An especially helpful observation from a guy who has a lot of 'em! Thanks, Jason!
It strikes me that taking discernment seriously ALSO demands that we allow -- no, even encourage -- others to let the process unfold in their lives as well. I notice, in myself, a tendency to be all for the slowness of discernment and embracing uncertainty right up until my spouse or one of my children expresses uncertainty about a doctrine that "we" are "certain" about.
Then, I have a tendency to get very impatient and to want to restate "the truth" and have it be affirmed and equilibrium restored.
I guess what I'm saying is, I think we either build families and church cultures that prioritize (1) discernment and conviction, (2) prioritize compliance and equilibrium...but I don't think we're going to get both.
You've reminded me which one is the better part and avenue in which the Spirit (rather than me) does His work.
My dad was a minister, but he always let me chase down any doctrine or idea I wanted. If I questioned something we "have always believed" he encouraged me to research it for myself. Yet, I find myself more like you—sometimes growing impatient. I want them to just understand what I think and agree with me.
Thank you for reminding me of this. I would much rather people have discernment and listen to the holy spirit's conviction than have anyone blindly follow me. Even my own family.
Love this emphasis on Spiritual maturity. Crucial element of faith. I don't believe in extra terrestrial life outside planet earth, never have. I had a step mom who loved the Enquirer but I always felt the UFOs had a logical explanation. Once I read the Roots Of The Federal Reserve about the fallen angels exposing us to technology God didn't want us exposed to, I got my answer. Thanks for excellent Spiritual truth.
I've been to Roswell several times. The UFO museum there has exhibits on the crash and other alleged alien encounters. But what really got me was the Star Wars toy exhibit—they had stuff from the 70s, 80s, 90s...and 2000s! I looked at the stuff from the 2000s and thought, "I played with that. I had that." It made me feel old.
There's a free history museum in Roswell that has exhibits on Robert Goddard, the father of rocket science. That's worth a trip.
I would go and see the museums even though I don't necessarily believe it was really aliens. I'm a science fiction enthusiast at heart.
I have an entire box of Star Wars and GI Joe action figures and toys that I've held on to all these years. I'm not sure why. My son was never interested in playing with them the way I was.
As Deb also noted, my operating theory on all this stuff is, quite simply: demons. (Encouragingly, a number of big names are coming to the same conclusion, e.g., Tucker Carlson.)
As such, one lesson I've learned (and am still learning, often the hard way) is that an age-old (as in Genesis 3 old) enemy tactic is to pique our curiosity with click-baity thoughts, stories, theories, accounts of the weird, and with that a dose of social FOMO (fear of missing out).
Since the Greatest Commandment (a.k.a., the Sh'ma--Deut 6:5) is for ALL of our attention, hope, love, and brainpower to be directed toward God in perfect worship (something we *ALL* fail at pretty much constantly) anything which draws away our fascination, hope, devotion of time, etc. to something else--even to morally neutral things--is flirting with idolatry.
That may land as a "heavy" thought b/c our modern society is chock-a-block full of that sort of thing, positively wired for it even; I'm the chief of sinners in this regard!, but that's where we need to rest in the sovereignty of God in Christ to finish His work of binding our wandering hearts to Him and ripping them away from the latest eye-catching Internet equivalents of the old check-out-counter sensationalist rags.
An especially helpful observation from a guy who has a lot of 'em! Thanks, Jason!
It strikes me that taking discernment seriously ALSO demands that we allow -- no, even encourage -- others to let the process unfold in their lives as well. I notice, in myself, a tendency to be all for the slowness of discernment and embracing uncertainty right up until my spouse or one of my children expresses uncertainty about a doctrine that "we" are "certain" about.
Then, I have a tendency to get very impatient and to want to restate "the truth" and have it be affirmed and equilibrium restored.
I guess what I'm saying is, I think we either build families and church cultures that prioritize (1) discernment and conviction, (2) prioritize compliance and equilibrium...but I don't think we're going to get both.
You've reminded me which one is the better part and avenue in which the Spirit (rather than me) does His work.
What a great insight! I do the same thing.
My dad was a minister, but he always let me chase down any doctrine or idea I wanted. If I questioned something we "have always believed" he encouraged me to research it for myself. Yet, I find myself more like you—sometimes growing impatient. I want them to just understand what I think and agree with me.
Thank you for reminding me of this. I would much rather people have discernment and listen to the holy spirit's conviction than have anyone blindly follow me. Even my own family.
Love this emphasis on Spiritual maturity. Crucial element of faith. I don't believe in extra terrestrial life outside planet earth, never have. I had a step mom who loved the Enquirer but I always felt the UFOs had a logical explanation. Once I read the Roots Of The Federal Reserve about the fallen angels exposing us to technology God didn't want us exposed to, I got my answer. Thanks for excellent Spiritual truth.
I've been to Roswell several times. The UFO museum there has exhibits on the crash and other alleged alien encounters. But what really got me was the Star Wars toy exhibit—they had stuff from the 70s, 80s, 90s...and 2000s! I looked at the stuff from the 2000s and thought, "I played with that. I had that." It made me feel old.
There's a free history museum in Roswell that has exhibits on Robert Goddard, the father of rocket science. That's worth a trip.
I would go and see the museums even though I don't necessarily believe it was really aliens. I'm a science fiction enthusiast at heart.
I have an entire box of Star Wars and GI Joe action figures and toys that I've held on to all these years. I'm not sure why. My son was never interested in playing with them the way I was.
As Deb also noted, my operating theory on all this stuff is, quite simply: demons. (Encouragingly, a number of big names are coming to the same conclusion, e.g., Tucker Carlson.)
As such, one lesson I've learned (and am still learning, often the hard way) is that an age-old (as in Genesis 3 old) enemy tactic is to pique our curiosity with click-baity thoughts, stories, theories, accounts of the weird, and with that a dose of social FOMO (fear of missing out).
Since the Greatest Commandment (a.k.a., the Sh'ma--Deut 6:5) is for ALL of our attention, hope, love, and brainpower to be directed toward God in perfect worship (something we *ALL* fail at pretty much constantly) anything which draws away our fascination, hope, devotion of time, etc. to something else--even to morally neutral things--is flirting with idolatry.
That may land as a "heavy" thought b/c our modern society is chock-a-block full of that sort of thing, positively wired for it even; I'm the chief of sinners in this regard!, but that's where we need to rest in the sovereignty of God in Christ to finish His work of binding our wandering hearts to Him and ripping them away from the latest eye-catching Internet equivalents of the old check-out-counter sensationalist rags.