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.)