have you ever sensed that something was off about a church or a Christian organization or a teacher but you couldn't quite put your finger on exactly what it was maybe Looking Back Now in hindsight you realized that you had been duped and you don't want to be duped again maybe recently you saw something post on social media and you could tell that it was wrong but you don't know exactly what made it wrong or how you could explain that to someone else maybe you're a parent who desires to protect your children from spiritually unhealthy teachings or a pastor or some type of other church or Ministry leader who desires to protect your flock whichever of these is the case if you wish to grow in discernment then this podcast is for you every day you and I are faced with difficulties and decisions and dilemas that require spiritual discernment for example how do you know if a church or a leader or a book or a song or something else is biblically sound how can you detect dangerous doctrines what if someone claims that a miracle occurred how do you know if a miracle really did occur or maybe someone thinks that that God gave a message to them maybe a church leader claims that God spoke to them how do you know if if God really did speak to them what happens if two different Christian leaders disagree about an issue how do you know which one is right sometimes these issues may not matter as much if it's just like differences in opinion that are minor among church leaders or something like that but other times these issues are very important and getting the answer wrong can have grave consequences unfortunately discernment has been given a bad name among many people even among Christians who will view other Christians who practice discernment as being harshly judgmental or mean-spirited or just nitpicking for for no really good reason and to a degree that's understandable because the truth is that many Christians in the name of practicing discernment have slandered other Christians theyve falsely accused other Christians or or church leaders of promoting heresy when those people haven't been promoting heresy and even when they've pointed out teachings that really are dangerous they've often been ungracious in doing so but just because discernment has been practiced poorly doesn't negate The crucial need for discernment which is taught throughout scripture Jesus warned about the danger of false prophets who would be seem very sincere and convincing and he warned that genuine Believers would be in danger of being deceived by these false prophets he said Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves and again he warned for false Christ and false prophets will arise and and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect and throughout scripture throughout the Old Testament throughout the New Testament we find warnings about the dangers of false prophets and false teachers and false Apostles so discernment has always been essential and especially now when the secular culture has grown more hostile to Christians there's really pressure for Christians to compromise their their Christian biblical convictions and social media has really been disseminating the spread of damaging doctrines and harmful movements such as Progressive Christianity or the New Apostolic reformation and tolerance tolerance is really a high value in the secular culture today and that that value has really had an influence on people in the church so that even Christians don't really ever want to question other Christians about their their beliefs and their practices so spiritual discernment is in dangerously short supply and this is a gap that I address in my new podcast which I've been very excited to launch this is the first episode it's a different kind of podcast which I will explain more in a bit but first I'd like to introduce myself to you in case you're not familiar with me already I'm a researcher of Cults and new religious movements I have a master's degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University in Southern California and I've written four books with Doug git who is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Bola University's tbet School of Theology and our four books are about the New Apostolic Reformation movement which is a harmful movement it's a very popular Global movement among people who emphasize miraculous signs and wonders and they teach that the church is taking Dominion of the earth through Revelation that God is giving in time Apostles and Prophets and it was well writing these books and interacting with our readers and doing interviews and just paying attention to what's going on in the church at large that I really started to recognize the need for this podcast that teaches people how to be spiritually Discerning I would receive similar questions from people and I would see questions be cleared up when people were given knowledge and critical thinking skills and new ways of thinking there are already other excellent podcasts out there that address issues of discernment but what sets apart this podcast is a few things first I focus on teaching you how to be Discerning this is a very practical podcast some people are specially gifted with discern M it may be a spiritual gift that that some have or or people are just naturally gifted with uh but discernment is also a skill that can be developed and that's what the focus of this podcast is is to help you develop that skill whether you believe that you already are naturally Discerning or spiritually gifted with discernment or or you uh don't believe that you're gifted that way and and would like to grow in this skill uh the second thing that sets apart this podcast is I'm going to Model A two-pronged approach to discernment first the first prong is the skillful use of scripture and the second prong is careful reasoning and the second prong is often overlooked which that's something I'll talk about more in a bit and the third thing that sets apart this podcast is I want to elevate discussions about discernment by bringing on guests who are Christian Scholars and and other experts whose academic and professional work intersects with discernment so that these guests can offer insights into de developing discernment from different angles for my first episode I want to discuss the two-pronged approach to discernment in other words how do we do discernment it's important that starting off we Define discernment in fact it's important that whenever we're thinking through an issue or having a conversation with someone that we always Define our terms defining terms will give us clarity as we think through an issue it will help us stay focused and make sure that we're on the same page we've probably all experienced times where we were having a conversation with