11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. [Eph. 4:11-16 – NASB95]
One of the primary mandates for church leaders is found in Eph. 4:11-15. We are to equip the members of the church to serve one another so that the whole body of believers is built up, unified in sound doctrine, maturing in Christlikeness, and able to discern truth from error. This is why we emphasize teaching the truth. But in the process of teaching truth, we try to model how to interpret the truth of Scripture accurately. In other words, we don’t simply want to think for you, we want to teach you how to think. We don’t just want to study the Bible for you; we want to teach you how to study. We not only want to discern truth from error for you (Titus 1:9), we want to train you to do the same for yourself. We want you to be like the people in Berea the Apostle Paul described in Acts 17:11:
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
Notice that these people were diligent to study & think for themselves so they wouldn’t be duped. And they did this even with the Apostle Paul! They didn’t assume he was always right. They checked what he said with Scripture. If we want to be noble-minded, we need to do the same thing. We can’t assume that because our favorite preacher says it, it must be right. The same thing applies to our favorite bible teacher, college professor, politician, news commentator, song writer, etc. I was asked a few years ago which author I “gave a pass to” because I trusted that they would be right. My answer was, “Only God.” The fact that my favorite author (or pastor) was profoundly correct the last time they wrote (or spoke), doesn’t mean they are right this time. We need to develop discernment and apply it to everything we read and hear.
What exactly is biblical discernment? “The word discern and its derivatives are translations of the Greek word anakrino in the New Testament. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Discernment is the ability to properly discriminate or make determinations. It is related to wisdom. [www.GotQuestions.org] Look at what Solomon wrote in Prov. 2:1-5:
1 My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, 2 make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; 3 for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; 4 if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Notice the effort put forth to be discerning and wise: “receive, treasure, make your ear attentive, incline your heart, cry, lift your voice, seek, and search.” There is nothing passive about this. Why so much effort? Because we live in a world full of lies and deception. Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Fallen men are not infallible. Some just make mistakes. Others are trying to deceive us for their own personal gain. Either way, we must be on the alert to lies / error / deception / false thinking, and be devoted to discerning what is true. Satan doesn’t take days off, so we need to be on the alert every day.
What are the benefits of becoming discerning? Here are five. Send me others that come to your mind. Discernment helps us get our priorities straight (Mt. 6:33); increases our love for God (Eph. 3:18); aids in resisting temptation (Prov. 14:12); helps us handle the trials of life (James 1:2-4); and protects us from error (Prov. 15:21).
In future articles we will look at ways to develop discernment. But two you can apply right now are: PRAYER and BIBLE STUDY. We need to PRAY and ask God for wisdom and discernment. Tell Him you want to know what is right, even to the point of discerning the difference between what is good, better, and best. We also need to pray before we STUDY THE BIBLE. Ask the Lord to help us understand what the author said, what he meant by what he said, and what we should do in response. Then using proper bible study methods, discern, meditate upon, and apply God’s truth. One application will be to use the truth of Scripture as a grid (or sieve) to strain out everything else you see or hear. Compare known truth with what others claim to be true. If what you hear doesn’t match the truth, throw it out… no matter who said it.
Discernment is a mark of maturity. Work at it diligently and help others do the same, so we can stand out and stand up for the truth of Jesus in a world filled with lies.