The
Power of
Discernment
Handling Discernment

To discern means
‘To perceive or recognize clearly.’
Many Christians claim
to be filled with the Holy Spirit,
but how many of us
really exercise such discernment?

In The Genesee Diary, Henri Nouwen[1] describes a type of bird that fools people into thinking they are injured in order to draw their attention away from the eggs they have laid in open sandy places. ‘Beautiful!’ Nouwen exclaims, ‘neurosis as a weapon! How often I have asked pity for a very unreal problem in order to pull people’s attention away from what I didn’t want them to see!’

Can we honestly say that we have never done something like this? Discerning people can see through our duplicity as easily as when children playing hide-and-seek cover their eyes and suppose they cannot be seen – despite leaving their butts sticking out!

There is such a need for discernment in the Church today! Like Jesus, we are called to a level of discernment that goes far beyond what we see or hear with our natural eyes and ears. In search of the one God wanted to anoint to be Israel’s king, Samuel sensed no answering call from Heaven when he met Jesse’s eminently suitable sons – and he had the determination to make the further enquiries that unearthed the youngest. David may have been outwardly less attractive and imposing, but he was the one the Lord had set His sights on.

To discern means ‘to perceive or recognize clearly.’ Many Christians claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but how many really exercise such discernment? The need is so pressing that we are going to devote an extended chapter to considering ways in which we can train and develop this important gift.

We are not called into action every time Goliath shouts, but when God summons us. If Goliath shouts and I come running every time, he’ll laugh – and I risk getting my skull cracked. (S.J.Pigott)

When the truly discerning people meet someone, they pick up quickly not just on their hurts and oddities but also on their potential. They need to know then what to do with what they have discerned. Should they just commit this person’s onward journey to the Lord? Or should they pause and take time to nurture them, and to impart fresh spiritual blessings? Or direct them to people and material that will help develop their latent gifts?

We can see how swiftly easily what begins as a personal moment of illumination may pass into a weightier obligation. Perhaps it is the subliminal awareness that listening to the Lord may entail further consequences that explains why relatively few ever develop this precious ministry to any great extent – not least because there is a personal cost to pay when we pick up on inauthentic words and unbroken attitudes intruding where grace and holiness should flow.

As we become more familiar with the Lord’s heart, and better acquainted with the dynamics of human relationships, we can hardly fail to notice the pride in this worship leader, or the ‘religious’ voice which that preacher puts on. Not to mention the self-centeredness or the uncleanness that positively emanates from someone else – although some of us wrap ourselves up in knots fearing we are in danger of being judgmental rather than genuinely discerning.

We must certainly never use the gift of discernment as a weapon to expose, control or belittle anyone. Seeing something clearly is not, in itself, a license from the Lord to confront unless He so commands. There is a time for lying low until the Lord shows us what to do. There is nothing unusual in the example of a Norwegian friend of mine, who, having discerned a serious controlling spirit in a church leader in Russia, waited until his third trip to his church before challenging him.

There is another reason why the gift of discernment does not exactly top the popularity polls. Well aware that their deepest-laid plans risk being exposed, the powers of darkness subject the spiritually discerning to particularly acute attacks: wave after wave of them.

Sometimes this takes the form of full frontal attacks, but since these often lead to major spiritual retaliation, the assaults are often subtly directed against the areas where we are most gifted. If the powers of darkness can neutralize our strengths and sensitivities, or even turn them against us, we will be drawn into battles we were never meant to fight, exactly as the starting quotation for this section indicates. The result of being involved in battles we were never meant to fight is always that we become weary and discouraged.

If the Lord is not calling us into action, we are wiser to pray and hold our peace – like the psychologist in the British sit-com Fawlty Towers, who walks straight past Basil, the hotel manager, who is behaving particularly bizarrely, and declares firmly, ‘I’m off duty!’

We must be equally as ready, however, to spring into action when the Lord does summon us – allowing no fear of man to hold us back.

For Reflection