not ‘evil’, right? Republicans are not really ‘fascists’, true? People who care about social justice are not necessarily ‘Marxist’, okay?
- We see the humanity in our opponents. Those with whom we disagree are not our enemies. They are fellow human beings, made in the image of God, with the amazing capacity to reflect the good, the true, and the beautiful and thereby enhance our lives together.
In a fallen world where we are all affected by the taint of sin, it takes work to determine what is accurate and best. God in His Word provides truth on which you can stake your eternal soul. Is He right? Thumbs up. God in His character provides the model that all are to emulate. Is He good? Thumbs up. But if you catch me in the hallway and ask, “Is he/she right and good?” Thumbs … sideways.
Ken Brown is the pastor of Community Bible Church in Trenton, MI. We republish his article by permission.
- Rolland McCune, A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity, Volume 2. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
- Jay Adams, A Call to Discernment, p. 46. [↩]
Thanks! So encouraging.
I especially appreciate “We reject the ‘genetic fallacy’. …We eschew knee-jerk reactions….We see the humanity in our opponents.”
The list could get long, but another fallacy we need to reject–definitely in the ‘top ten fallacies of our time’ is post hoc fallacy/”causation fallacy.” I see this form of bad reasoning every day, and more than once most days: “this happened before that, therefore this caused that” or the even sloppier ad hoc variation, “this happened along with that, therefore this caused that.” Usually, we’re letting emotions cloud our judgment in these cases, because we would never reason that because we turned the light switch out before stubbing our toe, we need better light switches to prevent toe injuries. But when we get on topics like social issues, politics, church problems, etc., we’re lapping up the causation fallacies like they’re gospel truth. We can do better.