Learning to Discern
In addition to the prayers of our Savior, the prayers of the apostle Paul offer excellent material for the Christian to study if he seeks to grow in his prayer life.
Paul’s prayer for the Philippian believers is one such example. Found in Philippians 1:9-11, it is full of theological material for any Christian to pray for himself, for his family, and for his church. Paul prays that our love for God would abound more and more in knowledge and discernment.
Love for God must be expressed in ways that are knowledgeable and discerning. I am closing in on 35 years of being saved and the deeper my knowledge of God is, the more I can express love to him in ways that are truly pleasing to him. We grow in our knowledge of God through saturating our hearts and lives with Scripture.
Our love for God must also be expressed in discerning ways. The more we know God, and the more accurately we know God, leads to increasing levels of discernment. We must be discerning in our expressions of love for God in worship. We must also be discerning in our love for other things that are attempted expressions of love for God. Not everything is worthy of loving, and not everything should be used in our expressions of love for God.
Knowledge of God leads to discernment for God. For instance, the more my children know me — my tastes, desires, character — the more they will discern what would honor me and what would not. The same holds true in our relationship with God. Granted, no one has an exhaustive list of everything there is to know about God, nor about everything we should or shouldn’t do in the Christian life. However, we have the Scriptures, and the more we know God as he has revealed himself in his Word, the more we will be able to discern what would and would not please God, even when settling questions not specifically found in the Bible.
This is why a regular, faithful time in the Word of God each day is so important. Apart from the Word of God, we cannot know who the Creator God is and how to love him rightly. The more we know God, the more discriminating we will be in our expressions of love for him, and the more we will be able to approve those things around us that are truly excellent and worthy to be loved.
For example, we ought to carefully examine the things in our culture that have the label “Christian” applied to it. We shouldn’t just take such claims at face value, but test them, judging them by the standard of Scripture.
For instance, don’t automatically believe that every athlete who points to the skies, or who kneels after a touchdown, or who thanks the Lord for winning the game is a Christian. And don’t imagine that every one who calls himself a preacher, who says, “Lord, Lord,” is truly one of the Lord’s servants. (Mt 7.21)
Recently, the movie Jesus Revolution came out. It is about the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. I wrote about it in more detail here. Some wonder when another Christian critiques such a movement, especially if they “know someone” who came to Christ through it. However, it is possible to reject a movement as a whole while at the same time rejoicing when the gospel is truly given and genuine conversions take place. While I reject much about the Jesus Movement, I am thankful for any true conversions that took place within it, and I’m sure there were many.
Examples like these show the need for knowledgeable discernment. We could say the same thing about the contemporary Praise and Worship movement, ecumenical evangelistic crusades, or any number of events that crop up in modern Christianity. Paul rejoiced when the gospel was given, even though he did not support the selfish or envious motives for proclaiming it (Philippians 1:15-18).
Learn to be discerning in what you see, what you hear, and what you read.
Our personal expressions of love for God and our embracing of “Christian” things must be fenced in by the knowledge of God and spiritual discernment. We must learn to love what God loves and shun what God shuns. Psalm 119:128 is a helpful guide, “Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.”
May we grow in our knowledge of God and in our moral and theological discrimination based on that right knowledge of God. And in so doing, may we love God with a kind of love that is in keeping with his character and will.
Taigen Joos is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Good Article.