The Discipline Of Spiritual Discernment Paperback – Dec 19 2007

Tim Challies is well known to the blogosphere and to the world of Amazon Reviews. John MacArthur has it right when he says of Challies, "His weblog is a favorite stop for thousands of Christian readers every day."

On his weblog and in his Amazon reviews, Challies seeks to assess how well or how poorly a book thinks biblically about life. In "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" he offers a practical theology of how to develop the spiritual discipline of discerning truth from error, right from wrong. Or, as he puts it, this book "is written for all those who believe that it is the duty of every Christian to think biblically about all areas of life so that they might act biblically in all areas of life."

The current historical context for Challies' work is vital. We live in a day and age where, because of information technology, everyone can write, and, everyone can write against everyone else. Thus, we find a plethora of counterfeit truth claims in Christianity today while at the same time finding an excess of self-proclaimed prophets of discernment whose main task in life seems to be exposing the supposed duplicity of false prophets, sheep-in-wolves clothing, and Trojan Horsemen sneaking heresy into the church.

Obviously, both of these extremes harm the cause of Christ. Counterfeit theology fails to speak the truth. Counterfeit "discernment ministry prophets" fail to speak in love, and, nine times out of ten, also fail to speak the truth about those they critique.

Into this vast wasteland Tim Challies speaks. His ten chapters should be required reading for both groups. Those who claim to teach newly emerging ideas of Christianity need to learn from Challies how to erect biblical theologies for their ministry models. Those who claim to have cornered the market on spotting counterfeits need to learn from him how to develop true, biblical, loving, humble discernment.

Chapter by chapter, Challies calls readers to guard the deposit of the pure Gospel of Christ's grace. Quoting author J. C. Ryle, Challies notes that we spoil the Gospel through substitution, addition, interposition, disproportion, and by confused and contradictory directions.

The heart of the book addresses the question of how we really know truth. Challies challenges readers to the highest possible view of the sufficiency of Scriptures, which he defines as forsaking all subjective means of supposedly knowing God and instead founding spiritual discernment upon God's objective revelation of himself in Scripture. While agreeing totally with this foundational concept, it would be interesting to hear Challies and the authors of "Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit" (Wallace and Sawyer) engage one another. While Wallace and Sawyer believe 100% in the sufficiency of Scripture, they eschew the idea among many Evangelicals who seem to make the Trinity: "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scriptures." This overly rational, Princetonian, modern, Enlightenment mindset often seems to eliminate the work of the Spirit in illuminating believers, replacing it with a mindset that seems to equate one's interpretation of Scripture with the Scripture's own inerrancy and inspiration. It confuses biblical, humble, openness and dependence upon the Spirit with "mysticism." It confuses the use of God-given reason with the worship of rationalism. Saying that we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture is not enough. We must all acknowledge that we inevitably bring our self, our personality, our culture, and our experience to the text. How the Spirit works in the full human personality (relational, rational, volitional, and emotional) to help us to discern truth is perhaps a deeper issue that Challies might explore further in future works.

It is in chapter three that Challies defines discernment. "Discernment is the skill of understanding and applying God's Word with the purpose of separating truth from error, and right from wrong." Personally, I would add, "for the purpose of exalting and enjoying God by loving God with our whole heart and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves." This last part of the definition oft seems missing by some in the so-called modern "discernment" movement who seem to speak more to attack, than to attract, who seem to speak more to expose error without the commensurate motivation of restoring others to truth and reconciling relationships.

Challies further highlights our need to discern in the areas of doctrine and life: what is true about God and what is true about how we live for God. Spiritual discernment enlightens us to know who God is and to know the will of God for life--in terms of right and wrong behavior.

Since Challies states that discernment is a spiritual gift, in chapter seven he exegetes 1 Corinthians 12:10 and "the ability to distinguish between spirits." He concludes that one cannot conclude whether this gift today is exactly the same as the gift of discerning of spirits in the early church. He concludes, based on a more expansive study of discernment throughout the Bible (rather than just based on 1 Corinthians 12:10), that there is a gift of discernment today. He notes, "People with this gift will have special ability to separate truth from error and to discern whether something originates with God or with Satan." He further notes that even though not all have the gift, we all are to pursue this discipline.

