Thinking About Discernment 1.2

Thinking About...

Volume 1, Issue 2 - June 2010

The teaching faculty of Ministry, Theology, and Culture at Tabor Adelaide are committed to serving the church by thinking about the gospel. We believe that individuals and the church can be transformed by the renewing of our/ their minds. Too often college lecturers are characterized as “living in an ivory tower” and “being too theoretical.” This stereotype doesn’t apply at Tabor; we are part of the church, and we want to see it grow in faithfulness to Jesus. This is why we have committed ourselves to producing this themed magazine for free distribution to the churches of South Australia. We trust you will find this semi-annual magazine helpful. We will value your feedback and your contributions; please email me at sspence@adelaide.tabor.edu.au.

Rev Dr Stephen Spence Head of Ministry, Theology, and Culture

Thinking About... discernment As a young pastor I often prayed for “the gift of discernment.” By this I meant, “God, I want to know what you are up to. Are you in this, or are you not?”

I never got “the gift.” So I sought to include in the leadership team those with this gifting. But I soon discovered that just like the gifts of faith, of helps, of exhortation, etc., not having “the gift of discernment” didn’t excuse me from participation in the task of discernment.

I have been in too many meetings - and I’ve led some of them! where we have been asked for our opinions and, after finding a consensus, we asked God to bless our decision. More like adding God to our path rather than

discerning God’s path. All church leaders, indeed all of God’s people, must seek to know what God is doing in their midst and in their neighbourhood.

All of us need to know what (or who) is “of God.” All of us need to discern between gospel truth, mostly true, sometimes true, and dangerous-to-touch.

As followers of Jesus, discernment is foundational to our spiritual journey. Not just as individuals but as members of faith communities.

Not surprisingly, the various subjects that are taught at Tabor are continually exploring the theory and the practice of “discernment.”

Thinking About Discernment from the perspective of...

Discerning God’s Will David McGregor Recognising a Prophet Aaron Chalmers Together in Discernment David Turnbull A Model Church Meeting Stephen Spence Thus Saith the Lord Graham Buxton Vocation and Discernment Bruce Hulme Good Looking Heretics Matthew Gray

Acts 15, a Model Church Meeting I

would have started out on the wrong side of the greatest debate in the history of the church! I just hope that I would have had the good grace to end up on God’s side by the end of the debate.

Rev Dr Stephen Spence, Head of Ministry, Theology, and Culture In 2010, Stephen will teach Intro to the New Testament and Exegesis of Luke’s Gospel in Semester 2

In Jerusalem, in 49 A.D., some argued that all God’s people needed to be circumcised. The Bible clearly taught that it was the sign of God’s eternal covenant (Gen 17:10-14). This was not just a matter of a few proof texts; all of Scripture clearly distinguished between Jews (circumcised) and Gentiles (uncircumcised). Jesus had been circumcised, and nowhere had he rejected (or hinted at rescinding) this clear biblical teaching.

Despite this unambiguous teaching, some had welcomed the uncircumcised into the people of God.

By the end of “the Jerusalem Council,” it had been agreed that new believers were neither required nor expected to be circumcised. How could the church

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Together in Discernment W

David Turnbull, Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Studies In 2010, David will teach Evangelism (July 5-9 Intensive) and Global Mission Today in Semester 2 David is an Australian delegate to the 2010 Luzanne World Evangelisation Conference (South Africa). He will act as a group leader

hen you mix our culture’s affirmation of individualism with the Evangelical church’s emphasis upon a personal relationship with God and a personal sense of calling, we have a recipe for potential disaster. Many today feel they have the right to say what God is calling them to and have the church unquestioningly support them. Yet a wellmeant desire for a “special role” in serving God or personal emotional dynamics can blur an individual’s capacity to truly discern God’s call. This is why individuals need to be held accountable in the discernment process.

Churches and church leaders cannot abandon their role in helping the individual to discern God’s call.

We need to return to the practice of the local church and its leadership having a positive role in the discernment process. Even Paul, who had a specific calling to cross-cultural service (Acts 9), did not act alone. He accepted the guidance and support of the church in Antioch who participated in a time of

go against the clear teaching of Scripture and the unbroken practice of God’s faithful people? Acts 15 tells the story.

The Apostle Peter told of a vision and the Pentecost-like experience of some Gentiles. Barnabas and Paul gave reports of signs and wonders done by God among the uncircumcised. In light of this and the Jesus event, James gave a surprising interpretation of Scripture that spoke of God doing a new thing which was consistent with the flow of God’s grand narrative.

It is clear from all this that in rejecting the requirement for circumcision the church had correctly discerned God’s living word to his people. We discern God’s leading best when we read Scripture with our eyes open to what the Spirit of the living God is doing in the world and amongst God’s people. This involves more risk that just repeating the teachings of the past, but faithfulness to the living God requires that we take those risks. sspence@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

prayer and fasting before confirming God’s call to his first missionary journey with Barnabas (Acts 13).

