A gracEmail subscriber from Michigan writes: "I've been feeling like I don't know how to discern truth and righteousness. Is there a right stance to take on various issues? How can we better discern God's ways and truths in our actions and focus?"
* * *
The art of knowing God's will regarding life issues comes with experience as we live in communion with the Father. One mark of the new covenant is that God's people "know" him (Jer. 31:31-34). Followers of Jesus Christ are personally and individually taught by God, who gives a spirit of wisdom and of revelation and enlightens the eyes of our hearts (John 6:44-45; Eph. 1:17-18). We also learn from Jesus himself as we accept his invitation to come to him for rest (Matt. 11:27-30). The Spirit of God leads God's children (Rom. 8:14). The Spirit is an "anointing" that teaches truth to those who abide in Jesus (1 John 2:20, 27). Believers in Jesus can be filled with the knowledge of God's will in order to live lives that are fruitful and please God (Col. 1:9-11).
I do not mean merely that we study the Bible (though that is an important part of this process). I am affirming that the deity lives in us, transforms our minds, enables us to think the thoughts of God, to have the mind of Christ, and to gradually see things the way God sees them. As we live in union with Christ, asking God for such discernment and wisdom, giving ourselves over to his service and acquainting ourselves with his word in Scripture, God gives us such spiritual illumination and moral discernment.
This happens progressively, cumulatively and steadily as we live the Christian life. By ongoing practice, our spiritual sensitivities are gradually trained to discern instinctively what is good and what is bad (Heb. 5:14). We learn to test situations and to discern God's good and perfect will in all circumstances (Rom. 12:1-2). This common Christian discernment -- "common" in the sense that the whole believing community enjoys it, not that it is less than supernatural -- has to do, I think, with living our individual lives in the community of God's people and in our relationships within the larger world. It is not a matter of having a checklist or a formula. It is part of real life. Not everyone needs the same discernment at the same time.
When a church leader urged Christians to "do something" about the recent court case declaring the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, a gracEmail subscriber wrote me saying: "I haven't been trained to discern righteousness; I'm not sure when I should act and when not to take up the battle. Is there a right stance to take on issues? How can we better discern God's ways?"
* * *
From time to time, God will give you opportunity to minister wisdom and discernment to others in the form of well-timed words which are spoken in humility and in love. As you pray and watch, he will let you know when such times are present. Then, in a way that serves his kingdom purposes and glorifies the Father himself, you can speak -- often very few words, sometimes more -- and God will speak through you to accomplish his purpose.
Some Christians do not realize it, but there is no cause for panic despite the shifting circumstances of life on earth. God is in no hurry and he is not threatened. He knows all the details of every event, including those that have not yet arisen. He knows how he has gifted each one of us, and how he intends to use us in his saving purpose. It is our privilege to watch and pray, to prepare ourselves, to abide in him, to abstain from whatever hinders the flow of his Spirit through our lives.
I am speaking ideally here, not that I always live up to these noble goals myself. As a believer in Jesus, you can begin by simply asking God to be your teacher. There is an old hymn which includes the prayer: "Spirit of God, my teacher be; showing the things of Christ to me." You can depend on God to do just that.
For more on divine guidance, click here.