One wonders if Challies were discerning this view from another author, if Challies might not chide that author somewhat. If we can't demonstrate exegetically that it is a modern-day gift, then perhaps it is better not to call it a special spiritual gift given to certain saints, and rather do what Challies does in his last sentence of chapter seven and simply say it is a discipline that all should develop. It seems that some have jumped on this concept of a special, enduring spiritual gift for today (which may not be exegetically supportable), and concluded that they have been given the almost exclusive mantle of the prophet to expose error in a superior way to others in the Body of Christ.

Because of much current misuse of so-called "discernment," I find chapters eight through ten the most crucial. In chapter eight, Challies exposes the dangers of discernment. Among these he lists items such as guilt by association and honor by association. These are two false, illogical, and ill-theological methodologies (mis)used extensively in the "discernment" movement. He also lists the error of failing to distinguish between the critical and the disputable. This is where "prophets of discernment" call others heretics because they disagree with them on an issue that the church has never labeled as one of the fundamentals of the faith. Witch hunting is another danger of discernment that Challies eschews. Challies rightly observes how "insufferable" such a process becomes and notes that "a person who continually stirs up anger and disagreement is committing an offense that the Lord hates."

Challies also lists relying unduly on others, simplicity, pride, withdrawal, and truth without love as additional errors/dangers. This chapter is the proverbial "must read" for anyone who feels the subjective call to the ministry of "discernment." Coming as it does from one of the young leaders in the area of true biblical discernment, it has a wonderful possibility of being heard and heeded.

Chapter nine is valuable for all readers--especially since God calls everyone to be discerning. Here Challies provides wisdom principles for developing wisdom. You can't beat that.

While chapter nine highlights movement toward developing discernment, chapter ten emphasizes how to practice the ministry of discernment. Taken together, chapters eight through ten should become the manual for the discernment movement. Consecutively, they teach what not to do, how to mature in discernment, and how to practice the art of discernment: how to study the Bible, how to use the mind (reason), how to depend upon the Spirit, and how to read fairly other authors to discern truth from error. These three chapters are worth the proverbial price of the book.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering," "Soul Physicians," and "Spiritual Friends."

How glad I am that Tim Challies didn't entitle his book "Seventeen Steps to Spiritual Discernment." It might have made a bigger impact on the bestseller lists, but this was never a consideration for this first-time author, as anyone who regularly reads Challies.com can attest. Tim Challies is not a pastor; he is not a preacher; he is not a professor. But he asked the salient question, "Why do books about discernment fall out of print so quickly?" and set out to rectify the situation. More importantly, he has rightly discerned that today's average Christian is woefully devoid of the ability to discern biblically. The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is the fruit of that realization and its resultant labors.

Even before arriving at the Introduction, the endorsements read like a who's who of prominent evangelical leaders, authors, and cultural commentators. Although such a list could preemptively set up a book for failure, the opening endorsements do not have this effect on the book at hand. Both academic elites and lowly laypeople (of which I am one) should likewise benefit from this book, in which Challies puts discernment on the bottom shelf but approaches the subject studiously enough that exacting scholars should derive some benefit as well (now and then Challies delves into original languages, if that interests you).

Challies reminds me of an old-fashioned Bible teacher, one that loves and searches the Scriptures for all its fruits: the gospel saturation of a Jerry Bridges, the scriptural passion of a Terry Law, or the biblical attention to detail of a John Piper. He winds through myriad biblical accounts, not merely interpolating passages to prove his case, but relying on those biblical accounts to be his case. And like the straight-shooting Bridges, Challies has no qualms about pointing out where the gospel is black and white, for all its gray areas. In fact, he goes so far as to say gray areas are rare. For instance, in reference to the oft-debated translation of John 1:1 in doorways everywhere between Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses, Challies draws attention to the hairsbreadth of difference in discerning what is godly and what is not: "The word a makes all the difference". Moreover, unlike many (if not most) recent Christian books, Challies has no qualms about approaching the subject of backsliding. His Calvinism is apparent but not strident: "Those who have professed faith in Christ cannot backslide indefinitely. Sooner or later it will become clear that they are not believers at all and surely never were." Later, he says, "These verses [Romans 1:28-32] ought to strike terror in the heart of all who forsake God and ought to cause us all to pause and acknowledge the depth of the evil that inhabits the hearts of men." But lest I paint Challies as a dour sourpuss and thus misrepresent him, I should point out that a fellow Canadian talking about baseball in print (Blue Jays baseball, at that) does my heart good. And all you Challies.com a la carte fans, rejoice, for Challies uses the expression in the book.

