Discerning the Will of God

Can we know the will of God? If so, how?

In his letter to the house churches in Rome, the apostle Paul tells us how we can discern the will of God. In Romans 12:2, Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect" (NRSV). Paul tied discerning the will of God to the transformation of life that occurs as our thinking is shaped, under the guidance of the Spirit, by the character of God and the ways of God - “the renewing of the mind.” This Spirit-guided thinking – what Paul calls the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) - moves us beyond the way the world trained us to think. According to Paul, the ability to discern the will of God comes as our thinking is shaped and guided by the Spirit, moving us beyond the way the world trained us to think. 

The will of God will always align with the character of God and the ways of God that express that character. We see the ways of God most clearly in Jesus – in what he taught, in how he lived. Thus, the will of God will always align with the teachings and ministry of Jesus. 

Using the teachings and ministry of Jesus, we can say the will of God will always be an expression of grace and forgiveness. Any kind of criticism, judgment, condemnation, or punishment is not an expression of the will of God as they are dimensions of merit-based thinking and functioning. The will of God will always embrace every person – without exception – as a beloved child of God. Anything that excludes and rejects anyone, for whatever reason, is not an expression of the will of God. The will of God will always involve the use of power to bless and serve. The use of power over, down against another is an expression of the world’s ways and, thus, not the will of God. The will of God will always focus on and address the internal realm of the heart. It will focus on the transformation of the heart, emphasizing growth toward emotional-relational-spiritual maturity and wholeness. In contrast, the world emphasizes behavior, creating rules, laws, moral codes, and religious norms to define right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behavior. This way of living emphasizes conformity to expectations that depends on self-effort. It is a central characteristic of merit-based thinking and functioning. 

In summary, the will of God will always reflect grace, expressed in forgiveness. It refuses to give up on, abandon, reject, or exclude any person. It does not engage in judgment and condemnation as it looks beyond behavior to the transformation of the heart. 

We humans, with our default merit-based thinking, generally look for the will of God in relation to moral issues. Moral issues by nature call for black-and-white, either-or thinking which produces either-or positions. We are inclined to declare our position as the right position on the issue, believing it aligns with the will of God. We use the Bible to validate our position, declaring it to be the biblical position, i.e., the will of God. We see this pattern in the LGBTQ+ controversy in The UMC and the stance by Southern Baptists regarding the role and place of women. 

This common pattern often produces positions that do not reflect grace or forgiveness. These positions often do not view and value, accept and embrace every person as a beloved child of God. These positions tend to focus on behavior. In taking these positions, power is used over, down against the other as the other is criticized, judged, condemned, rejected, and excluded. In other words, these so-called “biblical” positions do not reflect the will of God.

Notice my language. I speak of discerning the will of God, not knowing the will of God. Those arguing over moral issues tend to think they know the will of God. They can, after all, use biblical texts to support their position. Black-and-white, either-or thinking does not allow for discernment.

Discernment requires us to move beyond black-and-white, either-or thinking, i.e., the way the world trained us to think. It requires recognizing, acknowledging, and respecting the grey dimension of the issue. Discernment requires humility, the acknowledgment that there is more to the issue than what I know. Consequently, it listens to and considers both sides of the argument. It is open to considering other viewpoints and, thereby, to learning. It requires the willingness to adapt one’s thinking, adjusting one’s position, and, if necessary, to change one’s mind. Discernment is always done in conscious dependency upon the Spirit. The primary discernment is to the Spirit’s guidance. The Spirit always guides us to the apply the ways of God which, in turn, translate into the will of God.

The early church had to engage in this kind of discernment process regarding the inclusion of the Gentiles. We find the story in Acts 15.

The Jewish religious tradition and their understanding of the Hebrew scriptures required Gentiles to undergo circumcision, identifying as disciples of the Mosaic Law, in order to be included in the covenant community. The natural assumption was this same process was required in order for a Gentile to be viewed as a follower of Jesus and included in the church (Acts 15:1, 5).

The experience of Peter with Cornelius (Acts 10, 11), however, challenged this assumption. Peter argued that the gift of the Spirit indicated God accepted the Gentiles just as he did the Jews – as a gift of grace (Acts 10:44-48; 11:15-18). Paul argued strongly against the requirements of the law, arguing that acceptance (justification) was a gift of God’s grace.

