Cultivating Discernment

The debate over the free flow of information on social media platforms is continuing to rage. Who has the right and responsibility for filtering fake news and false information? Up until the last few years, the majority of our population assumed that corporate news sources could be trusted. Today those who blindly trust the news media are now a minority.

Over the last few years, there is a rapidly growing movement of independent news sources, bloggers, and podcasters asking hard questions and doing the hard work of searching for the real answers. Unfortunately, there are also many new voices pushing more false stories as well. Discerning citizens can no longer assume they are getting the real story without doing a little work to vet their source.

The struggle to find and understand spiritual truth and meaning from false truth and false teachers is an equally difficult task. How can Christians separate false ideas and teaching from that which is true?

In his book The Discipline of Discernment, Tim Challies says, “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.”

He offers a helpful definition of discernment as “the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.” The verses of Jude 11-19 are written for this precise purpose to aid believers in discerning truth from error and right from wrong.

We cannot separate our thinking from our actions. We must learn to see past the appearance of spiritual godliness to evaluate the subtle characteristics, attitudes, and actions that may expose spiritual pretenders, imposters, and false teachers.