Discernment

A Follow Up to Excuses Excuses

To truly understand if discerning is a poor excuse for me to use to withhold my time and money, I wanted to understand what the word means.

Merriam-Webster definition of discern

1a : to detect with the eyes b : to detect with senses other than vision

2: to recognize or identify as separate and distinct : discriminate

3: to come to know or recognize mentally

While Webster is great for a basic understanding, it is just as important get more depth from the original language.  In the New Testament there are 5 Greek words that have been translated into a form of discern.  While I am no expert of Greek, what is clear to me is that is that all of these words contain or suggest the idea of judging.

It isn't a big stretch to go from Webster's definition focusing on recognition to the concept of judgment, however, if the Webster included another definition like 4: to judge to prove by investigation, I might think twice about using the term so commonly.  At the very least I should try to put more effort into discernment.  I hope our Judges and Investigators are skilled discerners, who don't just jump to conclusions like I always do.

In the New Testament scriptures, the word discern or a form of (discernment, discerning, etc.) is used 9 times in the ESV, and 7 times in the King James.

ESV:

Luke 1:29, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 1:19, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 11:29, Ephesians 5:10, Philippians 1:9, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 5:14

King James:

Matthew 16:3, Luke 12:56, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 11:29, 1 Corinthians 12:10, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 5:14

In bold are the verses that are common to both translations.

The word discernment is most often used to describe how one perceives the current time or more specifically their ability to understand the coming and significance of the Messiah, what is pleasing to God, or understanding good from evil.  I do not see anything that suggests we should be using discernment in giving situations.

Of these my favorite reveals the foolishness of my wisdom.  Luke 12:54-56: And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.  ⁵⁵And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. ⁵⁶Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

It reminds me how I am quick to judge my surrounding because I am so obviously wise (sarcasm), and miserably fail (painful truth) to see God's hand and works all around me.

While this does entirely rule out discernment as a biblical principal that we should apply to giving, it clearly does not support it.  A further examination of of giving Alms will be necessary to more completely credit or discredit my use of discernment as an excuse, but so far it is not looking to good.  I probably should start looking for another excuse, or maybe just start doing....

My final thought for this post.  If discerning is judging, then in light of 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 could we apply it to situations when interacting with the clearly unsaved, and to what degree? And why don't we talk more about discernment in and of church matters more?

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside.

Excuses Excuses.

When I was a child my father used to sing part of this song (Excuses by the Kingsmen) to me a lot more that I would like to admit.  I was not always able to connect the dots then, but even now my ability is mediocre at best.  Like most of us, I am good (too good, if not repulsed by my ability) at finding the faults of others.  However, it is always my prayer that my faults are revealed to me.  What I need to always remember is that if I can find the fault in someone else, I am probably just as if not more guilty.  This week I want to consider some of the excuses I make that prevent us from living as Christ desires us to live.  Ephesians 5:10 says, "try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

I admit the idea of this topic was not exclusively my own.  It was implanted in my mind after a discussion in Sunday School about giving and discernment.  I was forced to ask myself "How cynical am I?"  My obsession with the subject started to grow. I continued to dwell on the thought that I might be hiding behind discernment. I was asking myself questions like, "How many times have I used similar excuses to limit giving of my time and resources?"  No one wants to be taken advantage of or look like a fool, but when do we cross the line? 

A few days ago I was in Target and a man (about my age) started a conversation with me about my wedding ring. Apparently, his ring was also made out of the same material, which caught his eye.  What a great opportunity I had to start a conversation about marriage and my beliefs, but instead I looked at him like he was crazy and tried to be just polite enough, yet show I was kind of busy.  It must have worked because he seemed to catch on then move on, but why did I do that? Because my immediate thought, after looking him over of course, was, "which multilevel marketing scheme did he want to tell me about... maybe Amway?"  After I walked away, I realized WHO CARES! So what if I discerned that he was trying to sell me something, why didn't I use that as an opportunity to learn something more about him and share the gospel?

So I though in light of these events, I would try to discern discernment and how we should approach giving.  Over the next few days I'll post about how the word is specifically used, how might it be implied elsewhere, and what else the NT says about giving alms and our attitudes.  I'm positive we shouldn't be meeting or presenting ourselves to the world as cynical.  Hopefully, this will serve as a way to remediate some of my poor excuses.