Week 20 Discernment and Wisdom
Sometimes I choose to be immature and other times I have it thrust upon me
In Sunday’s lesson, the class opened with a focus on verse 15 of that passage. I’ll give you that passage in a moment. First, the question that sparked a good bit of discussion. What is real, tangible, touchable about love? Consider that question and then read the scripture from the lesson, focusing on verse 15.
14As 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;
15but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16from 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.
Ephesians 4:14–16 (NASB95)
To understand how we got to the question, what is real about love, let’s look at the first part of verse 15. “But speaking the truth in love…” What is truth? Truth is true. Gravity works; it is a thing, no matter how much you want it not to work, if you jump off a building, gravity still pulls you to the ground. Even in space, physicists will tell you gravity is still there, acting on you no matter how far you get from the objects; gravity, to a greater or lesser degree, still pulls you toward it. If one truth exists, more truths exist. Those who hold to the idea of “your truth” or “my truth” have misnomered perspective. The sky is blue because our atmosphere filters out all but the blue light. This is true even though the colorblind person’s perspective is to see that as grey. The claim is that for that person it is “true” that the sky is grey, but that’s not a truth. It is that person’s perspective and is demonstrably, provably, repeatably demonstrated as blue.
Perspective is not truth. But individual perspective is real and cannot be discounted. For some, that perspective is real enough that life decisions are made based on it because, for them, that perspective is all they have. Our telling them that perspective misses the truth doesn’t change the fact that what they’ve seen and experienced in life was real and will be real tomorrow.
Here’s an example I used in class, and again, here I’m not making a judgment or statement about one perspective or the other. I’m merely using it to be illustrative. It is a true statement to say some people have nothing but fantastic interactions with US law enforcement, and some people have nothing but horrific interactions with US law enforcement. That statement is true, but it is a statement about two very different perspectives. Neither perspective means Law Enforcement is Good or Bad. What it means is instead of making a blanket statement about all law enforcement, we should be wise enough to realize there are good and bad interactions with law enforcement because it is made up of people. People come in all shapes, sizes, and opinions about what should or should not be done.
It’s that last bit about wisdom I want to focus on this morning. Christians use a word for situations that call for us to evaluate the situation and make a decision. That word is discernment. If you look up that word, it uses the word to define the word, and I hate that. Here’s the definition for “the act of discerning” from Dictionary.com.
Discerning
[ dih-sur-ning, -zur- ]
adjective
Showing good or outstanding judgment and understanding:
A discerning critic of French poetry.
Synonyms: discriminating, sharp, keen, perceptive
Judgment and understanding beget another word that is not exclusively Christian, though we use it a lot: wisdom. Knowledge is the good and bad information about a thing, but our experiences with that knowledge, both good and bad, turn our information into wisdom when we make the right choices. What are the right choices? Those are the ones that align with what God says are good and bad. So, what does all this have to do with the opening question, what is real about love?
Truth.
Specifically, speaking truth in love, but as verse sixteen from the passage from Ephesians says, to maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. That’s from the King James Version. The NASB says, “…causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
Edifying or building up is the focus. I’m rehashing the lesson and what was said in class, but the point is the scripture asked us to build up, edify, the body of Christ in love. That means doing real things. All this opening is to do is to get us to the point to explain that someone in class mentioned the gifts of the spirit as an answer to what is real about love? What is tangible, touchable, and experienceable about love?
I’m going to post the fruits of the Spirit scripture in a moment. I’m also going to include the part before it that outlines the negative things to be avoided that come first. Note, we have one list about the flesh and another list about the spirit. We’ve been talking all year about the differences between the two. Keep in mind that while the items on the list about the flesh are negatives, human beings are fallen and sometimes cannot help but become ensnared by the things of the flesh. That list, while a list of things God thinks are bad, evil, and sinful, doesn’t necessarily mean someone ensnared in one or more of them is bad or evil. It means they are in the middle of a mess and need help. Yes, some people are experiencing the consequences of their actions, and that cannot be helped. Some of them do not even want help, and as much as it hurts us must be left to their own devices until they realize their situation. However, that does not divorce us from the fact, the truth, that God thinks those things are bad and to be avoided. We need to unlimber our discernment, filter the situation through our understanding, and make wise decisions about what to get involved with and what not. Here’s that scripture with the fruits of the Spirit.
19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
26Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:19–26 (NASB95)
This gets us to discernment and wisdom. The Ephesians passage specifically discusses the Body of Christ, the church. That’s the one we are to be building up, edifying in a moral or spiritual sense. The Greek word behind Edifying has that connotation of the moral and spiritual building up. However, we are called by the Great Commission to go out and make disciples of all the world, so what about non-Christians not in the church? Are we not called to, in love, go out and build them up morally and spiritually? I contend that once again, we need discernment and wisdom to understand where we should and should not toss out our nuggets of edifying.
In class, I used Hebrews 5:13-14 to illustrate this point. That passage is softer and more forgiving to the ear when discussing who we should and should not talk with about what we believe is morally and spiritually right. If you need any evidence of this, go onto any social media platform and disagree with someone about anything. Immediately, you’ll discover someone is vociferously, angrily, in disagreement with you about whatever the topic is. Regardless of how you’ve stated it, they will turn on you and burn you down for disagreeing with them. In some cases, it isn’t because they are bad people. It’s because their personality isn’t ready to hear what you have to say. There’s a scripture for that, too, but it is somewhat harsher than the Hebrews scripture. I’m going to post them back to back so you can see and compare them. In this context, I think the sentiment is the same and that is to discern with wisdom when, who, and where we are to talk to.
13For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Hebrews 5:13–14 (NASB95)
6“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:6 (NASB95)
It is very interesting to read both before and after that single verse from Matthew. Those are Red Letters, too, by the way. Jesus dropped this little nugget in the middle of some other, very powerful stuff that helps a lot with discernment and wisdom. But I had a point with the milk and solid food passage that was greater than the pearls before swine, one that would have been lost given the negative connotation that single scripture brings out in people who think I’m calling someone else a pig.
The point is to be the mature Christian instead of the immature Christian. How do we know who we are? We are mature Christians if we let other Christians in the body of Christ make us better. How do they do that? They edify us in love, they build us up morally and spiritually in love, meaning when I get something wrong, I am challenged on it. How is that in love? Easy. If you disagree with me, or anyone else, and want to be in the category of edifying, building up, instead of just angry and offended, challenge my views with scripture, because I will give you mine for why I think the way I do. How is that edifying in love? Also easy. You have to come at this with the mindset of being willing to be built up, being willing to be morally and spiritually made better. If you aren’t willing to let someone else present a counter to what you believe, and base it in God’s Word, then you aren’t a mature Christian.
So, what do we do with a passage of scripture someone presents to us that they believe we got wrong, or is counter to what we think God’s Word says? We read it, but not just read it. We have to contemplate it, think on it, noodle it around until it is understood. We have to study that passage and ask trusted Christian counsellors whom we trust who have rightly handled the word in the past. Then, and this is the hard part, we have to evaluate what God says honestly. Where we think something different from God, we change, but if, after all this, we still believe what we believe, we say so. However, that will only happen, I contend, with other scripture to explain why we believe we are correct. There’s a simple passage of scripture for this, too, and it’s what I closed the lesson with. I’ll close this morning with it too, but I urge you to read on through the end of this chapter and spend time with the whole of the text because it is worth it. He who has ears, let him hear. God bless and Godspeed.
17Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
18He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who cares for his master will be honored.
Proverbs 27:17–18 (NASB95)
23“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Matthew 13:23 (NASB95)