The Discerner: Creating A Culture Of Wisdom And FaithExemplo

Authentic Faith

The first element for constructing a spiritual safe place for developing spiritual discernment is authentic faith. 

Looking to Jesus, Abiding with God

How do we develop authentic faith? When we “[fix] our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2), our faith grows truer and stronger. Even our worst failures turn into victories when faith gets a firm grip on them.

Faith gives us our connection with God. Our ability to discern the difference between good and evil depends on the health of that connection. From time to time, often without meaning to, we wander away from God because we are lured by enticing messages that are contrary to His Word, His will, and His ways. We do not realize at first that these words originate from the enemy of our souls, Satan, because they sound so convincing or alluring. Somehow we forget essential elements of our belief—such as the facts that God is good and He loves us. But when we step outside boundaries we used to respect, we also step outside God’s safe pasture. 

I have gleaned extraordinary wisdom from the ministry of Bill Johnson. In his book God Is Good, Bill aptly states, “Believing that God is good is absolutely vital to becoming effective in the ministry of the Gospel. Our endurance in representing Jesus well and consistently is dependent on this one thing. God is absolute goodness.”

When we lose sight of such essential elements of our belief, our faith flaps in the breeze like loose tackle on a sailboat, and we do not know how to readily secure it again. This scenario does not have to happen as often as it does—if we have true safe places where the faith and discernment of others can shore up our own faith and discernment when they are weak. If we live in the context of a healthy community within the body of Christ, we can get reoriented quickly. We can also take what we have learned and use it to help others in the same way we have been helped.

Mutual Protectiveness

I’m talking about more than having a place where people can give you good advice, although good advice should be available in a safe place. Rather, a safe place is characterized by mutual protectiveness—people looking out for each other and caring about each other deeply. Believers create a safe-place culture when, together, they live out the reality of the kingdom of God: They point each other to the Lord and remind each other of how faith works. They take shelter from the spiritual wilderness of the world at large. They share insights and real-life struggles. They pray and proclaim truth that comes straight from the Word of God. And, instead of running away at the first sign of interpersonal tension (taking cues from the “divorce culture” of the world around them), they stick together, forgive, and work things out. There is not one rock star or lone ranger among them.

Does this sound like something foreign to you? Or have you been blessed in your church or family with such a safe place? It is my conviction that we cannot flourish and grow as part of the body of Christ without such a place. When we try to live for God on our own, we are like foolish lambs who graze at the edge of the flock, becoming easy prey to the enemy—the lion who prowls around “seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NASB). The voice of the Shepherd is harder to discern the farther away you wander from the safe pasture.

A Goal and a Lifestyle

Creating a culture of faith is both a goal and a lifestyle. Since God is the ultimate Safe Place for every one of us, and since His Spirit dwells within us both individually and corporately, we truly need each other in the church. Let us build authentic faith together, beginning by affirming our reliance on the God who allows us to dwell in the “secret place of the Most High”: 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” (Psalm 91:1–2 NKJV)

Counteracting Fear

Another way to cultivate authentic faith is to replace our fear with trust in God’s power and provision. Jesus warned that in the difficult times to come, many people’s hearts would fail due to fear. (See Luke 21:26.) Fear is the opposite of faith. Therefore, cultivating faith is the only way to counter the fear that arises within us in times of trouble. That faith, however, must be firmly rooted and grounded in Jesus’s victory on the cross. Such faith cannot be learned by rote memorization of facts, inherited from a parent, or purchased on the Internet. Faith is a living thing, and it must be nurtured daily.

Alongside other believers, we can work to create a culture of faith in the midst of a very real culture of fear. The powers of evil remain active throughout the earth at all times, whether or not their strategies can be discerned by the average person. The prevalence of fear in the world should prove that demonic wickedness is not dead. People suffer from the darkness even though the crucified Jesus put Satan under His feet once and for all when He rose from the dead. Those outside the body of Christ cannot find the security of a safe place, even though they make every effort to do so. It does not occur to them that the church holds what they seek. They just do not know the whole story.

On the cross, when Jesus gasped, “It is finished” (John 19:30) and subsequently sent His Spirit to dwell in the hearts of His followers, He was creating for us not only the best safe place but the only true one. To this day, He is still saying to faithful believers what He said through the prophet Haggai: “My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!” (Haggai 2:5 NASB). We must realize that it is our faith, shared with others, that enforces the victory of Calvary. Together, we work and pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We learn to discern His hand in human affairs and to collaborate with Him in supplanting Satan.

One glorious day, Jesus will return to fully establish His kingdom rule on earth. What you believe about that significantly influences your faith; accordingly, it determines the way you live, as we will explore in the next devotional.