I have seen too many enthusiastic, well-meaning people who have been badly damaged by attempting to serve God in a cross-cultural mission for which they were not equipped or called. They also cause problems in the field of service which can be costly and damaging for the church and mission.

Sometimes the fault lies with them; they refused to heed the church’s concern. But sometimes the fault lies with a church that was too timid, too lazy, or too unprepared to partner with the person in the discernment process.

How can a church with no awareness of what is involved in cross-cultural ministry help an individual discern a calling in this area? Churches need to equip themselves with a solid understanding of cross-cultural mission. This can be minimally achieved through a Kairos course or Perspectives of the World Christian Movement course. (Of course it takes effort! Everything worthwhile does.) dturnbull@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

“Thus saith the Lord!”

P

Rev Dr Graham Buxton is the Director of PostGraduate Studies In October 2010, Graham will be offering an intensive on “Doing Ministry from a Trinitarian Perspective.”

He will also be lecturing for Fuller Theological Seminary in the USA

rophecy is essentially God’s selfcommunication: God reveals something about himself, his mind, his will, his response to what is happening in the world – his world – around him.

Typically, the Bible discloses two main categories of prophecy – foretelling and forthtelling. Foretelling is predictive in nature, a disclosure of future events known only to God but channelled to others through a chosen human instrument. Forthtelling is a ‘speaking out’ of God’s mind concerning what is happening amongst his people or in his world, again channelled through his people. This dimension of prophecy is far more common in the Bible.

Following a framework that I first came across in a book by the English pastor and theologian Mark Stibbe, I would like to suggest three tests of prophetic presence that also apply to prophetic pronouncements. After all, as John reminds us (1 John 4:1), we are not to believe every spirit, but to “test the spirits to see if they are from God”. In assessing whether or not something is a work of

Good-looking Heretics I

n the 1987 movie, Broadcast News, Jane falls for the handsome but sloppy Tom. When she admits this to her best friend, Aaron, he tells her:

Matthew Gray is Lecturer in Church History. He is enrolled in the PhD history program at Adelaide University In 2010, Matt will teach Introduction to Christian Ministry and Exploring the Christian Faith in Semester 2

“I know you care about him... but I believe that Tom, while a very nice guy, is the devil… Nobody is going to be taken in if the devil has a long, red, pointy tail. No... He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful...”

This is a key lesson in discernment.

Church history teaches us that wrong choices often look attractive at the time.

We have demonised Arius, the 4th century heretic. We emphasise his penchant for cute jingles (“there was a time when He wasn’t”) to suggest he manipulated the populace with flash without substance. We claim he held a cold mathematical logic (“three cannot equal one”) instead of accepting Biblical authority. He seems to just denigrate Jesus, and ruin our salvation.

Recalled this way, his heresy is obvious and thus simple to dismiss.

the Holy Spirit, Stibbe refers to:

the test of Christology, the test of character, & the test of consequences.

• The first test has to do with whether or not Jesus is exalted. As we live out our lives in the world, is Jesus glorified?

• The second test – that of character – asks the question: Is our conduct a witness to the reality of Christ amongst us? Is the Church known by its love … or by its divisions and prejudice? Paul had a lot to say to the early church about that, and through the Spirit still does.

• The test of consequences emphasises the long-term impact of an event of the Spirit – as some have remarked, in the light of more spectacular manifestations, it’s what happens to you when you get up off the carpet that is important! gbuxton@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

3 But we probably do Arius a disservice here. Actually, he was responding to Biblical passages like John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I”. He thought he wasn’t denigrating the Son, but elevating the Father. We also do a disservice to his followers.

The 4th Century Christian “plebs” had a sophisticated theology, and were not easily fooled. Besides, Arius had supporters that were bishops as well.

But most of all, we do ourselves a disservice. Obviously I’m not suggesting Arius was right – he was terrifying. But he was terrifying because he didn’t look scary at all. He looked sincere, biblical, faithful. Athanasius didn’t win because he’d never read Arius. He won because he knew Arius’ theology like his own. Arius shows us that the practice of discernment is rarely easy: heretics’ intentions are usually misguided, not malicious, and lies hide convincingly within truths. Discernment is the practice of hearing both truth and falsehood, on their own terms. Only then will we reveal the difference. mgray@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

Let Your Life Speak I

n seeking to discern the movements and leadings of God in our lives, the Scriptures, the community of faith, circumstances and common sense can all help us find our way. But

Bruce Hulme is a lecturer in Practical Theology and is studying towards a MTh in Spiritual Theology In 2010, Bruce is responsible for the Spiritual Formation Program, which involves all MTC’s degree students, and for the Supervised Field Education Program

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if we are to take the doctrine of imago Dei seriously, we must also learn to let our lives speak to us when faced with vocational decisions,

for God is and has always been present within our lives, forming and shaping us into who he has created us to be for his purposes and glory.

