Be cautious with discernment

Hosea 11:1–12:14, Acts 5:1–42, Job 16:10–22

People tell me that I have discernment, but God is telling me to be careful that I do not rely on human opinion. I need to seek Him so that my judgment of what people are thinking and doing is how He sees it.

The Bible has many examples. For instance, in the Old Testament God’s people were making sacrifices, going to their place of worship, and giving at least lip service to the laws of God. However, He looks at the heart and saw what others could not see . . .

“My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” (Hosea 11:7–9)

These verses say that even though they called on Him, God would not answer for their hearts had actually turned from Him. He was going to deal with their sin, but determined not to destroy them. His compassion is greater than His wrath.

Imagine two ways a parent could discipline a child. One is in anger because the child’s behavior is annoying her. The other is with concern that the child becomes a better person, so the discipline is about the child’s need, not the parent’s peace of mind. The challenge is being able to discern which motivation is at work. This tells me to be careful about outward appearances. There is more going on in the heart than I can see.

In the story of Job, this broken and troubled man could not figure out why God had allowed the difficulties in his life. He was certain he did not deserve God’s wrath, but why did God allow his suffering? All Job could say was: “God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target; his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness, although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.” (Job 16:11–17)

This tells me that I cannot know the mind of God. Job was a righteous man whom God praised. He allowed Satan to test him, to prove that the faith God gives is sufficient even if life falls apart. God never did tell Job what was going on, but Job’s faith held. For me, trusting the Lord takes priority over trying to discern what He is doing.

In the NT reading, “a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down dead and great fear came upon all who heard of it. (Acts 5:1–5) Not only that, his wife came in about three hours later, not knowing what had happened.

Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.”

She repeated her husband’s lie, and Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” (Acts 5:7–9)

Verse 11 says that “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” That is no surprise, yet there is more to this than a warning to be truthful. The Holy Spirit knows the human heart. People might be able to fool others, even themselves, but God is not deceived. He revealed the truth to Peter so he could confront this couple.

This tells me that if I think I know what people are up to, or what God is doing, I’d better check that out with God. Discernment is a valuable gift, but things are not always what they seem.

Subjective and Objective Discernment

When someone calls themselves a Christian, how do I know if their claim is true? What marks them or makes them stand out?

Over the years, I’ve had some interesting experiences with this issue. I’ve had people tell me they were but were not, and others who didn’t say a word, but I knew that they belonged to the family of God. Have I ever been duped or mistaken? The only times I miss is when someone is a Christian but is not walking in obedience. Their sinful condition at that time seems to hide their true spiritual nature. However, discerning who is who is nothing to boast about for it is God who gives discernment.

Besides that intuitive knowing (not all Christians have it) is there a more tangible, objective measurement? Jesus says there is. In John 14:23, He says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

The first criterion in this statement is that a Christian will love Christ. I remember talking with a member of a cult who claimed to love Him, but does not acknowledge that He is God the Son. When I pointed to a particular statement Jesus made to His disciples, this person figured it had to mean something other than what it plainly said. I replied, “It doesn’t seem to me that Jesus would deliberately deceive His disciples.”

At that, this cult member said, “Oh, yes He would.” No love (or trust) in that statement, verifying to me what I already suspected; this person doesn’t know the Lord.

The second criterion is more dicey; a Christian will obey what God says. At times in my life, when I looked at my performance I’ve wondered if I was really a believer. Obeying God, from the heart, with all my strength and in love for Him is much more difficult than anyone can imagine. It isn’t that I don’t want to, but the problem is with my sin nature. Sometimes I can obey externally (looks good to others), or obey half-heartedly (and say at least that I did it), or obey to impress others, hardly out of love for Him and a desire for His glory. None of those things can be called obedience.

At the same time, people who do not know and love Jesus cannot obey Him at all, at least not in the sense that Jesus is talking about. If a person seems to be doing spiritual good deeds but does not have the Spirit of God motivating them, then it is being done merely in the power of their own humanness, to either impress people or earn brownie points with God.

True obedience is about the God who lives within using the Christian as an instrument to do His will, sort of like a hand in a glove. The glove is nothing apart from the hand.