Employed far more often than baseball illustrations is the analogy of counterfeit currency to spiritual discernment. As counterfeit detection relies on the detector's knowledge of the real thing, true spiritual discernment is only truly `activated' when Christ is apprehended and treasured as inestimable and supremely valuable. Thus Challies roots discernment in the gospel, as it must be. And as with the gospel, with discernment comes division. A person who seeks to be discerning must be willing to suffer the effects of this division. It will divide not only believer from unbeliever, but it may even divide a discerning believer from one who is undiscerning. It will separate the mature from the immature, the naïve from the prudent.

In the course of the book, Challies makes some helpful distinctions that will serve to debunk some of the churchy urban legends that have swirled around for far too long. These include:

· The differentiation between God's secret will and his revealed will. Challies points out that many Christians mistake discernment as seeking out God's secret will rather than as a careful, studied response to God's revealed truth in the Bible.

· "We are not to judge motives or the righteousness of other believers." We are not to summarily and unilaterally act as the motive police.

· In order to maximize personal (and corporate) discernment, we must belong to a church. While some say we are to `make up our minds for ourselves', Scripture indicates there is wisdom in many counselors.

· "It is not enough to test doctrine. We must also respond in godly fashion to truth or error." Sadly, discernment has become something of a blood sport in some evangelical circles, resulting in rival factions, points scored and tallied, and a widespread tone more reminiscent of pagan gladiatorial combat than Christian brotherhood united in the gospel.

In view of the previous point, it is worth mentioning that while discernment is a critical ingredient in this book, the main ingredient is humility. Challies does not take the opportunity to use this book as a soapbox from which to personally malign either the undiscerning or those who lead the undiscerning astray. Instead, he compassionately calls the undiscerning to grow in maturity and calls those who promote unbiblical doctrine to examine their teaching for fidelity to the Word. Challies challenges his readers not to simply sprint pell-mell through the book, but to pause in places where he refers to Scripture in order to cross-reference extensively and engage in deeper analysis of God's Word.

In the final chapter, Challies helpfully engages in a step-by-step discernment case study, using lyrics from a popular Christian song that seems to promote self-forgiveness. Challies has solid science behind his suggestion to write through the discernment process; not only does writing crystallize our thoughts, it is more or less thinking in an externally sensible form. As someone once said, `Writing is thinking on paper.' Working through the study questions at the end of the book (all of which are critical thinking questions, not simply textual regurgitation) should also aid in developing a biblical concept of discernment.

Yet another strength of Challies' book is that it is written in such a way that virtually every chapter could be used on its own, say, as a group study or in a pastoral counseling situation. For instance, early on in the book Challies sets up the detection of counterfeit currency as an analogy for spiritual discernment. Every time the analogy resurfaces in the course of the book, the reader is never lost as to what exact aspect of the analogy is under consideration. The initial spadework and the subsequent editing have been carried out carefully, so that the reader is never wanting for information.

I am thankful, in at least one way, that earlier books on discernment are largely out of print, for otherwise readers may not have had the benefit of this volume. Challies has `updated' discernment for a twenty-first century audience, and may this book see many reprints through the years.

This is a DiscerningReader.com review.

When many Christians hear the words "spiritual discernment," they tend to think of it as a means to figure out what God's will is for them in their personal circumstances. But as Tim Challies carefully teaches in his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, discernment is much more than the "will of God," but the "truth of God."

Using the precise, clear writing that has made his blog a daily stop for many Christians, Challies helps the reader understand that spiritual discernment is more than a gut feeling, and the Holy Spirit is not more active when our minds are not engaged, but true discernment relies on God's Word.

Challies begins by delving into the importance and challenges to discernment. Discernment is then painstakingly defined, relying heavily on Scripture and exploring the biblical languages. Finally he assists the reader in applying spiritual discernment to his or her life using clear biblical teaching and providing practical steps.

Each chapter begins with an illustration that helps clarify the topic at hand, and each point is backed up with Scripture. When appropriate, Challies also draws on the writings of respected teachers such as John MacArthur and J.I. Packer.

