Discernment

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. 
It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” 
     — Charles Spurgeon

There’s a whole lot of almost right out there.  And, boy, is it frustrating.

The only thing more frustrating is the number of professing Christians who line up to support an almost right idea with little or no thought.

The semi-truths are everywhere, our culture is riddled with it — politics, social debates, business — but they are particularly maddening in churches.  This is especially important for Christians because, in a spiritual context, being almost right is often the same as being totally wrong.  You are even warned about this in your Bible you never read!

But identifying almost right can be tricky.

You see, almost right sounds really good. It sounds so close to the truth that it can be easy to mistake it for the truth.  It might even come packaged with Bible verses and sincere sermons or in speeches from the pulpit.  It tickles your ears because it sounds Christian.  And when it comes from a person in authority, such as a pastor or professor, it’s not questioned because, “Hey, he studies the Bible a lot more than I do.”

To be blunt: There are a lot of bad churches, places that are houses of worship in name only.  They worship a god of their making, no the Creator God of the universe!

To be more blunt: Bad churches don’t care about the Bible.  Sure, they all say they care, but really they only care about the parts that make them feel good, or that make them feel successful, or that make them feel superior to others.  Actual study of the Bible is nonexistent.  These churches preach love without truth and they preach truth without love.  In either case, it’s ultimately a man-centered gospel, not the Jesus-centered Gospel.

And that’s bad news for people like you seeking truth (I hope!).

As Christians, we must acknowledge that Scripture is the only source of absolute truth. That truth may clash with your feelings.  

It may clash with our friends. 

It may clash with our upbringing. 

It may even clash with what you hear from the pulpit every Sunday!

What does almost right look like in practice?  It can take various forms.  Here are a few examples you might find in churches today:

“Salvation comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and then doing your best to live out Christ’s teachings.” Almost right. (Read Ephesians 2:8-9)

“God blesses those He loves and wants us to be happy.” Almost right. (Read Matthew 5:10-12)

“As Christians, our priority is to fight for the oppressed and oppose injustice wherever we see it.” Almost right. (Read: Matthew 22:36-38; Matthew 28:19)

See? They sure sound nice, but ultimately they are spiritually dangerous half-truths.

How to spot a bad church, even yours - they:

— De-emphasize the sinful nature of man and the need for repentance and salvation.

— Preach salvation through works.

— Preach salvation through a combination of faith and works.

— Rarely preach salvation at all.

— Focus more on the social gospel than the actual Gospel.

— Share pastor’s personal stories and motivational speeches, with a sprinkling of the Bible.

— Use secular music during worship services.
— Emphasize feeling or experience over teaching the Word.

That’s not an all-inclusive list, which is part of the reason why discernment is so important.

But discernment does not end when we leave church. We must keep it at the ready all day, every day. This extends to our dealings with friends and family. It also extends to the political candidates, issues and causes we support. There’s really nowhere it doesn’t exist for a Christian.

So the lesson here is simple: 

— Be careful about from whom and from where you seek advice or guidance on spiritual matters.  

— Be careful whose words you trust. 

— Pastors, friends and family members are all fallible. 

— The Bible teaches that there are many false gospels out there. 

— They aren’t always obvious because many of them are, almost right.

So what do you do? 

Test every claim about God, about salvation, about the Christian life through the lens of the entire Bible with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible is not meant to be selectively read.  This can not be overstated.  It should not matter whether we otherwise trust someone, or whether they have been right in the past. Test everything, always!

Don’t seek out verses to confirm a particular viewpoint, but consider everything God has revealed about the matter.  Sometimes this requires more than a cursory perusal of Scripture.

You will never acquire discernment without study of the Bible and knowing what it has laid out as right and wrong.  And yes, there is a spiritual gift of discernment, where the Holy Spirit is telling you something is right or wrong, but if you do not know the Scriptures you will never be able to know what or which it is!

Theologically speaking, an inch from the truth might as well be a million miles.