Spiritual Discernment

[Freedom]

Something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is discernment, and why it is so difficult for members to discern what goes on in the LC. Though this thread isn’t intended to be about Ron, what he spoke in his “man of death” conference encapsulates the LC mindset and ideology:

If we do not exercise discernment in the proper way… our situation will be hopeless. No one will know what is going on…

How do you discern? Well, there are two ways. And, most of the saints follow a certain way, unless they are trained by the Lord.

And, the two ways of discernment are symbolized by the two trees in the garden. There is the tree of life; and with the tree of life is a way of discernment. And, there is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…

The temptation is to ask, who is right and who is wrong. Or you may try to find out for yourself what is right and what is wrong...

I want to contrast his statement with something from the scriptures:
Hebrews 5:14
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Nothing really needs to be said about how far off Ron is, but what I think is worth pointing out is that whatever is being taught in the LC about discernment is clearly relying on the ignorance of members to get them to buy into these kinds of teachings. The Word clearly tells us that there are some who are able to discern good and evil. Why then would this be ridiculed, and why would no one in the LC question it? Have members decided to take Ron’s word over what the Bible teaches? Apparently so.

At a more general level, I think members are only likely to consider addressing concerns that affect them personally. It seems that is what leaders primarily hope to silence, so for the most part, the even larger issues that need discernment go unnoticed.
1 John 4:2-3
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

There are just so many things that are “off” in the LC. While the LC doesn’t deny the doctrine of incarnation, they do divert focus to many other things, and not to mention, they mock anyone who pays to much attention to the basics of the gospel.

In interactions that I’ve had with LC members over the years, I really have been left wondering how many care about Jesus. For some, the Christian life is exclusively about attending a training for 2 years, learning how to abide by strict regulations, and then learning how to impose the same upon others. To others, the LC is a social club. I have known all different types. What is the common to most is that Jesus is a distant shadow in the background. The point is that LCers have put themselves in a position where they couldn't determine and don't even care to know if a spirit is of God or not.

So the LC has basically put a lid on any possibility of discernment taking place within the LC, and there is no desire to even determine the current state of affairs, so it makes sense why the nonsense abounds. It took me a long time to understand that. There are some in the LC who I once looked up to, but then I saw issues that needed discernment/decision be simply shrugged off. I thus lost all respect for such persons. Because there really is nothing complicated about basic spiritual discernment, if leaders can’t demonstrate an ability to properly engage in discernment, it’s a good sign that they are not the proper leaders to take as an example.