Sunday, July 21st // Recap Post

The Secret Gospel: Christ-like Mission is Discerning
Sunday, July 21^st

^{By: Alex Dowell (intern)}  

Have you ever had a moment in which you knew what someone was up to even though they tried to hide it? Maybe a friend knew a secret and weren’t supposed to tell you but you knew they were holding back. When you can tell something is up behind the scenes, that is called discernment. Some people are really good at this, others take a little time before they clue in to the situation, but everyone has some level of discernment.

When it comes to Christ-like mission, what every Christian is called to, we can use discernment to help reach people. But this goes beyond simple intuition, it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, Christians can discern the needs of others, be prompted to share their faith, or even know the words to say.

Discernment played a role in the life and teachings of Jesus. He chose moments to keep His mission a secret versus sharing it with His followers because He could discern how it would impact it in the long run.

In Mark 3, we see Jesus discern from the Pharisees their concern only with following the rules instead of doing good and showing love to those in need. He radically transforms the common perception that man should follow rules in order to be close to God, and instead heals a man on the Sabbath to truly demonstrate God’s heart.

In this chapter, Jesus also taught and healed multitudes, but when demons were exorcised and professed Him to be the Son of God, He rebuked them and told them not to speak. Jesus wanted people to learn from His teaching and Himself who he was. He discerned that people should respond to Him not by His healing and what demons said about Him, but by their own desire and knowledge to want to follow Him because they knew He offered more than just physical healing.

From all of this, we should “discern” two important application steps:

1) Biblical discernment helps us make good decisions—By listening to the Holy Spirit’s leading, intentionally reading and interacting in God’s word, and praying and seeking His council, we will be lead to the proper response in our situations and decisions.

2) Biblical discernment empowers us to help others—Again, by listening to the Holy Spirit, we can be prompted to obey God to share with a certain person, better help them in their needs, and best communicate the Gospel for them to receive it.

Ultimately, discernment comes from the Holy Spirit, and leads us to recognize people’s needs and how we can respond them in the best way possible, and help us make the best decisions possible in order to be conformed into the image of our Lord and Savior.