James MacDonald on Damage and Discernment
An illuminating look at the abuse of spiritual gifts, in particular, the spiritual gift of discernment. Spiritual gifts, he says, when used outside the controlling influence of the Spirit, can actually cause great damage. Those with the gift of discernment are especially prone to this. Go read his post.
I'm left wondering why individuals who demonstrate viscious behavior toward fellow body-members can be characterized as operating in a spiritual gift.
ReplyDeleteDiscernment gifting, it seems to me, enables both critical thinking and self-control. It is useful to the people of God when it builds up the church, not tears it down with public humiliation.
Amy, a couple days after i posted this i was thinking the same thing! Part of discernment is discerning the whens and hows of the truth we perceive a need to share. It's "grace and truth" or "truth in love."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder.
Right! I think James has a point, though. A Christian can be discerning about a particular issue/situation, but undiscerning about how to approach others about it. For instance, I may discern that a person is caught in a destructive pattern of behavior unawares, but could confront them with it in either a discerning or undiscerning manner.
ReplyDeleteThen again, spiritual gifts should be consistent, so what James referred to as discernment may be something altogether different.