Parker Palmer sees vocation “not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received ... Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am” (Let your life speak, 2000). Certainly God leads us through other various means such as those mentioned above, but we must realise that our lives are the grid through which we receive that leading. Godawareness and self-awareness, then, go hand in hand when it comes to vocational discernment. Here continual

theological reflection upon our unique journeys is a life giving discipline that will help us greatly when we’re faced with vocational decisions, large or small.

So then, some practical suggestions for letting your life speak to you: • First and foremost, remember: grace!

According to Luther, God can ride a lame horse or shoot straight with a crooked bow. He is the gracious God who uses our vocational decisions, wise and unwise. If you really just can’t decide, then step out, be bold, and trust!

• Consider the ministry of Spiritual Direction / Companionship. A trained director can skillfully and prayerfully help you identify and respond to the fingerprints of God in your life.

(Contact me and I can give you some ideas on who to contact.)

• Consider the discipline of journaling.

Giving written expression to our journey with God can bring clarity, and also serve as a useful reference point to reflect back upon.

• Consider utilizing Ignatius’ process of spiritual discernment. A useful summary can be found in T Blythe, 50 ways to pray (2006). bhulme@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

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Discerning God’s Will B

David McGregor is Senior Lecturer in Theology. He is enrolled in the PhD theology program at Newcastle University In 2010, David will teach Twentieth Century Theology, The Church, and Creative Living in Semester 2

onhoeffer begins his classic discussion on Christian ethics with the surprising statement that “The knowledge of good and evil seems to be the aim of all ethical reflection. The first task of Christian ethics is to invalidate this knowledge.” Deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong is the “original sin” – it is eating of the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil.” Christian discernment does not begin with the question “What ought I to do?”

Discernment is not rational deduction based on results, rights, rules or any other ethical norm as in secular ethics – it is hearing God’s voice.

We must heed Paul’s injunction: “Do not conform to the fashion of this world.”

“Morality,” Stanley Hauerwas says, “is not primarily concerned with quandaries and hard decisions.” The real moral question is, “What sort of person ought I to be?” Our choices are determined by our character. Paul agrees: “be transformed…so that you may discern what God’s will is”.

For Karl Barth morality begins with God, not us. “Who is God, and what has he done in Jesus Christ?” is the important question. Morality is our grateful response to the God of initiating grace.

Paul also entreats us on the basis of “the mercies of God” to live our lives before him as one continual thank offering – “offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, for this is your rational worship.”

The NT scholar Richard Hays points out that Roms 12:1-2 is addressed to the church and not to individuals. If this is so, then Paul is telling us that the context for discerning the will of God is the gathered community of the church where the gospel story of the merciful God is rehearsed and where our lives are shaped in worshipful response. It is there that God has promised to speak to us, and so it is there that we are able to “discern God’s will” – a will that we will always find to be as “good and acceptable [pleasing] and perfect [for us – Amp Bible]” as it is for God himself. dmcgregor@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

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Discerning a Prophet of God T

Dr Aaron Chalmers is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies In 2010, Aaron will teach Introduction to Biblical Interpretation and Intermediate Biblical Hebrew in Sem 2 Aaron has recently contributed articles to Tyndale Bulletin and to Vetus Testamentum

he struggle of contemporary Christians, including contemporary Christian leaders, with discernment is not surprising. In fact, it appears that discernment, and in particular the need to discern between what was and what was not a legitimate word from the Lord, is an issue that the people of God have constantly struggled with, at least since the time of the OT prophets.

In his recent book, Themes and Transformations in Old Testament Prophecy (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009), Samuel Meier has suggested four key considerations by which an ancient Israelite could have discerned who was and who was not a reliable prophet: • The means by which prophets were supported – they could be paid, but this was usually restricted to the bare essentials for life (i.e. bread, water and / or an equivalent small amount of money); • The type of message the prophet relayed – the prophet usually brought bad rather than good news; • The prophet’s reception by the community – he/she usually possessed a minority status;

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• The prophet’s accuracy in predicting the future – the prophet’s prediction will usually come to pass.

As Meier himself recognises, however, the value of such criteria in and of themselves may be questionable. Some canonical prophets preach good news (cf. especially Isaiah 40-66) while the words of others do not come to pass (cf.

Jonah 3: 4). Furthermore, even when taken together these criteria may still be insufficient to produce a decisive, irrefutable decision.

This, I think, points to an important (although possibly uncomfortable!) realisation:

there are no easy, hard-andfast, one-size-fits-all rules or guidelines when it comes to difficult issues of discernment.

100% certainty is, more often than not, an elusive goal. This, however, can be a good thing for it should force us to approach such issues with the seriousness they deserve and drive us back to the key provisions that God has provided including prayer, the Word, and the community of faith.

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achalmers@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

Creative Commons License We are happy for you to reuse any of the material in this journal. We do require, though, that you clearly identify the source by “author’s name,” Tabor Adelaide, School of Ministry, Theology, and Culture (June 2010) This work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial 2.5 Australia License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/2.5/au/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.