There are many times in life that we struggle with what is right and
what is wrong. Of course this pertains to the big questions, but today
I'd like to emphasize the every day things, such as when your kids don't
do their chores, or a fellow worker or employee has issues at work.
What do you do then. Which course of action do you take. How can your
Christian philosophy help determine the answers. I know, in my life,
that when a stressful moment comes flying into my face, I have choices.
I can react as I always had in the past...probably not the best
choice...or I can determined the right and wrong way of responding based
on what I've learned about trying to live a godly life.
The Importance of Discernment
The Importance of Discernment
Many years ago there was a movement, What would Jesus do (WWJD). They had bracelets, wrote it on billboards, had Bible study materials written about the topic. But what was amazing to me was how fast it traveled across the Christian world. This concept essentially emphasized the ability to discern right from wrong. And, the main tool used to receive the answer was the Bible. But the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding of the Word, and this in turn gives us the ability to "discern" the spirits" or in other words, right from wrong. You see, there are only two ways to do something, right and wrong. There are only two types of spirits...good (God) and not good (Evil) spirit. Everything start from these two colliding powers...everything. But Bob, not everything is black and white! Well, it sure seems that way, doesn't it. The toughest times in life seem to revolve around those "grey areas" of life, don't they.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us with this:
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
[even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil. Hebrews 5:14
In nearly all references on discernment, the emphasis is to choose the right coarse of action.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge
thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge
this thy so great a people? 1Kings 3:9
And they shall teach my people [the difference] between the
holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Ezra 44:23
Discernment works hand in hand with Wisdom and Understanding to help us get it right. The importance of discernment is to judge what is right and wrong, what is good and evil. It is ultimately the ability to determine the "spirit" behind the thought, motivation, and decision.
The practical Application of Discernment
It is important to get this point, to discern right from wrong is to determine the spirit behind the issue. Let's say where you work, someone asks you to buy an item which they will then buy from you in order to get them an employee discount. It's a small thing, right? Who's really getting hurt? Is the spirit behind it godly or ungodly? Would Christ ask to do this? Would God be pleased with the intention of the act?
The scripture we opened with suggests that the Word is a "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Because the decision making process is weighed by our internal ethical philosophies, we will base our actions on what we "feel" is right and wrong. The Word of God helps us here. If we don't use the Bible, we will use something else as the authority of right from wrong. What do you use as an authority?
This week I will ask each of us to give some thought as to what type of spirit drives our decision making process. I want each of us to try to determine the motivation behind our actions. If we get caught in a situation that gets us all tied up in knots, try to "discern" the intent of our actions. Is it because we want to be right? Is it based on our wanting to fit in? Will we act out of a godly conscience, or out of a self-righteous motivation? May God bless us with a discerning spirit.
Here are some scripture to consider for your daily devotions.
1Kings 3:9, 11 Job 6:30
Ezra
44:23 Jonah
4:11Malachi 3:18 1Corinthians 12:10
Hebrews 5:14
Unfortunately, things are not as simplistic as black or white, good or evil. Men shape their values and mores through unique life experiences, cultural, social-economic, and religious differences. James Macgregor Burns the Pulitzer Prize author of "Leadership" explained how societal differences can influence people. "Some societies kill their infants to protect their food reserves. In others,men kill themselves (Wall Street, 1929) when they lose their property. In India women burned themselves on funeral pyres when they lost their husbands." This author then goes on to describe sources of peoples values. Which gets to the heart of this week's discussion of how we know right from wrong, or discernment. "How deep are the roots of values held strongly by leaders and the led? The roots lie very deep, entwined with guilt feelings that arise out of the child's early confrontation with parental authority, too deep to disentangle them completely. In Freudian theory the superego develops as part of the resolution of Oedipal conflicts, as the child internalizes prohibitions expressed in the form of chidings and warnings. In need of urgent instant gratification, anxious also to identify with the parents and gain their affection, the child learns to evade parental displeasure and punishment by repressing the behavior that would invoke these penalties... In some persons these moralistic rigidities carried on into later years without adequate transformation of rule into values. In most cases they were altered by socializing forces.' Children learn their values by trying to please their parents, and later as adults conform to societal norms of behavior, whatever those may be, and they may be very different from ours.
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