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How do you distinguish between right and wrong, truth and error?   What about this discernment thing…do you have any?  When I look around at our world, I believe this particular character trait is sorely missing in our society.  Some people believe whatever they are told, no matter how far-fetched it may be.

We all get taken in every once in a while.  We may think something makes sense and so we believe it without checking the facts.  Doing this occasionally is one thing.  Living there is quite another.

Rose colored glasses

I realize that we also respond in certain ways about things.  We all have our own world view, our set of “rose colored glasses” that we see things through.  They often color our opinions to believe a certain way, to read the facts in a certain way.  A lot of times we decide in advance what we want to believe about a certain subject.  Then we spin the “facts” to justify what we “believe”.

Or, we respond in fear over things.  Often, we jump to the worst-case scenario and camp out there…imagining all types of horrible things.  We let our fears dictate what we believe and how we respond.  And no matter how many facts line up to tell us this thing isn’t true; we refuse to move on.

Discernment…what is it?

How should we think?  What is discernment?

If you look it up online you might find this definition:

“the ability to judge something well or the ability to understand and comprehend something”.

This sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?  And yet, a few years ago, there were teenagers who were actually biting into Tide Pods, there are girls that get into a strange man’s car, there are people who get drunk and drive, there are people who believe everything the media tells them…the list just goes on.   

So, it seems that we are sometimes a bit lacking in our ability to “judge something well”, to tell truth from error.

John MacArthur goes a bit further in his definition of discernment:

“In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.”

According to MacArthur, discernment is the ability to distinguish between truth and error, right and wrong.  The Bible makes it clear that we are to be discerning.  There are lots of verses that speak to this.

Examine everything

1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us, “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good”.

There are several verses that tell us to “test every spirit” to make sure that we do not accept wrong teaching.  This is an important step to keep from being deceived.

 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1John 4:1

Obviously, it is important that we be discerning about spiritual matters.  It can literally make the difference between life and death for us.

But what about the things of this world?  Should we be discerning as to how we relate to other people?  Is it okay to judge whether or not someone is being truthful?  How about what we believe from the media?  Should we be able to make distinctions between the truth and the spin?

Our responsibility

Absolutely!  In fact, I would go out on a limb and say that it is our responsibility to do so.

To begin with, I am not a fan of compartmentalizing.  What do I mean by that?  Simple.  I feel strongly that as a Christian I can not pick and choose what parts of my life I should let my faith influence.  It should affect everything about me, including how I relate to people and how I accept information from others.  I don’t need to call people out on every half-truth they speak.  But It is my responsibility to decide if I believe them to be truthful.

Also, whether we like it or not, unbelievers are watching us.  And sometimes they are looking to us to see what we believe and how we respond to it.  Now I know that there are those who will do and say the exact opposite of what we do. 

They are counting on us

But others, well, they need someone to show them the way.  They need someone to not act in fear and be strong and true.  They are looking to us to speak the truth. We must take time to search out the truth and be bold enough to speak it…in love, of course. 

By the way, in my opinion, it is not loving to quietly stand by and let everyone around you be deceived. Should we respond with grace and love…certainly.  But we should respond in truth. There are those who are counting on us to do this.

Finally, I believe the Bible tells us to be discerning.

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Ephesians 4:14 (NIVUK)

Basically, we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated. We shouldn’t accept everything that comes our way as truth.  Instead, we should discern what is true and what is false, and accept only the truth.  If we prayerfully look at things, can we not tell if something is being exaggerated or understated. 

God will give us wisdom

The Bible tells us that God will give us wisdom if we will ask Him.  Pray on how you think about things.  Ask God to show you the difference between truth and error.   You may have to search it out a bit.  But I’m sure God wants you to know the truth.

If we do this, we will not be tossed around like we are on boat out in the middle of the sea.  We can stand on the Rock and know that our footing is sure.  Will we still make mistakes…sure.  But at least we won’t live there.

Take the time to distinguish between truth and error, right and wrong.  And then, act on it…in love.

People may be counting on you!