someone or maybe even having a little bit of a debate with someone and suddenly we realize that we weren't even talking about the same thing it's been rightly said that definitions can seem like a waste of time until you realize most arguments are over definitions that comes from tour guide an introduction to debate book for high school students students and it's important to recognize that false teachers will often smuggle in definitions for common Christian terms words like prayer or the gospel even discernment has been redefined by false teachers and that's a way that false teachings can be introduced into the church so that's why I'm going to make sure that we Define discernment here right off the bat so what is discernment let's consider the meaning of this term more broadly and then consider what it means more specifically for Christians though the word has a range of meaning and has been used differently the definition that is relevant to this podcast is the ability to distinguish between similar things or to tell things apart for example this is coffee and that's tea this is a truck that's a car this is a painting that's a sculpture sometimes the distinctions can be very subtle for example say with dog breeds you could have an Alaskan Mel AMU and a Siberian Husky these are both cold breed dogs they both have thick coats of hair but the they might have very subtle differences like uh different tails for example because these dogs appear very similar you must know precisely what sets them apart that is to say what makes them distinct the ability to make distinctions is critical IC to human thought and reasoning children start making them at a very young age this is a doggy that's a cat this is a spoon that's a fork distinctions are essential to Children's development and sometimes they're actually very important to keep them safe right we teach them this is cold that's hot making distinctions is so fundamental to human beings that one of the very first things they did was to make distinctions way back in Genesis 2 when God brought the animals to Adam and instructed him to name them so discernment generally speaking evolves classifying things into distinct categories which results in Greater clarity about those things and enables well-informed judgments while the same is true when it comes to spiritual discernment for Christians discernment is the ability to separate good from Evil we see this in scripture in both the Old Testament and the new when God appeared to King Solomon in a dream and told him to ask for anything he wanted Solomon asked for quote an understanding mind to govern unquote God's people and the ability to quote discern between good and evil unquote and the writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers to become doctrinally mature believers who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from Evil and the Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians in Philippi he said that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so so that you may approve what is excellent Paul also told the RO Romans do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect so discernment isn't merely an academic exercise we don't do discernment just so we can puff up ourselves or or claim that you know we're right and other people are wrong but discernment helps us know God's Good Will which guides our thoughts and actions so we can flourish spiritually and better serve others a Discerning Christian can distinguish between good and evil right and wrong truth and error so now that it's clear what spiritual discernment is how do we exercise it this is where I explain my two-pronged approach to properly discern we must evaluate everything by both scripture that's the Bible and by careful reasoning that's logic and critical thinking let's break that down the first prong testing everything by scripture may seem obvious to those who've been Christians for a while we know or we should know that we must test All Things by scripture we must follow the examples of the Brians those first century Jews who lived in Brea you can read about them in Acts 1711 where we learned just how rigorously they applied the scripture test to Paul's teachings acts 1711 says these Jews were more noble than those in thessalonica they received the word with all eagerness Examining the Scriptures Daily to see if these things were so and in 2 Timothy 3:16 the Apostle Paul says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work this verse is often cited and rightly so to show the sufficiency of scripture in other words scripture contains everything we need to know God and fulfill his will for our lives that's true this verse also shows that scripture is a test for all teachings and practices that's why scripture is a first prong for practicing discernment but it's not enough to just know that we should test all teachings by scripture we must also know how to test teachings by scripture so right now we're still talking about that first prong many Christians know that they need to test teachings by scripture but they don't know how to do that they may listen to a teacher and if that teacher quotes a Bible verse in support of a teaching they may think well that's what the Bible must teach but they don't realize that a teacher can distort a verse or a passage of scripture by quoting scripture out of its original context and making it appear to teach things that it really doesn't and really that fact that some teachers do distort scripture like this shouldn't surprise us the Apostle Peter warned about teachers who are quote ignorant and unstable unquote and that those teachers twist scripture to their own destruction so the misuse of scripture whether intentional or not happens all the time you must learn how to read scripture responsibly by following proper methods of biblical interpretation and these methods can be applied by anyone not just pastors and Bible scholars knowing them will help keep you from being misled so you'll more you'll learn more about these methods in future episodes of this podcast you know when it comes to practicing discernment many Believers think scripture is the only test they Overlook another essential test the test of careful reasoning this is the second prong of my approach to discernment it has to do with logically analyzing the message in any sermon podcast book meme or song to see if the argumentation holds but why is this test often neglected some Christians may not know how to engage in logical analysis if that's you then this podcast will help for starters you'll learn how to identify common logical fallacies or errors in reasoning that you'll likely come across so you're not manipulated by them you'll also learn how to recognize propaganda that occurs in the pulpit and other misleading