More Doubt: More FaithSample

How Can Discernment Help Our Doubts?

The New Testament Greek word anakrino is variously translated “discern,” “examine,” or “judge.” It describes the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, between what’s accurate and inaccurate. 

The great contemplative and sagacious author A.W. Tozer once wrote, “We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits. It is not ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to appraise the religious scene as viewed from God’s position, and to tell us what is actually going on.” 

Tozer can proclaim these words from the shoulders of scriptural giants like Paul, who admonished the Thessalonians to “test everything; hold fast what is good.” John, the apostle, was another spiritual giant who stressed the need for discernment: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Paul cared so deeply about the church’s ability to discern that it influenced the way he prayed: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

Given the importance of knowing what to doubt and what to believe, you might be asking, “But how do I develop my ability to discern?”

First, realize there is no such thing as discernment apart from wisdom. With that in mind, ask God to deepen your wisdom well. As James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Second, get connected to a Bible-teaching church that has a high view of Scripture Make sure you find a church that is passionate about truth and doesn’t seek to bend the Bible to placate every cultural whim. Paul stressed to Timothy that God gave leaders to the church in order to equip their flocks. And he even lists a key reason why they need to be equipped, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” The apostle stresses that church leaders need to equip their flocks to separate truth from error. Wheat from chaff. Right from wrong.

Reflection

• Discernment is the ability to know what to doubt and what to believe.
• How can discernment help Christians better know what to believe and      what not to believe?