Latest / Clear Path Christianity / Discernment Isn't Optional || CPC Podcast Ep. 6
Transcript
- Cole Crone: Christians in my feel ⁓ uncomfortable talking about discernment. it seems to me to be the case that if you question, ⁓ a teacher, a preacher, ⁓ pastor, someone in a leadership position, it's almost like you're worried that someone might call you, you know, judgmental or, you know, wait, man, we should just focus on unity. You know, we shouldn't be, we shouldn't be critiquing each other. we should just be focused on unity, man. just love people. But what we see when we actually look at the Bible and what the Bible actually has to say about discernment ⁓ is ⁓ that it repeatedly commands Christians test, to ⁓ examine, to evaluate spiritual claims. discernment isn't like, you know, this swear word ⁓ that only going to ⁓ division or disruption or whatever, It's actually a biblical It's actually incumbent upon us To test, to examine, to evaluate. And so in this episode, we're going to ask ⁓ basically, is a sign of spiritual maturity or is it a sign of cynicism? Do we have many heresy-hunting ministries out there? Do we have too many people, quote unquote, you know, calling each other out. Or is this actually something that if we do it right, it's actually a benefit to the church? Or should we just stop that altogether? I think the Bible's answer may surprise some of us. So let's get into that. key point for me is asking why. Why ⁓ ⁓ when ⁓ you read the New you read the ⁓ epistles, you read these it seems to me that the New Testament assumes that there's going to be false teaching within the church. Now, let's look at some biblical support of this. Jesus warned in Matthew 7 15, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Okay, that's Jesus. Paul also warns Acts 20, 29, and 30 of savage wolves who will come from within the church. so that's Jesus and Paul both weighing in. Peter also weighs in, 2 Peter 2, 1, and he says that false teachers will sow heresies among you. So we've got three key figures agreeing. Well, John makes four. As John warns us to test every spirit. 1 John 4.1. So we've got Matthew 7 15, Acts 20, 29 and 30, 2 Peter 2 1, and 1 John 4 1. All telling me that discernment is not optional. It's a command. So therefore to refuse discernment, to refuse to be discerning, even if that means challenging a family member or a friend or someone like that, that to refuse that discernment is to disobey scripture. So that's point number one. Point number two is to look out what does discernment actually mean? If we're called to discernment, if we're called to be discerning, then what does that discernment actually mean? So biblical discernment is not just suspicion of everything. Just because you are a conspiracy theorist does not mean that you are good at discernment. Just because you dismiss everything as being a false teaching or that person as a false teacher does not mean that you're good at discernment. Discernment just simply means to evaluate teaching. So to hear what the teaching is, To evaluate it. Most importantly, to compare it to scripture, to see if there's alignment. then you're just recognizing truth from error. it's really just that simple, right? Now key passage for me ⁓ on this comes from Hebrews chapter five, verses 12 through 14. The writer of the Hebrews says this, Again, that's Hebrews 5 verses 12-14. So we look at a few things here, right? Discernment is a mark of maturity. he says, those who are full of age, those who behave with with this posture about them, this sort of confidence about the way that they proclaim Second, we see that discernment requires training. These people have had their senses exercised because they're mature, they've been trained, now they can... be of use in discernment. So discernment matters and that's all that discernment means. Point number three. There's a big difference between discernment on the one hand and just plain old cynicism on the other. This is an essential distinction because Cynicism always says everyone is corrupt, can be trusted, all are dangerous, all churches are compromised. Cynicism leads to isolation and distrust. I've been there. I come from that. Over three decades of everybody else is wrong but us. so and so is a false teacher. So and so is divisive. and so is bringing a false doctrine. On and on and on it goes, There's this constant cynicism about everything that you hear. Man, that's not something I've heard before. So immediately dismiss it Now conversely, discernment believes that truth exists and that Christ has given the church shepherds, that scripture provides a reliable standard, and that error can be identified and corrected, Because truth exists and because Christ has given his church leadership, people who know better, people who have wisdom, we know with confidence that error can be corrected. We don't have to assume that 2,000 years of Christians have got this all wrong. we can instead look at what the early church has taught and recognize that, there's like everything, there's some good and there's some not so good. But Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. ⁓ promised to send the Comforter to remind his disciples of all that he had taught. So if we take that seriously, we should assume that discernment leads to wisdom and stability within the church. One of the control verses that I think of on this particular topic is Ephesians 4, 14 through 15. Paul says this, we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head. Christ. So this being tossed to and fro, this being like ⁓ a too small a boat on too tempestuous a sea, just being moved with every small like with constantly being led by our ⁓ or our ⁓ spiritual inclinations. a strong foundation in this 2,000 year