The market is glutted with books that claim to help the reader have a better and easier life. The Disciplines of Spiritual Discernment, however, points the reader to something of immeasurable value: how to view the world through the lens of Scripture, and in turn apply Scripture in a manner that brings glory to God and aids His church.

Book Review of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Wayne Layton

The topic of discernment is rarely dealt with in the current Christian climate. Judging from the shelves of most local bookstores the need for discernment is increasing while the ability to discern is diminishing. Even Christian bookstores are not immune to the propagation of error. Given what Paul told Timothy in the first century I suppose that this phenomenon should not come as a surprise.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NKJV)

Tim Challies book on discernment is a reminder that the Christian has a duty to discern truth from error. Citing Romans 1:31 Tim reminds us that the undiscerning are included among those sinful people who practice evil. He rightfully concludes that the lack of discernment is at the very least evidence of spiritual immaturity and worse may be evidence of spiritual deadness. (Pages 26-30) On the positive side spiritual discernment is an indication of spiritual life, growth, and maturity. The charge from the writer of Hebrews is appropriately cited.

"But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:14, NKJV)

Tim defines discernment as "the skill of understanding and applying God's Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong." (Page 61) Discernment rightly focuses on a practical application of truth. The goal of discernment is to make Biblically informed choices between truth and error. In order to achieve this goal one must have achieved some proficiency in the truth, as noted in Hebrews 5:14 above.
On page 93 Tim states that, "the practice of spiritual discernment is founded on a belief in the existence of both error and truth." The culture in which we live is quick to find shades of gray, but according to the Scriptures those shades are only the faint uncertain shadows between the clear distinctive tones of black and white truth.

" This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." (1 John 1:5-6, NKJV)

Most people will appreciate all of the anecdotes and illustrations included in this resource. One the helpful analogies used to help the reader understand the concept of discernment is that of determining counterfeit money. Apparently Tim did his homework on this one and his experience of learning how to distinguish counterfeit money from genuine money as taught to him by the Bank of Canada is helpful. He shares his lessons learned from the experience on page 142.

"First, it quickly became apparent that identifying counterfeit currency is not an exceptionally difficult task and certainly not one that only experts can master. Second, I learned that people who create counterfeit money typ¬ically invest minimal effort in creating a reproduction of the genuine currency. Third, I learned the importance of identifying a number of characteristics of truth. These characteristics will be present when something is true and will be missing when something is false. And finally, I learned that in discerning what is true from what is false it is best to focus more attention on what is genuine than on what is counterfeit."

Tim suggests on page 162 that, "Those who wish to be discerning...must commit to reading and studying the Bible, to participating in the local church, and to pursuing the character traits of a Christian." This advice is consistent with the teaching of the apostles and the practice of the early church. Given the technology of our day it is easy to drift away into a virtual Christian world. I am an advocate for technology such as the internet to advance and supplement communication within the church, but nothing replaces our need for each other in our spiritual development.

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25, NKJV)

This book is written on a popular level so you do not need to be an expert in theology to understand this concept of discernment. As Tim has demonstrated you also do not need to be an expert to discern good from evil. You just need to be grounded in the Truth.

"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18, NKJV)

*I read a "pre-release" copy of this book so the page numbers may not be correct.

Tim Challies first book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, is a must read for Christians seeking to better understand both God's Will and God's Truth. Well structured and written for the average Christian (instead of scholar), Challies teaches how to 'rightly divide' the Word of Truth and draw closer to God as a result.

Discernment is not well understood in contemporary Christianity. Access to many forms of written and spoken word through the media and the Internet has resulted in an avalanche of co-mingled popular opinion and religion, not all of it being from God.

Challies challenges Chrisitians - just as a person is responsible for any counterfeit money they may accept, we are responsible to God for any counterfeit teaching we may think is genuine and believe without testing to see if it is approved by God.

Rather than provide guidance on what to discern in our world, Challies teaches how discipline is needed to divide our lives 'from' error or untruth and divide instead 'to' God (the goal of discernment).

An excellent first book from an author who takes care in presenting his case from the Word. Highly recommended and worth more than a casual read. This will be a workbook for the Christian desiring greater discernment in their lives.