The issue and the conflict over it led to the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:2). There, the leaders of the church gathered with the advocates of the opposing sides. Both sides argued their positions. Peter told of his personal experience with Cornelius (Acts 15:7-11), arguing that “we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (Acts 15:11). Paul and Barnabas related their experiences of God’s work among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12). James, the head of the Jerusalem church and the brother of Jesus, appealed to the scriptures, showing how the position advocated by Peter and Paul aligned with the teaching of scripture (Acts 15:13-18). Consequently, he declared that Gentiles were not required to be circumcised in order to be accepted in the church (Acts 15:19-21). The council concluded that the Spirit had guided them to this decision (Acts 15:28).

Sadly, this kind of discernment process is rare. What I have observed in the LGBTQ+ controversy in The UMC is people took positions on the issue based upon what they already believed. Both sides used the Bible to support their position, assuming their position reflected the will of God. These assumptions precluded any effort to discern the Spirit’s guidance. Seemingly, neither side engaged in conversation with or listening to the other side. The result was polarization that led to division. Interestingly, the apostle Paul identified conflict and division as works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). In other words, they never reflect the will of God.

Discernment is a gift of the Spirit and the work of the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who knows the heart of God, i.e., the character of God (1 Corinthians 2:10), and teaches us the ways of God that Jesus taught (1 Corinthians 12:12-16; John 14:26, 16:12-15). The Spirit, in turn, is the one who guides us to the will of God. In addition, the Spirit is the one who guides us in how to live out of the will of God and empowers us to do so.

Yes, we can know the will of God . . . through the work and guidance of the Spirit . . . as we engage in discerning the Spirit’s guidance.

 

(Discerning the will of God is the focus of the revised edition of my book God’s Plumb Line. The subtitle reflects this focus: God’s Plumb Line: A Tool for Discerning the Will of God (revised edition). This revised edition includes three new chapters in addition to a major rewriting of the other chapters. Each revision seeks to clarify the Spirit-guided thinking that enables us to discern the will of God. The book is available on my website or at Trafford.com or through any online retail distributor.)

What Does the Bible Say?

It happened again recently. It happens often. During a conversation, the question was asked, “What does the Bible say?” This time, the question grew out of the current controversy in The UMC: “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?”

The question always stirs a deep sigh within me, an expression of the grief I feel.

I acknowledge the commitment reflected in the question. It reflects the questioner’s desire to know God’s will and, I assume, to do God’s will. In their desire to know the will of God, they naturally turn to the Bible. What does the Bible say? On the other hand, the question may not be as sincere as it appears. The question could simply be an attempt to use the Bible to support what the questioner already believed.

The question is the wrong question – particularly if we want to know the will of God. Hence, my sigh and grief.

The question is based on a wrong assumption. The question assumes the Bible is the final authority regarding the will of God. If the Bible says it, then it is true. Thus, the question assumes, we can know the will of God by reading/studying the Bible. What does the Bible say?

The question treats the Bible as though it is the fullest expression and the final expression of the will of God.

Ironically, the Bible itself counters this way of viewing the Bible. In fact, it points us beyond itself in our effort to know the will of God.

The witness of the New Testament writers is clear. Jesus is the fullest expression of the nature of God. Thus, he is the clearest, the fullest, and the final expression of the will of God. Consider the witness of these writers.

The writer of the book of Hebrews: “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being,” Hebrews 1:3.

The writer of Colossians: “He is the (visible) image of the invisible God,” Colossians 1:15. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” Colossians 1:19. “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” Colossians 2:9.

The writer of the gospel of John: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14. “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known,” John 1:18. Jesus said to Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9.

Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, of the nature of God, of the ways of God, of the will of God. If we want to know the will of God, we look to Jesus, not the Bible. Jesus is our guide to knowing and doing the will of God.

One of the mistakes being made in Western Christianity today is looking to what the Bible says rather than looking to Jesus and to what Jesus revealed about God. This tendency leads us astray. It allows us to use the Bible to support what we already think. It keeps us stuck in our old ways of thinking and living. It blocks the renewing of the mind that is the foundation to spiritual growth and a transformed life. It causes us to miss the will of God.

In our desire to know the will of God, let’s learn to ask a better question. Instead of asking, “What does the Bible say?” let’s ask “What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do? What did Jesus reveal about God, the nature of God, and the ways of God?” That’s where we’ll find the will of God.

(For more thinking about discerning the will of God, see my book God's Plumb Line: A Tool for Discerning the Will of God (revised edition) - available at pastorstevelangford.com or trafford.com/stevelangford or at any online book retailer.

