Spiritual Discernment and Decision Making

[Alex Tang]

Spiritual Discernment and Decision Making

One day a young fugitive, trying to hide himself from the enemy,
entered a small village. The people were kind to him and offered him a
place to stay. But when the soldiers who sought the fugitive asked
where he was hiding, everyone became very fearful. The soldiers
threatened to burn the village and kill every person in it unless the
young man was handed to them before dawn. The people went to the
Pastor and asked him what to do. Torn between handing over the boy to
the enemy and having his people killed, the Pastor withdrew to his
room and read his Bible, hoping to find an answer before dawn. In the
early morning, his eyes fell on these words, “It is better that one
man dies than that the whole people be lost.”

Then the Pastor closed the Bible, called the soldiers, and told them
where the boy was hidden. And after the soldiers took the fugitive
away to be killed, there was a feast in the village because the Pastor
has saved the lives of the people. But the Pastor did not celebrate.
Overcome with a deep sadness, he remained in his room. That night an
angel came to him and asked, “What have you done?” He said: “I handed
over the fugitive to the enemy.” Then the angel said: “But don’t you
know that you have handed over the Messiah?” “How could I know?” the
Pastor replied anxiously. Then the angel said; “If, instead of reading
your Bible, you had visited this young man just once and looked into
his eyes, you would have known.”

What would you have done if you are this Pastor? Would you consider
justifiable that one man should be sacrificed for the lives of the
whole village? Would you felt that you have obeyed God by letting the
Bible speak to you this way? Our first impression is that the Pastor
did right. Is he not considerate of his village? Did he not seek the
will of God through his Word? Is it not better that one should die so
that others may live; especially if the one who is to die is a
stranger? In fact he should be commended for his wisdom and piety.

However the angel was not happy. The fugitive is the long awaited
Messiah. The Pastor asked a question which millions of persons before
him have asked since they nailed the Prince of Peace onto a wooden
cross to die, “How could I know?” Would it have made a difference if
he has known earlier? Of course it would. He would have been willing
sacrifice himself and his village for the Messiah. Or would he?

I believe that the Pastor had already made up his mind to save himself
and his village even before his deliberation. He had already decided
that the fugitive, this outsider, should be sacrificed for the greater
good. His deliberation was just to find reasons to justify his
actions. He agonised in prayer and in his meditation throughout the
night, but just cannot find the peace until a random passage in the
Bible confirmed what he had already decided. That would have explained
why he did not go to meet the fugitive. It was a small village. Could
it be that he was unable to meet the person he had already condemned?
On hearing about the arrival of this fugitive, he would had already
resolved to give up to the soldiers whom he knew is on the heels of
this fugitive.

The Pastor’s greatest weakness is his failure to see that all men
reflect the face of God and are all of equal value. If he did, he
would no more willing to give up the fugitive to the enemy as he would
give up any of his villagers. His second failing was to make up his
mind first and then seek God’s counsel.

I wonder how often in our lives have we decided upon a course of
action first, and then ask God to justify our actions? Having made up
our mind, we would spend days, months and years in a struggle with
God, and our conscience looking for confirmation and justification. We
would interpret all circumstances and events to support our decision.
We accept only the counsel of people who say what we want to hear. And
we pick from the Bible passages that agree with our assessment while
rejecting the rest. We suppress the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit and
our conscience, resisting the sense of unease, and sometimes
attributing it to spiritual warfare. We believe that the strong
impression that we sense in our heart are a confirmation from the
Lord, not suspecting that our hearts are capable of great self-
deception. Then we proceed with the course of action, convincing
others that it is God’s will or even worst that we speak for God. The
result of these is often catastrophic. People are hurt, ministries
disrupted, and our souls are severe injured. What is not of God will
not endure.

So when we want to discern the will of God, let us be honest. Let us
truly seek his wisdom and counsel and be open to listen and accept his
guidance. We need to move into a place of solitude as Jesus did in the
garden of Gethsemane to listen. There is the need to fast and pray;
disciplining our bodies so that we can be open to God. We need to
adopt the attitude of listening to the whole counsel of God from the
Bible, not just selected verses. Listening also involve hearing the
voice of the Holy Spirit speaking into our lives and by the Spirit
through the mind of God, understand the circumstances and events in
our lives. Spiritual decision making is not testing God as Gideon did
with his fleeces. Last but not least, let us listen to the discernment
and thoughts of our fellow Christians in our community. We share the
same baptism and the same Spirit. If the Spirit has spoken to us, then
he would have spoken to others too. If the other members of our
community of faith do not agree with our plan of action, it will be
wise to stop and take stock.

There is a great need for Christians to learn spiritual discernment.
For too long, we have leaned unto our own understanding, using our
minds to make decisions, and to discern a course of action. We must
avoid what the Pastor has discovered. What seems right in our own eyes
may not be right at all. We all need spiritual sight in our
discernment. Let us beware that we do not unintentionally crucify
Jesus again.

Soli Deo Gloria


Dr Alex Tang
Kairos Spiritual Formation

website: www.kairos2.com

blog: www.draltang01.blogspot.com

"making disciples with informed minds, hearts on fire, and
contemplative in actions"