By Terri Sullivant
“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14 ESV
My Immature Perspective:
I became a follower of Jesus when I was 19. I was so excited to come to know Him and be a part of His worldwide family. I thought for sure the church was the most awesome and godly community that existed on the earth, right? After all, we were “new creations” and had a new nature. The old was dead now, so what could possibly go wrong?
A More Mature Perspective:
Though we are new creations whose old sinful natures have been crucified with Christ, the New Testament makes it clear that we can temporarily “forget” our new, true identity and fall back into old familiar “flesh” patterns. The authentic Christian life is meant to be lived in present tense dependence on Him by God’s design. If we stay in sync with His Spirit, we will not walk in our flesh. But if/when we lose that living and interactive relational connection the gravitational pull of the flesh is readily present in this age to pull us back down into our old flesh patterns. Although we have been given a new heart, it’s a long process to learn how to live from the heart Jesus gave us. As an identity statement, the Bible calls us “saints”, that is true. However, it is a process to grow in our capacity to live according to our true identity. Understanding this helps us have more realistic expectations about our church communities. It also helps us choose to be a part of healthier communities vs unhealthy ones.
This is why discernment is desperately needed. Not everything can be taken at face value. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to see beneath the surface – like an MRI helping us diagnose what the real problems are. The only way we get it is by the constant practice of listening to the Holy Spirit as He interacts with us in deeply intuitive and sometimes visceral ways to help us “get it.” When we have discernment, we can pray with more understanding. It helps us comprehend what the actual problems are when things go wrong. It has helped me over and over again, through the years, to keep my sanity! The enemy wants us to blame God, react badly, and give up on church when we are hurt by people in Christian communities. God wants us to share His thoughts with us about these things and go deeper in relationship with us when we are hurt. He is inviting us to be part of the solution by praying according to the truth, confronting in love, and offering healthy correction when we are able. We can also discern more clearly our own issues that can hurt others so we won’t contribute as much to the problem of church hurt.
The Process of Gaining Discernment:
When you believe you have received discernment about people and situations it’s important that you submit it to God for any refining He may want to do.
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.” Psalm 12:7,6 ESV
It’s also important to know that whatever the Lord may share with us is not to be used for judging others. It’s to help us see what He sees and know what He knows, in some small ways. He wants us to stick close to Him and “keep our love on” amid what we have discerned.
“Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:ESV 5
My Personal Experience with Discernment:
In our situation in Kansas City, the Lord shared things with me that the majority of people weren’t seeing – really no one else I knew at the time was getting the discernment I had for 25 – 30 years about deep corruption and compromise, narcissism, and spiritual abuse. Even my husband wasn’t “getting it.” It was a tension in our relationship for many years. It has been one of the hardest sufferings of my life.
But it is also something God used to draw me closer and closer to Him. We became the best of friends when He shared those secrets with me and allowed me to carry them with Him.
It kept me from buying into the lies and deception that were coming upon people in the community through rhetoric, facades and image projection. With His help, I could see through them and wouldn’t buy in. It made me an intercessor! I prayed like a crazy woman in my prayer closet at home – I could identify with Hannah who put her “whole self in” as she prayed for a son.
I also was able to offer some healthy correction at key moments, though it wasn’t received.
I learned how to “keep my love on” with imperfect people. I also learned how to choose my friends wisely.
It was a long time before He answered my prayers, but He did, and He has and will continue to. I learned to believe what He showed me when I had no human reassurance.
I am grateful now for all of it, because I got more of Him, He got more of me, and I got to participate with Him in His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. But without discernment, I could have been a casualty. Thank you, Lord, for this!
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13
