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1 Cor.
2:16 says “Who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct Him, but we have the mind of Christ.” To
express discernment from the mind of Christ, we have to have
the heart of Christ. In John 12:47, Jesus said He didn’t
come to judge the world but to save the world. His
motivation was not to judge but to rescue or save people out
of death and into permanent safety. It's not that a minister
never feels a hurt but that they chose a lifestyle of
forgiveness before the other sins; they never take offense
in the first place.
2 Tim
2:24-26 describes the true discernment: 24 “And a servant of
the Lord must not strive but be gentle to all, able to
teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who oppose
themselves, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so
that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to
their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been
taken captive by him to do his will.”
Rev.
Barbara Yoder says that spiritual discernment is the
grace to see in the spiritual realm, to see into the
heart of their spirit, to see the secrets of men’s hearts or
to see beyond the veil. The veil that keeps us from
perceiving correctly, is the veil over our own heart. Until
we can perceive ourselves correctly and deal with the
impurity in our own hearts, we will not clearly see what is
in the heart of another.
Hebrews
5:1-2 speaks of priests who have great compassion
because they can so clearly see their own weaknesses; the
extent of their own need became evident as the veil was
removed from their own eyes. Carnal perceptions are typified
by a compulsion to point out how others are not getting it
right. Their motivation may be to judge, gossip or expose
rather than to save, restore and cover with the love of God.
As Jack Deere said, “Any jackass can kick a barn down, but
it takes a skillful carpenter to build one.”
People
will gravitate to those who are able to confront with
restorative words, without reacting out of their own
wounds and experiences. They will choose someone who is able
to minister to the root of the matter without reacting to
their surface behavior. When God calls us to partner with
Him to restore another, we must not take offense at immature
behavior and must automatically forgive every weakness.
Mark
3:28, “Whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it
shall be forgiven him.” Jesus was prepared to forgive us
before we ever sinned against Him. His mission was to give
up his life so that we could have Life. Paul said we must
die daily that others might live. He died to his own right
to a natural reaction and chose to become a expression of
Jesus, in the flesh. It’s not that a minister never feels a
hurt but that they chose a lifestyle of forgiveness before
the other sins; they don’t take offense in the first place.
John
17:18 “As You sent Me, I sent them.” We have the same
mission that Jesus had; we can choose to let Him manifest
love and peace through us. We are called to have covenant
relationships where we love others with the unconditional
love and acceptance of Jesus Christ, when they need it the
most. True spiritual discernment sees the weakness of the
other as an opportunity to bear them up in prayer and will
die to its own convenience so that the other can live.
False
discernment is slow to hear, quick to speak and quick to
anger. They may judge by surface symptoms and surface
causes, without discerning the heart intent or root causes
of outward behaviors. They are not motivated by love and
peace. They may be unaware of the anger that is inside of
them that comes out of their own dysfunctional past or
injustices suffered. For instance, we might judge that one
who is dependent on prescription drugs, when we should
minister healing to the pain and rage that is smoldering
inside.
Those
operating out of a critical spirit will have a desire to
expose the other’s weakness, will attempt to elevate
themselves and will forget their own deep need for the grace
of God every day. Rick Joyner says that when we sow
criticism, we reap blindness to our own faults, which in
turn causes us to reap more criticism of ourselves.
True
discernment will not gossip but may report a matter to
spiritual Leadership. It will only report the facts
without adding fleshly interpretations, suspicions,
innuendos or conclusions. It is motivated by Christ’s heart
of love, to restore that person to life and godliness.
Before
God can give us a spirit of discernment, love and
forgiveness must mature in us. We cannot be used to free
others from captivity, until we can be trusted not to react
sinfully to their carnality or immaturity. We cannot react
to what they think, say or do. To walk in offense, criticism
or judgment is to walk in self-deception ourselves. We
cannot prevent feelings from coming but we can choose not to
add sinful reactions, which produce sinful emotions.
When we
are in self-deception about our own hurts, sins and
strongholds, our thoughts about the behavior of others
are not trustworthy. Often we will project our own
woundedness or sinful motivations onto others. It's not that
a minister never feels a hurt but that they chose a
lifestyle of forgiveness before the other sins; they never
take offense in the first place.
Have you
noticed? Accusers accuse you of the self-deceptions in their
own life?
Prophetic
people can be the first to mistake suspicious thinking for
prophetic perception if they are operating in pride. (A wise
counselor hears both sides of a story.) A prophetic gift is
no substitute for a humble heart that repents readily and
keeps short accounts with God. A tendency to “slice and
dice” others is not prophetic gifting, but judgment with
condemnation. Rom 2:1-2 states, “Therefore you are
inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in
whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who
judge practice the same things.”
The
gifts of the Holy Spirit have to pass through the condition
of our own heart as they are ministered. God’s law says
that we will reap what we sow, more than we sow and later
than we sow. If we have sown seeds of judgment and dishonor
when ministers have appeared harsh, contentious and high
pressure, we will reap that seed sown in our own ministry.
I grieve
for those who are bitter, blaming others who have not
recognized their “call to ministry.” They feel
self-righteous when they judge and criticize those who will
not support their “mission.” A spirit of accusation has
caused them to think they are discerning others rightly,
when they are actually projecting what is in their own
heart. Their friends and leadership know that they will not
see clearly to minister restoration until the instinct to
judge, blame or accuse has been crucified.
When we
receive the grace of God to see the log in our own eye,
we will not rush to accuse another of having a spec in their
eye. When others find us trustworthy to minister without
judgment or condemnation, they will ask for our
discernment and value our insights. Can God trust us to
be ambassadors of His grace to those who have failed
miserably, who justify their sin and can barely feel
remorse, much less true repentance?
To
receive true spiritual discernment, we must still ourselves
before the Lord – on the inside – as a lifestyle. We
must choose to aggressively become calm and be willing to
hear His heart and mind in the situation. As we receive His
love, peace and grace, we will be able to overflow it to
others. God’s desire to bring an outpouring of great grace
that will enable the church to be healed and to have
enlarged hearts that discern by agape love and will not
judge by outward behavior.
Can God
trust us to take that one by the hand – who was the
perpetrator, not the victim? To guide them to the throne
of grace, where there are won by the kindness and mercy of
God? To be a safe harbors for ships which are in serious
danger of shipwreck? To be happy when He not only restores
but promotes them?
If so,
God will trust us with the secrets of men’s hearts and
enable us to discern the roots of the matter. Probably, they
have lost the ability to trust a perfect God, much less
fallible ministers. They don’t care how much we know; they
want to know how much we care. They need trustworthy people
to help them to trust again. When we remember how much grace
it takes for God to love us, the “unlovable” will come to us
for His unconditional love and true discernment.
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