Discernment

Readings for today: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John

Discernment is a lost art. The ability to determine right from wrong. Truth from falsehood. Good from evil. In fact, recent studies have shown how challenging it is for people to identify fake news, debunk conspiracy theories, and identify propaganda. The crisis is compounded by the rise in online warfare as nefarious people, influencers, and organizations weaponize social media to sow seeds of dissent and confusion in societies that value free speech. All this is made possible, of course, by post-modern philosophies that started taking hold in the 20th century where truth was intentionally relativized, individualized, and marginalized. The results are not good. We are more depressed than ever. More anxious than ever. More dis-integrated than ever. The social fabric of our culture tearing apart at the seams.

Over and against the prevailing winds come these words from the Apostle John, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.” (1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

The Graeco-Roman world was a lot like our own. People did what was right in their own eyes. It was a culture that showed little to no restraint. People were encouraged to engage in whatever behaviors felt good and right at the time. John is writing to Christian believers who are trying to remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of all the mess. He wants them to be able to know right from wrong. Good from evil. Truth from error. So he offers them a roadmap, a decision-making matrix that will allow them to find the godly path.

Test #1: Does the thought, attitude, or action align with Jesus? Does it reflect the ethics of the Kingdom of God? Does it bring honor and glory to His name? Will following the “spirit of the age” lead one to confess or deny Jesus?

Test #2: Resist temptation. Once one determines what is good and true and noble and right and godly, one must resist the very real temptation to go the other way. To listen to the false prophets. To follow the ways of the world. It’s tempting to think we are at the mercy of our feelings. Trapped by our biology. Helpless in the face of our circumstances. But these are lies from the spirit of the anti-Christ. John promises that in Christ we have the power to overcome temptation because greater is He that is in us than is in the world.

Test #3: Hold fast to your identity in Christ. No matter what challenges may come. No matter what difficulties you may face. No matter how much stress and anxiety and fear you may endure. You are from God. You are in Christ. Your heart has been transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Listen to God’s Word. Obey God’s commands. Trust in His will and His way for your life.

I know I’ve found these three tests to be true in my own life. They’ve kept me from running my life into the ditch time and time again. By employing them regularly, I have also learned to listen to the Holy Spirit. I’ve learned how to discern His voice among the cacophony of others that demand my attention. And as I listen to the Spirit and learn from the Spirit and live by the Spirit, God has made my life a living demonstration of the gospel in action. I could ask for nothing more.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 1-5

Christ Alone

Readings for today: 2 John 1, 3 John 1, Psalms 38

Many years ago, I was part of a denomination that struggled to affirm the truth of Jesus Christ. There were church leaders who denied His divinity. Church leaders who denied His exclusivity. Church leaders who denied His physical, bodily resurrection from the dead. Many claimed He was simply a good moral teacher. An example for us to follow. An enlightened human being who made a significant impact on His followers. Not surprisingly, it was also a denomination in steep decline. Every year, thousands of people would leave and hundreds of churches. It was painful to witness. The final straw came for me when I became a church planter and began to work with a board of church leaders whose theological vision conflicted deeply with my own. I was unapologetically evangelical which means I hold to the biblical truth about Jesus Christ. I affirm His divinity and humanity. I affirm His virgin birth. I affirm His suffering, death, and resurrection. I affirm He is the only way to the Father. Many of the board members didn’t share these same beliefs and the result was a disaster that was painful for all involved.

I wish I had listened to the Apostle John back then. In his second letter, he writes, “Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬) The reason my situation was so hard is that several of the church leaders I was working under had not remained in Christ’s teaching. They went beyond the Bible to create their own theological vision. They didn’t hold fast to what Christ Himself had revealed and lost the plot. They shipwrecked their faith and almost took me down with them. Not that I lost sight of Jesus. On the contrary, He was all I had in those dark moments. No, they almost torpedoed my pastoral ministry. In fact, one of them did his level best to try to obstruct me at every turn. What I learned from this experience is that it is critical to link arms in ministry only with those who are building on the same theological foundation. Christ alone is the rock on which we stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

What is true for ministry is also true in the Christian life. It holds true for marriages. Believers in Jesus Christ must marry other believers or your marriage will be divided from the beginning. It holds true for families. Believers must disciple their children or they risk losing them to the influence of the culture around them. It holds true for churches. Sure, there will always be people at various places on their spiritual journeys but the leadership of any church must make Christ the center lest they get pulled down all kinds of different social, political, or theological rabbit trails. Start to major in the minors and lose sight of Jesus. Every single believer faces the choice every single day in a variety of situations as to whether they will choose to place their faith in the truth of Christ, walk in the way of Christ, and receive the life of Christ or choose to place their faith in themselves, walk in the ways of the world, and experience all kinds of anxiety, fear, shame, and pain. Choose Christ that you might live!

Readings for tomorrow: Jude 1, Psalms 39