history that we call the history of the church, There are a lot of faithful believers. Yes, there's some diversity. Yes, Eastern Orthodoxy is slightly different than Roman Catholicism and Roman Catholicism is slightly different than Protestantism and... Within Protestantism, there's a whole bunch of different things going on. But just because somebody teaches something that you disagree with doesn't immediately mean they're a false teacher. But it also doesn't mean that we shouldn't be correcting false teaching, Again, there's this tension and we need to make sure that it stays that way. But we always want to speak the truth in love. We don't want to be tricked by this new thing deceived into this new thing. But remember that Jesus promised to be with us even to the end of the age. So we want this stability. We want to know that we're ⁓ on a firm foundation. Then we don't have to worry about ⁓ every difference between us, The next point is to me, some of my own speculations about why Christians tend to avoid discernment. And I think there are a few reasons, at least three. Number one is cultural pressures. And I mean specifically in Western culture, which is I'm coming up in, where I assume you are tuning into this ⁓ There are these cultural preferences of ⁓ tolerance, If you critique something, you're just immediately a hater, So people don't typically speak out about things, even if they're true, because you just get, know, somebody to slap a label on you and then we don't have to engage you anymore, right? It's that easy nowadays. This non-judgmentalism, right? This is another... ⁓ point of this. And then again as the Western culture develops we become less objective and more subjective. Okay? And so these three things kind of work together to produce this this culture wherein we don't really want to challenge anything, especially not each other. But we need to remember that Christianity claims that truth is objective and has been revealed. Okay. Jesus says to the father, your word is truth. John 17 17. So we do have an objective truth and objective standard. Now, because we are fallible, we do tend to misinterpret or misapply or whatever. that standard, but that nevertheless, that doesn't negate the fact that we have an objective standard. The second piece of this is the most annoying one to me, the one I hear the most that, the Bible says judge not. So... ⁓ You shouldn't be trying to correct my sinful lifestyle or my destructive behavior or that church's abusive tendencies Because, hey man, we're not supposed to judge, you know? people quote, you know, Matthew, Matthew 7, 1, and just completely ignore the broader context in which that passage is given to us. So, because later on in that very same passage, later on in, in, Matthew 7, Jesus says this, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Okay, we've already been over this. So let's expand it. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, By their fruits, you will know them. ⁓ Okay? So in the same discourse, on the Mount, ⁓ same dialogue. Jesus says, judge not, as well as, make all of these judgments, right? Know them by their fruits. Make a judgment call based on what you see and know that what you're seeing on the outside is an indication of something on the inside. Because Jesus is, ⁓ again, Matthew 7, 15 through 20, calling us to be discerning. While he doesn't want us to condemn one another, and he even goes as far as to warn that by that standard, by the standard, ⁓ the standard by which you condemn A is the standard by which you will be condemned. So be careful what sort of judgments you place on one another, but nevertheless, be discerning. That's the moral of that discourse. And number three, think, and this is a big one for me. You know, I have over the years, you know, over three decades in a cult and a lot of knockdown drag outs with family members and friends over my decision to leave said cult. You would think that I would no longer feel this, but I don't, I'm not particularly a fan of conflict. And so I think this, for a lot of us, this fear of conflict keeps us from being discerning. Some of us love it so much that we just, we call out everybody. You everybody's a false teacher. If everybody's a false teacher, then no one is. It's like, I don't really trust your judgment anymore. You know, if you're calling out everybody, then come on, man. Like, I'm just, I'm gonna, I'm very unlikely to listen to you. But for a lot of us, there's just this, we're not really that excited about calling out this person or that person or whatever, And so because discernment often creates tension, we tend to avoid it, But again, we have to go back, right? We have to remember what is our history as Christians, The apostles, church fathers, the laundry list of ⁓ who have come and gone, the various people who have challenged this system or that system, this injustice or that injustice. We have to remember that every great Christian for the past 2,000 years, has been someone who was willing to be discerning regardless of the tension that it would cause, right, regardless of the cost. A great example of this would be the Apostle Paul. As he reflects on ⁓ a previous encounter, he says this, Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from James, certain Jews, he would eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, if you being a Jew live in the manner of Gentiles and not as a Jew, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? That's from ⁓ Galatians chapter verses 11 through 14. So for Paul, truth more than comfort, right? He saw a brother slipping. He saw a brother living in hypocrisy. He saw that it was having an effect on other people, leading them to live. I mean, Peter's, I mean, he's the