The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment
A Discerning Review

Tim Challies has broken the mold! As a self-employed web designer, he has taken up a large task in writing a book that is both practical and thorough. Writing is not an easy thing to accomplish, and not many web designers are writing books that edify the Church! Therefore, as I discovered the book through Tim Challies’ blog, I immediately decided to purchase it and take part in the study on discernment. Below is the result of my personal review of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies.

The purpose of the book

The purpose of the book seems clear from the title. Without even opening the book, Tim Challies has provided us with the subject matter that will be discussed in each chapter – spiritual discernment. As Tim begins his book, he states, “As you no doubt have surmised from its title, this is a book about discernment – about the skill of thinking biblically about life. To be more precise, it is a book about a particular kind of discernment: spiritual discernment. In this book I hope to show that discernment is a discipline, and like other disciplines such as prayer and reading the Bible, it is one that all Christians should seek to practice and should seek to practice deliberately. If we are to be a people who show our love for the Lord by faithfully serving him, it is a discipline we must practice (15).”

Brief summary of books content

The book itself spans 205 pages with ten main chapter divisions and an appendix, acknowledgments section, study guide, general index, and scripture index. From chapter one, titled A Call to Discernment, until the last chapter, titled The Practice of Discernment, Challies seeks to bring about a clear understanding of the Christian’s responsibility to be discerning, a clear definition of spiritual discernment, and practical aspects of the discipline in the Christian life.

Calling to Discernment: Tim Challies puts aside the famous (and often lazy) notion that discernment is for “somebody” else. He says, “Unlike Solomon, I have not been called by God to govern a nation, but even in the humble ways God has called me to lead, I feel the desire of Solomon. Even when I look at my family and think of how I must lead my wife and teach my children, I feel like a little child, uncertain of what to do and how to act (21).” He goes further to state, “Far too many people are just like the audience to whom Hebrews is addressed. This letter draws a clear link connecting a lack of discernment with spiritual immaturity so that those who lack discernment are those who are spiritually immature. Scripture makes it plain: if you are not a person who exhibits and exercises discernment you are not a mature Christian (23).”

Tim Challies makes it very clear – as a Christian – we are all called to be exercising our ability of spiritual discernment. This should be very obvious as God provides us all leadership responsibilities in our homes and often in our churches. There is no room for laziness in the Christian life – and Tim Challies makes this abundantly clear.

Working Definition of Spiritual Discernment: In chapter three, after speaking about the importance of definitions and then looking at the original languages to unpack the meanings of the words, Tim Challies provides us with his definition of discernment.

Discernment is the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.

Challies goes beyond this foundational definition to describe it in more detail through the chapter as he unpacks his own definition into component parts. After describing the definition in full detail, he then goes on to speak about the source, the power, and process whereby he describes spiritual discernment.

Tim Challies leaves no room for error. He rightly identifies the source as God and the power as that of the Holy Spirit. In our present day, people are more likely to believe things based upon their emotions, feelings, or because of some person’s testimony of a vision or voice in the night. Challies provides clarity on the source of true spiritual discernment when he points back to God as the ultimate source. He ends his chapter on the defining of discernment by saying, “People who are discerning have a heightened ability to see and understand issues from God’s perspective. Empowered by his Spirit, they strive for and are given an understanding of what is pleasing to God and what is not (71).”

How it [spiritual discernment] Works: After outlining the foundational calling to be discerning and the working definition of the discipline, Tim Challies moves forward for the remaining part of the book describing how spiritual discernment works in the life of the Christian. From proper judgment (chapter 4) to a commitment to the truth (chapter 5) – Challies continually builds upon the foundation of our calling to be discerning into the “how to” aspects of the discipline.

In chapter six, Challies connects the dots of God’s will of command (AKA – God’s preceptive will) and the Christian’s calling to be spiritually discerning. Tim Challies says, “If we are to discern God’s will, we must dedicate ourselves to knowing and understanding his Word as it is given to us in the Bible (119).”

In chapter seven, Challies speaks about the gift of spiritual discernment. Although in the foundational part of his study, Tim Challies claims that all Christians are called to exercise spiritual discernment, he now identifies the actual spiritual gift of discernment. However, before opening up an opportunity to evade the exercise or creating a loop hole [for all attorneys who may read his book] – Challies points to our continued responsibility to exercise spiritual discernment even if we are not explicitly gifted with spiritual discernment. He says, “Just as the existence of a gift of evangelism does not preclude those who have not been given this gift from the task of evangelizing, in the same way, even those who do not have the spiritual gift of discernment are expected to be discerning (127).” Challies then moves on to discuss the gift that is given by God for the purpose of using it in the local church and the life of a Christian for the glory of God.

