The meaning of Christian discernment

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. -- Acts 10:34-35
An essay by Patrick Reany

21 March 2024

In everyday usage, (secular) discernment is the ability to go beyond mere rational thought,
educated guessing, and commonsense (or common wisdom) to arrive at a judgment or conclusion
in contradiction to those three modes of reasoning.
If you don't accept that there is a 'beyondness' to discernment, then how is it different than mere
rational thought, educated guessing, and commonsense (or common wisdom)? If discernment is
just a synonym for these things, then we're done. But I claim that it is beyond those things, and
it's vitally important for spiritual discernment, not only that we claim it to be beyond mere rational
thought, educated guessing, and commonsense (or common wisdom), but that the essence of that
'beyondness' lies in true spiritual essence, especially as it relates to God's interaction to believers
(and sometimes non-believers!) through the Holy Spirit.

My first comment is that whatever (Christian) spiritual discernment is to be defined as it must stand
out as distinct from secular discernment. One might claim that between secular and Christian
discernment there is a commonality of the search for truth and/or wisdom. The question remains:
How is truth and wisdom apprehended in both of these?

The following is what Copilot (on 20 March 2024) has to characterize it as:

Christian discernment is the ability to choose between what is true and right and what is
false and wrong. It involves recognizing the true worth or validity of something. In essence,
discernment is synonymous with thinking biblically.

Here are some key points about Christian discernment:

1. Definition:

2. Biblical Basis: 3. Spiritual Gift: 4. Practical Application:

In summary, Christian discernment is a vital aspect of faith, enabling believers to navigate life with
wisdom and godly insight.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/20/2024
(1) What is Discernment? Bible Meaning and Importance for Today - Christianity.
https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-is-biblical-discernment-and-why-is-it-important-11532182.html.
(2) Discernment in the Bible - Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/discernment-in-the-bible-5194992.
(3) What Is Spiritual Discernment? Its Signs and Power Explained.
https://www.pray.com/articles/what-is-spiritual-discernment-its-signs-and-power-explained.
(4) What is Discernment? Understanding this Spiritual Gift - Bible Study Tools.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/understanding-the-spiritual-gift-of-discernment.html.
(5) Discernment (Christianity) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discernment_%28Christianity%29.

My comment: The above is a pretty good description of Christian discernment, except that it does not
emphasize how that without it, one might not know how to go forward in a godly manner.

So, why would anyone need to use more than rational thought to decide anything? Good question. Rational
thought requires having sufficient information, which one may not have access to. But if one had sufficient
information, the conclusion would not be said to be obtained by discernment. If you could decide an issue
on the facts alone, that's called using logic or commonsense.

When people feel compelled to go outside of rational thought or commonsense, they may describe what they do
as yielding to intuition or a gut feeling. In Christianity, all true believers in Jesus have some form of spiritual
discernment. Pushed to the extreme, there is the spiritual gift of discernment. When Peter 'perceived' that God
is not a respecter of persons, he was coming to this conclusion that went well beyond the facts as he had been
collecting them in the previous days. I would say that what he felt or experienced was a spiritual insight from
the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus referred to those people who have eyes to see and ears to hear, He was referring to people having
spiritual discernment.

I already said that discernment is used when the facts or commonsense alone is not enough to draw a right
conclusion. One of the signs that discernment may be needed is when you feel the facts as presented to you seem
to you as mystifying, misleading, confusing, confoundingly subtle, or ambiguous. In this case, just applying
your idol of rational thought won't be enough. Game over!

Now, don't for a moment think that I am against rational thought. I'm just saying that to live your life, you need
to employ reasoning of a kind that sometimes transends rational thought. Sometimes that's your conscience
speaking, sometimes it's intuition or the Holy Spirit trying to convict you of sin, righteousness, or judgment
[John 16:8].

In everything there is a season: There's a season for spooky intuition and a season for modus ponens.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be
born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time
to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and
a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time
to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time
to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time
to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time
of war, and a time of peace. -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8