guy, right? At this time. I mean, he's definitely one of them anyway. And yet Paul's willing to stand up and say, hey man, you're not living, you're not living according to your confession. How do we get you back on track? Okay. Now let's look at the biblical model ⁓ of ⁓ healthy discernment. This is our point. is not. any of these things. It's not harsh. It's not arrogant. It's not combative. I think for me, biblical discernment has at least three characteristics. Number one, it's grounded in scripture. It's got to be grounded in scripture. Again, think of the Bereans, right? Acts 17. They have this apostolic teaching being proclaimed and yet there's even checking that. They're even going to the scriptures and say, okay, is this Paul guy, is he on track or is he one of these savage wolves that he warned us about? Number two, it has to be practiced with humility. And I think again, Paul gives a good teaching here. says, 1 Corinthians 13 verses one and two. He says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but I have not love, I am nothing. So all of the spiritual giftings in the world, all of the discernment in the world doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you don't have love. when Paul gives his qualifications for elder in to Titus, the very last qualification he gives is this, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convict those who contradict it. This is Titus 1 9. So despite the fact that it's, you know, it's difficult, if we can ground it in scripture, we can practice it with humility and love, then ⁓ we would people who were qualified to lead others. Because one of the primary goals of people who want to move from the spiritual milk to the beef Wellington, is this idea. We are to protect the flock, but we are to do it out of love. Let's look briefly at discernment and the historic church. Anyone who studies church history knows that discernment protected the church from predators and heresies and that discernment preserved the faith. Okay, some of the early heresies, have Gnosticism, which ⁓ is this idea of the secret knowledge, This idea that there were certain people who were gifted with this authoritative teaching, This secret knowledge that they could then use, To educate others, which is really just leading them astray. You have Arianism, obviously we mentioned this in a previous episode, That tried to deny the full deity, the full co-eternity, the full... co-equality of the son to the father. And we have various distortions of the gospel. Just look at some of the things that the early church dealt with. The historic creeds were written specifically because the early church was practicing discernment. Okay, so again, we're building on this 2,000 year foundation. of that is recognizing the role that discernment played in the the very creation of the faith that we now practice discernment, that Christian faith, the holy Catholic and apostolic church dies. Without discernment, we lose everything. So before we end, here are four ways that I've been working on myself, four ways that we Christians can possibly cultivate richer spiritual of Number one is to just know scripture. Just know your Bible. cover to cover, as well as you can know it. I think of Psalm 119, 105 that says this, your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. So we just need to be, we just need to be steeped, steeped in scripture. Second, we need to learn historic doctrine. Again, if there's one thing that a 2000 year old religion should not be known for, it's innovation. this ain't the. Again, if there's one thing that a 2000 year old religion should not be known for, it's innovation. this ain't the. the St. Walt Disney Company, We're not trying to be cutting edge, We're not ⁓ constantly to come up with new and interesting ways to thrill people or to entertain people. This is a 2000 year old religion. We shouldn't be known for innovation. So we need to make sure that we ⁓ understand these guardrails, That keep us in ⁓ the faith that once for all delivered to the saints. the St. Walt Disney Company, We're not trying to be cutting edge, We're not ⁓ constantly to come up with new and interesting ways to thrill people or to entertain people. This is a 2000 year old religion. We shouldn't be known for innovation. So we need to make sure that we ⁓ understand these guardrails, That keep us in ⁓ the faith that once for all delivered to the saints. Number three, just we need to remain connected, ⁓ Christianity is by definition a communal religion. It is by definition. It is it is being called to be part of a body. That's one of the most well-worn analogies for the church in history, the body of Christ. And to be part of a body, is to be connected. Discernment is communal. It's not purely individual, This is ⁓ how works. It's life on life. It's a communal thing. And we're all being built up by that community. And number four, evaluate teaching. Always evaluate teaching. Ask these three questions. One, does this align with scripture? Two, does this elevate Christ? And three, does this distort the gospel? If you're asking those three questions of every teaching that you hear, you're gonna be in lot better shape than you otherwise would be. Why does this matter? Well, for me, discernment is not the enemy of love. I think we often frame it that way. That to be critical is to be unloving. Well, the Bible says that that is just wrong, See, discernment isn't the enemy of love, it is an expression of love. in ⁓ multiple ways. Discernment love for Christ. Discernment expresses love for the gospel. Discernment expresses love for the church. Discernment expresses love for ⁓ vulnerable people, both the church and without. So hopefully this ⁓ case for discernment has well made.