Self-reliance and Self-effort Can Be Dangerous to Our Spiritual Lives

We’ve all heard the old adage about pulling yourself up by your own boot straps. The adage expresses the philosophy, attitude, and narrative that fuel the American dream. The narrative is about self-reliance and self-effort. All a person needs is an opportunity. Given the opportunity, self-reliance and self-effort lead to success.

This narrative about self-reliance and self-effort impacts almost every aspect of American life. It fuels immigration – that of our ancestors who immigrated here as well as that of those who seek entrance into our nation today. American is the land of opportunity. This narrative fueled the western expansion of the nation. Vast quantities of available land provided unparalleled opportunity. This narrative underlies the nation’s emphasis on public education. Education provides the opportunity to rise above our situation in life. This narrative supports the Puritan work ethic upon which capitalism thrives. Hard work is all that is needed to succeed.

Because this narrative about self-reliance and self-effort permeates our American culture, it inevitably infects our religious life … with devastating consequences! When it comes to our spiritual lives, the narrative of self-reliance and self-effort is dangerous. It ignores spiritual teaching, undermining authentic spirituality while producing an Americanized version of Christianity.

Self-reliance and self-effort are about achieving. In religious life, they focus on measuring up to religious expectations, particularly expectations regarding behavior, belief, and church involvement.

Relying on self-effort to measure up to expectations produces several predictable outcomes.

Initially, self-reliance and self-effort produce a try-harder-to-do-better mentality. That way of thinking and functioning creates a self-defeating cycle of guilt and self-condemnation. We resolve to try harder to do better only to fail once again. We respond to the failure with remorse and self-condemnation, resolving to overcome the failure to measure up by trying harder to do better. We often make promises to God in exchange for God’s forgiveness of this latest failure. Fueled by guilt and self-reproach, our resolve is strong as once again we try harder to do better. Our resolve, however, quickly dissolves in repeated failure which, in turn, leads to more remorse and self-reproach as we once again resolve to try harder to do better. Such spirituality (if it can be called that), fueled by guilt and self-condemnation, keeps us stuck spiritually.

Eventually, we tire of this try-harder-to-do-better kind of Christianity. Not knowing how to break out of the self-defeating cycle of resolve-failure-remorse-self-condemnation-resolve, we surrender to doing “as best I can.” As-best-I-can generally translates into involvement in church activities and church life. For others, it leads them to retreat to the fringes of church life. At best, it produces religious mediocrity. It fosters superficial relationships devoid of honest sharing of the struggles inherent to the spiritual journey. It produces a superficial spiritual life, devoid of any depth or meaningful fulfillment.

 Sometimes self-reliance and self-effort lead to spiritual blindness. We become so focused on how we are measuring up to the expectations that we become blind to the interior realm of the attitudes and spirit that govern our lives. Our spiritual blindness is evident in a critical, judgmental spirit. We condemn those who fail to measure up, excluding them from our religious circle.

Self-reliance and self-effort appeal to the egocentric self – the self we constructed by measuring up to religious expectations.

Self-reliance and self-effort in the religious realm ignore core spiritual truths that are clearly taught in scripture.

Self-reliance and self-effort ignore what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In Mark 8:34, Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The “self” we are to deny is the egocentric self we constructed by measuring up to expectations – what Thomas Merton called the false self; what I call the constructed self. The self-serving spirit of this constructed self is the opposite of the servant spirit that lies at the heart of being a follower of Jesus (Mark 9:34-35; 10:41-45). Being a follower of Jesus involves denying or dying to this constructed self aside.

Self-reliance and self-effort with their focus on behavior ignore the interior realm of the heart – the interior realm of attitudes and the spirit out of which we live. While self-reliance and self-effort can sometimes help us change what we do (behavior), they cannot change the heart. Attitudes and the spirit out of which we live are not responsive to the will.

Self-reliance and self-effort deny the centrality of grace in the spiritual life. Self-reliance and self-effort, with their focus on measuring up, are dimensions of merit-based thinking and living. As such, they are barriers to growing in and living out of grace. Living out of self-reliance and self-effort, we never learn to trust God, resting in his grace.

Self-reliance and self-effort keep us stuck in the world’s way of thinking and living. They are hindrances to spiritual progress and barriers to spiritual growth.

Self-reliance and self-effort prevent us from tapping into the power of God that is available to us through the Spirit – power to do what we cannot do in our own strength. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul recorded God’s response to his prayer about the thorn in his flesh: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect (literally: brought to its intended end) in weakness.” The intended end of God’s power is to empower us in our weakness. Paul’s conclusion was “So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For whenever I am weak, then I am strong,” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. As long as we rely upon our own strength through self-effort, we can never access the power of the Spirit in our lives. We can never know what is possible as we live in partnership with God through the indwelling Spirit.