The Bible reiterates this in several ways. In John 15, Jesus talks about Himself being the vine and His people being the branches. If the branch does not abide in the vine, it cannot bear fruit. Other places speak of our lives being surrendered to His life.

In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Obedience looks like me doing the deed, but it is Christ who lives in me that motivates it and makes it happen. Sometimes Christians obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit so easily that they don’t even realize that they did an amazing or powerful work of God. Only true Christians can do this because only true Christians have the Spirit of God living in them.

The other part of true obedience is that this obedience is continual. A true Christian hangs in there, works at it. We make mistakes, but we also confess them and eventually get back on track. Because God makes His home in us (the verb means eternal abiding), He gives that continual motivation and power to obey Him.

As for the subjective, intuitive discernment that just ‘knows’ when someone is a believer, this is actually the Spirit within me connecting to the Spirit within that other Christian. The unity is there, often without any or many words spoken or even deeds done. This isn’t an “I’d like it to be so” thing nor a human judgment based on human reasoning. For one thing, my human spirit is clueless and powerless apart from God. If He doesn’t give me insight, I don’t have it, and if He doesn’t give me any ability, I am powerless.

How is this practical? Jesus said in the last days that many would claim to represent Him, and many will be deceived. By giving His people discernment and some practical ways to evaluate those claims, God is protecting me from spiritual deception and disaster.

He's in this storm, whether I see Him or not. . .

Years ago, we went to Hawaii and the friends with us wanted to go deep-sea fishing. We rented a charter boat and the skipper took us back and forth on the ocean, at a high speed, without any change in speed or direction, except to turn around for each run. I wasn’t seasick, but I can remember feeling trapped by the relentless movement. No change, no variation. It was awful. What was the point? And we didn’t catch anything either.

In Acts 27, Paul is traveling to Rome in a ship as a prisoner. The wind is high so they stop for a while, but because the ship’s owner is pressured to get where he is going, they set out again. Before they set sail, Paul told them, “I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.” No one listened.

At first the wind seems to be in their favor, but a stronger wind comes up and “no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.” The crew became desperate. To lighten the ship, they threw as much cargo overboard as they could, including the ship’s tackle. They had not eaten and were deeply fearful for their lives, everyone but Paul.

As the ship tossed in the storm, Paul spoke again. He told them there would be no loss of life, only the ship, and that they would run aground on an island. He also explained how he knew all that, “For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong, and whom I serve . . . .” He’d had a vision, and this time they listened.

Paul’s perception in his first warning was fairly accurate; the voyage was going to be a disaster, but he didn’t have all the details. He thought lives would be lost. The angel who appeared to him corrected that perception.

Human discernment is part observation, part prior knowledge, and part intuition or hunch. When I discern something, my mind has gathered everything I see and know, then adds a ‘gut-feeling’ and comes up with what I think is true or will happen. Sometimes I hit it right, but from experience and this story, I know that I am not correct all of the time. Paul was an astute man, close to God and wise in the ways of things, but his perception was not perfect either.

In Paul’s mind, the obvious conclusion to this situation was disaster. In my mind, the obvious outcome to many situations seems negative too. I cannot see how something positive or good can come from what looks like a no-hope, no-win calamity. When faced with one of those, even if an angel gave me a vision, I’m not sure I’d buy it.

However, the Lord is the only one who knows past, present, and future perfectly. He understands fully the events that have happened and why. He knows what is going on and what will happen tomorrow. He may not always tell me, but if I need to know, I can depend on what He says.

In the middle of a storm, with no hope in sight, and without a vision from an angel, trusting the Lord becomes difficult, but there is something positive about a life-storm—at least they make me cry out to God for help, and He always answers.

I have more trouble doing that when the trip is like that Hawaiian fishing expedition. Things are happening at a relentless pace, but it seems like I’m not accomplishing anything. I become numb, feel trapped, and just want it over with, done. I don’t see any purpose in what I am experiencing, and like Paul, my perception predicts only disaster.

At that point, I’d love to see what the angels see.