A. W. Tozer was fond of saying that the greatest need in the church was for the gift of discernment. And Dr. Tozer spoke from his perspective in the middle of the twentieth century. Were he able to comment on today's religious confusion, I am sure his tones would be more strident, his concerns still deeper.

It is certainly clear to Christian leaders everywhere that confusion is increasing. There seems to be a famine of clear thought and penetrating insight.

Robert H. Mounce, in an observant article in Christianity Today, says this:

An educated person has also developed the power of discernment. We live out our lives in an atmosphere where truth and error constantly intermingle. If we are searchers after truth we accept the obligation to discern, to evaluate, to choose.1

And that obligation is what this book is about - developing the ability to be a discerning Christian in an age of confusion.

When we speak of Christian discernment, we refer to that special repository of penetrating insight and Christian wisdom that is the cherished heritage of the church. We refer to that ability from the Holy Spirit that enables godly men and women to slice through the surface confusion and to see the issues correctly and clearly. You are likely to discover as well an emerging and general definition of discernment as these pages unfold.

This Christian discernment involves, as we shall see, that special charisma of the Holy Spirit called the discerning of spirits, a special gift which only some Christians have. The special gift is discussed briefly in chapter 7; the general discernment is our subject everywhere else. All Christians may have discernment if they prayerfully apply biblical principles.

A biblical definition of this broad discernment is found in Paul's prayers for the fledgling churches in Ephesus, Philippi, and Colosse - all in Asia Minor.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe (Eph. 1:15-19a, NIV). (Italics added)

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1:9-11, NIV). (Italics added)

For this reason. since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col. 1:9, NIV). (Italics added)

For those churches and certainly for all the other assemblies of the New Testament era, Paul's obvious burden was that they should quickly develop that ability we are here calling Christian discernment.

For an Old Testament parallel. one might devotionally and reverently read the entire Book of Proverbs. When discernment is discussed there, reference is being made to the believer whose mind is steeped in the broad spectrum of practical advice in that ancient book.

If one wishes a specific Hebrew word to focus upon, there is no better one than bene, frequently used in Proverbs (1:5; 17:10; 17:24; 28:7) which means to separate, distinguish, consider, discern, perceive. and teach. But our overall purpose is not to focus upon a specific word. Instead, we must grasp discernment as the broad concept it surely is.

For those who crave a more precise definition of Christian discernment, let me say that I have chosen, carefully I hope, to build that definition gradually throughout these pages.

However. the discernment about which I speak is that insight, that wisdom, that understanding that enables a Christian believer to see beyond what the natural man is able to see. All Christians have this discernment though obviously it is more highly developed in some than others. Also I must make clear, and I repeat, the special gift of discerning of spirits is not what is under discussion, although a few pages are given to it later.

This study touches a very deep need. In preaching and writing through this material a number of times, invariably I have seen keen interest exhibited in the ideas presented here.

We live in an age that cries out for Christian discernment, one in which men and women are looking for guidelines, searching for answers. By design, the answers probably will not all be found in this volume, but hopefully the standards by which all things may be discerned will be set forth here.

Finally, it is clear by Paul's letter to the Philippians cited earlier that the discernment about which he speaks and for which he prays has a very definite objective: spiritual maturity based on moral integrity.

I am persuaded that Christian discernment today will be identical to that for which the apostle so earnestly prayed.

1. Robert H. Mounce, "The Marks of an Educated Person," Christianity Today, November 2, 1979. p. 25.

Chapter 3