Boot straps are a part of the American culture, but there are no boot straps in the spiritual realm . . . only the grace of God.

The Danger of Religion

 It’s one of Jesus’s lesser-known parables – a strange one, at that. It is found in Luke 11 and Matthew 12 – two different gospels written to two different audiences with two different messages. Yet both record this little story. Obviously, some truth lies within it.

The story is about an unclean spirit that had been cast out of a person. It went looking for a place to live but could find no place to rest. As a result, it returned to the house from which it had been cast out. The house is described as “empty, swept, and put in order,” Matthew 12:44; Luke 11:25. Finding the house empty, the spirit went out and found “seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first,” Matthew 12:45.

Let’s unpack this story and its message.

The house is a metaphor for a person. The casting out of the original unclean spirit reflects some kind of change in a person’s life. Some moral failing or evil had been overcome. The result is a life “empty, swept, and put in order.” The person had cleaned up his life – “swept” – conforming to some kind of moral or religious standard – “put in order.” In spite of the changes the individual had made in his life, the condition of his life is described as “empty.” Nothing filled the house. Something was missing.

Seeing the condition of the house – the person’s inner life – the unclean spirit enlisted seven other spirits, each “more evil than itself.” The lot of them took up residence in the person’s life. As a result, the person’s condition was worse than when just the original unclean spirit inhabited it.

How are we to understand this parable?

I believe the story reflects the danger inherent to religious life. It calls us beyond a focus on proper behavior so that we can recognize the condition of the interior realm – the realm of the heart.

A change of behavior is reflected in the casting out of the unclean spirit. As I said above, some moral failing or evil had been overcome. That initial change led to greater changes so that the house was eventually swept and put in order. The individual cleaned up his life, conforming to the expectations of some moral-religious-legal code. Certainly, all of us can identify with this process. Who has not tried to change their life by correcting some particular wrong behavior? Overcoming a destructive, immoral behavior or habit is an achievement to be celebrated. This focus on correcting wrong behavior – what is commonly called sin – is a central theme in religious life.

The story tells us that this change of behavior does not go far enough. Though swept and put in order, the house remained empty. The condition of the person’s interior life was not addressed. As a result, “seven other spirits more evil than” the original wrong behavior filled the interior life of the individual. The context gives us a clue for understanding the nature of these seven other spirits.

In Matthew 12, Jesus was being attacked by the Pharisees for healing on the sabbath, violating the scribal interpretation of the sabbath laws (Matthew 12:9-14). Their anger led them to plot to kill him (Matthew 12:14). Resenting his popularity with the crowds, they sought to discredit him by accusing him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons (Matthew 12:24).

The Pharisees were examples of a house swept clean and put in order. They patterned their lives after the scribal interpretations of the law. They focused upon right behavior. As a result, they ignored and/or were blind to the interior realm of the heart. Their focus on obeying the scribal interpretations of the sabbath laws led them to attack Jesus for healing on the sabbath. They lacked compassion for people who were hurting and in need. Their houses were swept and put in order, but they were empty.

The seven other, more evil spirits are a metaphor for attitudes that reside in the heart (as opposed to wrong behavior). Such attitudes include a critical, judgmental spirit as seen in the Pharisees’ criticalness of Jesus. The judgmental spirit arises out of an arrogant spirit that looks down on those whose behavior they condemn. A critical, judgmental spirit is hardhearted, devoid of compassion. It is a demanding, unforgiving, merciless spirit. Such attitudes are commonly found among those who, focusing only on right behavior, have cleaned up their act through self-effort and self-reliance. Too often they are the attitudes of religious people. They were the attitudes that filled the hearts of the Pharisees according to the gospels.

The focus on right behavior blinds a person to these internal realities. Lacking self-awareness, the person becomes self-deceived. S/he becomes spiritually blind. As long as a person deals with wrong behavior, s/he at least knows something is wrong that needs to be addressed. Having “cleaned up his act,” he is now completely unaware that anything is wrong. Unless there is an awareness of a need to change, the possibility of change is unlikely. No wonder Jesus said their last condition was worse than their first.

One of the dangers of religious life that focuses on right behavior and right belief is a house swept and put in order, but empty. It misses the essence of the spiritual life – the cleansing of heart and mind that produces a life filled with grace, sensitivity, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, humility, and glad welcome.