In chapter eight, Challies speaks about the dangers of discernment. He says, “There is a danger inherent in the practice of discernment. Those who seek to draw clear distinctions between what is good and what is evil can spend undue time and attention on the evil. Once of the greatest dangers of discernment is that we will become so interested in what is evil and ungodly that we allow ourselves to become immersed in it and inadvertently oppressed by the evil we encounter (144).”

In chapter nine, Challies speaks about developing discernment. After opening his chapter (as is his style) with a great illustration on Matt Halladay (a Toronto Blue Jays baseball player) and his preparation regimen for the field – Challies ties it to the life of a Christian and how we should be constantly in pursuit of becoming better. In order to become a better Christian and a more mature Christian, we must become a more discerning Christian. Although many Christians are on a different level of discernment (spiritually) – Challies argues that we must all work at developing it along the Christian journey. He speaks of pursuit, desire, prayer, and seeking discernment in the opening part of the chapter. Challies says, “Discernment is not a pursuit that stand on its own in the life of the Christian. Rather, it is inexorably connected to others. Those who wish to be discerning must have a posture of discernment. They must commit to reading and studying the Bible, to participating in the local church, and to pursuing the charater traits of a Christian (162).”

In his final chapter, Tim Challies discusses the practice of discernment. He says, “While the Bible provides a framework for the method of discernment, we will not find a verse or passage that explicitly instructs us point-by-point (164).” Challies then moves to a very practical (and yet very biblical) process of practicing spiritual discernment. His points are as follows:

• Action 1: Verify
• Action 2: Clarify
• Action 3: Assess The Issues
• Action 4: Pray
• Action 5: Assess Your Instinct
• Action 6: Assess Your Conscience
• Action 7: Search The Scriptures
• Action 8: Observe The Scriptures
• Action 9: Compare And Contrast
• Action 10: Research
• Action 11: Summarize
• Action 12: Expand Your Research
• Action 13: Conclude
• Action 14: Make a List
• Action 15: Judge
• Action 16: Hold Fast
• Action 17: Apply

After completing his list and describing each part, Challies says, “The practice of discernment, then, is given to us in the Bible. We test by using God’s Word as our standard. And having done that either we hold fast to what is true or abstain from what is false and substitute what is good and true and consistent with God’s character for error (182).”

Impressive ideas contained in the book

Several impressive ideas are contained in the book. I have outlined them below:

• All Christians are called to be spiritually discerning.
• A lack of spiritual discernment is the evidence of spiritual immaturity.
• A Lack of giftedness in the area of spiritual discernment does not exempt a person from the exercise of spiritual discernment in their Christian life.
• Application drawn from the counterfeit money example in Canada: all Christians should be so well acquainted with what is right and good that anything less will become easily identifiable.
• All Christians should work hard to become more discerning in our Christian life.

Things that I disagree with in the book

I found Tim Challies’ book very well written and researched. However, in his chapter on the gift of spiritual discernment, he takes the position that all spiritual gifts may not be given at the very moment of conversion. He goes on to suggest that we can pray and ask God to “gift” us with a specific gift for the glory of God. While I do see his position and I do understand that the listing in scripture regarding spiritual gifts may not be intended to identify all gifts – I do question the notion that we as Christians are given gifts at various points in our Christian lives – after praying and requesting them.

As I survey the scriptures, I see Jeremiah being called to be a prophet unto the nations before he even left his mother’s womb. Furthermore, the sovereignty of God over all events and giftedness of persons would indicate that God intends to use specific people in specific ways. Therefore, the question must be asked – does the gift already exist in the person as God intends them to be gifted from the time of their conversion? Is the gift manifested or revealed to the individual in accordance with God’s divine time table? It may be that we actually agree with one another, but I simply found this part in Tim’s book difficult to reconcile with the scripture.

Assessment of the value of the book

As I survey the world of Christian literature today, I find myself very discouraged. Not only do we find people writing on various subjects that are not biblically accurate, but we find countless thousands of people purchasing this literature and consuming it at speeds that are unimaginable. I found The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment to be a book that not only addressed the subject of spiritual discernment from a biblical standpoint, but I also found it well researched and personally challenging.

I am well aware of the criticisms that have been put forth regarding Tim Challies’ ability to write a book regarding a theological exercise and doctrine without a formal theological degree. As a pastor, I not only see this as a breath of fresh air, but I also long for the day when people that I pastor can take on such a grand task with such passion and accuracy as Tim Challies has done.

Therefore, I encourage any Christian to purchase his book and read it. It is well written so that both the theologically trained and the average layperson can both benefit. Below is information about where you can purchase a copy for yourself:

Buy it Here: http://www.gnpcb.org/product/9781581349092

About the Book: http://www.challies.com/my-book.php

God Bless

Rev. Josh Buice

  

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