Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
If you Google "discernment," the first result from a Christian source says:
"In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong."
Given the LCM's mantra that discernment is about "life," not good and evil, that's pretty funny.
The bottom line is the LCM's doctrine of life vs good and evil is in error. The lesson of the Tree of Life versus the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a lesson of dependence on God versus independence from God, not a lesson of "Life" vs Good and Evil.
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It is quite telling that LSM would claim that discernment is something other than what the word
discernment is understood to mean. Obviously, what Ron speaks about is outright absurd. Out of curiosity, I took a moment to see what Nee had to say on the subject, and what I found was that he approached it a lot more subtly than Ron did:
Quote:
Christians do not require other men to instruct them since the indwelling Anointing teaches them everything. This is spiritual discernment, something greatly needed today. If we must pore over many theological references and reason, compare, research, observe and think with our mind until we ultimately reach an understanding of what is lie or what is truth, then only Christians with good minds and education would escape deception. But God has no respect for the old creation; He concludes that all except the newly created spirit must die and be destroyed. Can the wisdom which God demands to be destroyed assist people to know good and evil? No, most emphatically no! God puts His Spirit in every believer’s spirit, regardless how sinful or dull he is. The indwelling Spirit shall teach him what is of God and what is not. This is why sometimes we can conjure up no logical reason for opposing a certain teaching, yet in the very depth of our being arises a resistance. We cannot explain it, but our inner sense tells us this is an error...
Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man, P 299
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Here Nee doesn't necessarily reject discernment of good and evil as being 'death' like Ron does, but Nee does insinuate that discernment of good and evil would be limited to those with "good minds", implying that it's too complicated for the average person. It's a subtle argument, because it fails to recognize the fact that many issues are not complicated. Just as much as we need to recognize good and evil we must also be willing to act accordingly. The latter is the difficult part, and probably where we actually tend to struggle.
Quite surprisingly, Nee then goes on to say that wisdom shouldn't be utilized to assist in knowing good and evil (because God supposedly has condemned wisdom). This directly contradicts the Word. We can and should utilize wisdom, and if we are lacking in that respect, it's as simple as asking for it:
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Towards the end of the excerpt, Nee moves his argument towards an esoteric "inner sense," which has since been relabeled as the "sense of life." I should say that I'm not against discernment in a prayerful way, but it the case of the LC, it is nothing more than an excuse to bypass common sense and solid principles. Of particular concern, Nee says "
This is why sometimes we can conjure up no logical reason for opposing a certain teaching, yet in the very depth of our being arises a resistance." I find this to be highly objectionable. If a personal 'resistance' is to be the metric for discerning teachings, that throws everything else out the window. If I have a personal resistance to my alarm clock, does that mean that I can skip going to work? Of course not. It's a stupid example I know, but that illustrates how easy it is for things to get skewed with something 'inward' and esoteric comes into play. Frankly speaking, if someone says that they have a certain 'sense' about something, I'm not going to question it, but that does not mean it is something they should turn around and project on others.