Discernment: A Primer

Aug 25

We’re embarking on a season of discernment in the congregation I’m serving as Interim Lead Pastor. There is a difference between discerning and merely deciding. To decide is human, but to discern is divine.

One way churches decide is to brainstorm best ideas: "What do you think we ought to do?" Folks are then surveyed or invited to give their opinions in person (or anonymously - Look out!). The results are tallied and the pros and cons are debated (sometimes civilly and sometimes not). Somebody says, "Let's vote." Then, using Robert's Rules of Order and following parliamentary procedure (just the way Jesus taught the disciples to do before he ascended to the right hand of God), a vote is taken. Those on the short end of the vote will walk away on a continuum between crestfallen and angry. Depending on the significance of the decision, some will walk away for good, to which some will say, "Good riddance." Sigh.

Another popular way to decide the way ahead is to borrow others’ best practices. Somebody hears of a congregation that did something that seemed to work, so they say, "Hey, why don't we do that?" Then somebody buys the book or the video series or signs up for the online webinar or the three-day consultation or downloads a copy of so-and-so’s 73 page long-range strategic planning document. The church adopts the plan as their own and proceeds to implement it, pausing long enough to pray, of course, asking God to bless us as we use what worked for somebody else. Amen. To which I say, “Good riddance! Ministry is contextual. Cut and paste is for computers, not congregations.”

Of course, decisions can also be made by consulting the Oracle of Delphi. Or if all else fails, flip a coin.

On the other hand, discernment, to borrow from the old hymn, takes it to the Lord in prayer. We set aside a season of time during which we covenant to patiently listen to and through each other for the Spirit’s leading. We lean into Scripture for a relevant Word. Rather than beginning with what we think or someone else thought, discernment seeks the mind of Christ. In Paul's words, “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….” (Philippians 1:9-11).

My colleagues, the Revs. Geoff and Peter Mitchell, said in a recent workshop, “Discernment is arriving at truth slowly.”

Arriving at truth through discernment is an exercise in corporate soul-squinting over time. It is soul-squinting in that we strive to "walk by faith and not by sight." We begin the process not knowing where we are headed. It’s not discernment if participants enter the process with an outcome in mind. I recall sitting in the airport years ago after a denominational gathering called for a thorny subject to be given over to “a season of discernment.” “I know what that means,” one of the participants bristled. “That means you’ll talk at me until I come around to the way you’re thinking.” Ouch. It's no fair (and it’s not discernment) if we invite others into a conversation over something that has already been decided (and close by offering a cursory nod of thanksgiving to God for rubber-stamping our predetermined decision).

To the contrary, I sense I’ve been in discernment when the result of the conversation, reflection, and prayer yields an outcome I couldn’t have imagined or predicted. Something happens to and through us as we give ourselves with open minds, ears, and hearts to the process of discernment. We arrive at truth.

The pronoun is we. Plural. Discernment is a corporate exercise. More than one set of eyes is squinting to see and perceive. I have a spiritual mentor who reminds a prayer circle of which I have been a part for 17 years, “The conversation is the prayer.” Indeed. During dialogue marked by vulnerability, honesty, active listening, and prayerful pensiveness, I often sense the silent but certain whisper of the Divine – a Word breathed into our words. Jesus underscored the promise of the Spirit’s presence in a plurality of truth seekers when he said, “I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:19-20). Just as the Holy Spirit is present among the three that is the Trinity, so is the Spirit present among the two, three, and more who covenant to enter into discernment. Lone Ranger autocratic leaders can decide, but they cannot discern. Discernment requires company.

And time. Discernment that culminates in a decision on an important matter takes time. The word decision comes from the same root as the word incision. Incision means “to cut into.” Decision means “to cut off.” To make a decision is to choose one thing and cut off other choices. Measure twice, cut once. Lest we rush through discernment and decide too quickly, we do well to give ourselves the leisure of time.

Finally, we ought leaven the decisions that emerge from our discernment with humility. The Jerusalem Council narrative in Acts 15 is the New Testament’s exemplar of discernment. The potent alchemy of process, people, prayer, and robust dialogue produced a decision whose details none could have anticipated in advance. How was the decision announced? “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28). Emphasis on the word seemed. This is not an announcement by fiat; no arrogant claiming of the Spirit’s imprimatur. To the contrary, the council cloaks their pronouncement in modesty: “It seems good to the Spirit and us.”

I’m going over my discernment checklist to see if we’re set to begin:

Prayer – I’m setting aside thirty minutes at Noon each Thursday to be in prayer about the discernment process ahead of us. I’ve invited others, including our congregation’s Prayer Circle, to join me in person or from home or work.
Open to the process – I have no idea how things will unfold.
Plurality of participation – The Executive Committee, Board, Elders, Worship Committee, Music Team, and Staff will be dialogue partners who will in turn invite the congregation’s input.
Time – No deadline.
Humility – Unbeknownst to me, the hymn “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me” was selected to be sung last Sunday.

It seems good to the Spirit and us to begin discernment.