Discernment

Do you understand the culture in which we live?  The Australian culture?   The western culture of our day?  The culture of the current decade in which we live?  In the Bible we read about "the men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;"  (1 Chronicles 12:32).   This observation about the men of Issachar came at a crucial juncture in the history of Israel, when the power was shifting from King Saul to King David.  These men knew something about the time in which they lived, and this knowledge helped them know what Israel as a nation should do.  

In my last article I began talking about what we need to do as church leaders and churches to ensure that the next generation in our churches will become resilient disciples of Jesus.  I made the point that if the next generation is going to become resilient disciples of Jesus, we should help our children not just learn about Jesus, but experience him.  You can check out this article here.  Our little ones need to have a relationship with Jesus.  This is of first importance.  But it is also critical that the next generation understand the culture in which we live, and to have discernment.  Without cultural discernment they will have difficulty knowing what to do if they are to follow Jesus in our day.  

How do our children and young people come to understand the times in which we live?   The research done by Barna (www.barna.com) tell us that "young people are looking to their devices to make sense of the world around them.... they are using the screens in their pockets as their counselors, their entertainers, their instructors, and even their sex educators."  (Faith for Exiles, p. 71)   David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock go on to say:   "Why make the effort to talk to your parents or teachers when you can privately ask the smartphone in your hand?  The problem ... is the challenge to find real, livable wisdom in an accelerated, complex culture.   Instantaneous access to information does not equal wisdom.... Is [the internet] really the best and deepest and most godly place for finding the truest answers?"  (Ibid.)

If we want to ensure that the next generation in our churches will become resilient disciples of Jesus, then as Christians we need to help our children and young people determine the answers to these questions:  How should I live?  How do I make sense of life?  How do I respond well to life's circumstances?   Our little ones, even 'good church kids', will have a hard time avoiding the complex wonders and wickedness of the wide world.  They hear all the chatter about climate change, LGBTQ, black lives matter, the COVID pandemic/vaccines, Extinction Rebellion, the China threat, voluntary assisted suicide, transgender, and more.  As Kinnaman and Matlock point out:  "We can count on the next generation being exposed to attitudes, values, perspectives, and behaviours antithetical to Christian formation.   How can can we pass on deep, potent, lasting Christian faith to young people in an era of moral reversalism, when evil is called good?   How can we learn habits that honour God, ourselves, and others with our bodies?" (Ibid. p. 78)

So what can we do as churches and church leaders?  We need to teach our children and young people to have discernment.   Notice in that reference to the men of Issachar, that the Biblical author adds that these 200 Issachar chiefs had all their relatives under their command (1 Chronicles 12:32).   We have all our children and young people in our care.  We need to teach them, by word and example, how to live pure and godly lives.  The psalmist asks the question:  "How can a young person keep their way pure?"  The answer: "By living according to [God's] word."  (Psalm 119:9)   We make it our goal as Christ followers to be "blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—"  (Philippians 2:15)   As the next generation grows in "knowledge and depth of insight" that comes from God's Word, they will "be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness."  (Philippians 1:10-11)

Our little ones needs discernment.   This is also true of each one of us in the midst of the crooked and depraved culture in which we live.  But as we anchor ourselves and our little ones to God's Word we will be able to get through the ups and downs and sideways of living in a culture that calls much evil good.   We will gain a heart of discernment, better understand our times, and, like the men of Issachar, we will know what we should do!