tactics yet other Christians erroneously believe that logic and reason are somehow antithetical to our Christian faith they think that faith and logic can't go together or that they're even opposites they believe that when it comes to spiritual matters we should not use quote human reasoning unquote and they regard logic with suspicion they say scripture is sufficient and we have the holy spirit to guide us so why do we need logic but these Christians failed to recognize that God created our minds and he wants us to use them as kin samples and Mark pre explain in their superb book clear thinking in a messy World quote God's rational mind is the foundation for human reason unquote so there's no contradiction between Christianity and reason in fact it's impossible to read and understand scripture without using our reason and logic John Linux a Prof professor of mathematics at Oxford University and a renowned Christian apologist has said I've never yet met anyone who can read the revelation of God that is his word the Bible without using their reason to even begin to think about scripture or to think about anything at all for that matter requires the use of logic even those who don't realize they're using logic or using it because it's inescapable if you want to know more about this read samples in pre's book what about the use of logic when it comes to interpreting scripture well is that what a passage says or is that someone's skewed interpretation of it what happens when two Believers come to different conclusions about what a passage of scripture says who's right to evaluate someone's reasons for holding a certain interpretation reason must come into play We also must use reason for decision making scripture doesn't address every possible subject matter dilemma or decision we have to make often when faced with a moral choice we must make logical inferences from what we read in scripture to the Contemporary situation to know how to proceed for example when covid-19 hit many Believers said getting vaccinated was obeying the biblical command to love one's neighbor and so they saw it as a moral imperative but others said it was a disputable matter like those addressed in Romans 14 1-6 and should be left to an individual's conscience of course those weren't the only arguments but my point is that since there are no biblical passage passages that directly address vaccines or the Christian Pro proper response to a pandemic they had to derive general principles from passages in scripture to support their position and arriving at those principles required a reasoning process and the same goes for a myriad of other contemporary issues we Face social media AI the abortion pill weren't around in the first century neither were the New Apostolic reformation and Progressive Christianity though other aberant and heretical teachings were around so we must reason from Biblical teachings and principles to evaluate these contemporary challenges we are rational human beings created in the image of a rational God recognizing those facts is not a denial of the sufficiency of scripture scripture is sufficient in that it contains all the teaching we require this Doctrine as well as biblical doctrines about the role of the holy spirit in helping us read scripture do not deny that we should use our god-given powers of reasoning to understand the Bible's teaching and clearly scripture does not not hold a negative view of our minds on the contrary the greatest commandment in the words of Jesus is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind in other words love him with your whole being so making use of your thinking and reasoning abilities is both a command of God and a prerequisite to properly love him notably Jesus was a master logician this can be seen in scripture and Jesus's skillful use of logic in his teachings and in his argumentation with his opponents in short the application of biblical and logical scrutiny to all teachings is taught by scripture that's to say it's the biblical approach it's also the historic Protestant approach consider Martin Luther's words during his famous trial quote unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils for they have contradicted each other my conscience is captive to the word of God unquote note that Luther regarded both scripture and reason as the basis for his Protestant convictions and he even noted that the Catholic teachings contradicted each other which is to say they were illogical it's certainly significant that a formost leader of the Protestant Reformation a movement that views scripture as uniquely authoritative still saw a role for logic and reason so the two-pronged approach to spiritual discernment will be my methodology in this podcast number one is it teaching or practice supported by scripture and number two is it reasonable in summary we live in a time of tremendous deception and discernment has never been more critical which is why I've launched this podcast all follow the biblical approach to discernment which is to evaluate everything on the basis of scripture and careful reasoning apologist and best-selling author great kokal has been saying that his focus in the more recent years of his ministry is not on the non-christians but on the Christians quote to protect them from the world without and from the Wolves within and there are a lot of wolves unquote I couldn't agree with Greg more Believers need greater discernment as they face spiritual threats both from the world without and the Wolves within equipping you to develop that discernment is the purpose of this podcast but often we don't recognize those threats in the church because we're like fish swimming in a fishbowl the water around us is all we've ever known in other words believers immersed as we are in the church and our Christian communities may not give much thought to the beliefs and practices that are circulated and are widely accepted by the Christians around us CS Lewis is attributed with saying the most dangerous ideas in the society are not the ones being argued but the ones that are assumed I couldn't confirm the exact source of this quote but it's most certainly true when ideas are assumed we may not even realize they are present and therefore we relax our guard at the very time when we most need to keep it up up and while we may know this about ideas in the larger secular culture what about the ones being propagated in the church cultures have we unknowingly adopted harmful beliefs so in future episodes I will evaluate specific teachings related to the Christian faith in life that are widely accepted by Believers today but are often unquestioned thanks for listening to the first episode of my new podcast be sure to subscribe so you can receive updates when I release a new episode a [Music]