Discernment is the ability to judge a situation based on separating truths from lies. As Christians, discernment means knowing what the word of God says and what it does not. The judgment that comes from discernment when looking at a situation through a biblical lens means identifying sin according to the written word of God. When we encounter actions and behaviors that go against the truth found in the bible, we are to label these things as sin. Sin is having a thought, action or behavior that separates us from God. Now, this is where lots of Christian and non-believers get confused about discernment.
I am sure that most of you have heard someone say that the Bible says not to judge others. This statement is part truth and part lie so that makes it a lie. What the Bible says, is that we are not supposed to judge the heart of others. Meaning, we do not know the entire situation so looking in from the outside may not give us the full picture. Only God knows the heart and has a full picture of what is going on. An example of this would be judging someone by how they drive. Maybe the person has an emergency causing them to want to drive fast to get it resolved. Maybe the person is swerving in traffic because they have to go to the bathroom bad. Maybe the person just found out that someone close to them just passed away and they are in shock.
Many of us can relate to the above situations. But other drivers witnessing the driving behavior may just cast judgement on the situation and say that the person doesn’t know how to drive. When more facts about the situation are revealed, we can understand why the person did what they did because we too may have had the same response to the situation. Knowledge paints a full picture of the situation and can help us understand why someone is doing what they are doing. Other times behaviors don’t need explanation as they are clearly sin. The behavior is blatantly counter to the teachings found in the Bible. We recognize the sin and call it out for what it is by speaking truth to the situation.
Discernment identifies sin but yet shows grace.
Most of us would see certain acts and behaviors as clear disobedience to God which we call sin. Murder, theft, drunkenness, cheating on your spouse with another person, and homosexuality are a few examples of sin or sinful behavior. We don’t need to know the person or the situation, because it is irrelevant. There are countless verses in the Bible that call all of these behaviors sin. There aren’t varying degrees of acceptability for engaging these behaviors. Stating the fact that these behaviors are sinful does not mean that we are casting judgement upon another person. God says that these behaviors are wrong so we should say the same thing as well.
Luke 6:37 New American Standard Bible
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Discernment lets us see the sin and separate it from the sinner. If we cast judgment against the sinner because of their choices, then we become the judge. If we simply identify what the Bible calls sin and someone happens to be engaging in the behavior, then we are not casting judgement on the individual but labeling sin as sin. Leave the judging of character up to God and let him measure people’s behaviors by his standards, not ours. We all actively engage in sin daily. It doesn’t matter what sin we choose to partake of it is still wrong in God’s eyes. We all need to be held accountable for our behaviors. As Christians, we should hold other Christians accountable for their behaviors.
Galatians 6:1-2 New American Standard Bible 1995
Bear One Another’s Burdens
6 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Part of being in the body of Christ requires us to hold our own members of the kingdom accountable. As Christians, we are representatives for Jesus and should demonstrate behavior that reflects our commitment to him. Matthew 18 is a perfect example of how we need to confront sin from another brother or sister. This context does not call us to be quiet or ignore the behavior. It also does not say anything about not judging the actions. The set of verses clearly demonstrates that we need to bring light to sin. This set of verses also talks about how we need to confront the sin.
Matthew 18:15-17 New American Standard Bible
Discipline and Prayer
15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
As you grow in your relationship with Christ and dig further into God’s word, you will grow in your discernment. Discernment comes from wisdom. Wisdom comes from reading the word of God and continually praying for God’s authority over us. Understand that not all people have discernment. This comes from one of two places. A lack of understanding of God’s word which generally happens to people that do not read their Bible. The second lack of discernment is an intentional disobedience to the word of God to fulfil selfish lusts and desires. Neither situation is a good place to be at. But as discerning individuals, hopefully you can see through the lies that these people consume and expel from their lips.