Train to Live on Mission – Week 36

Battle Drill #36:

Learn Discernment to Make Wise Decisions!

Proverbs 26:16 (NAS95)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls, First Baptist Church of New Castle, Indiana on November 13, 2022

 

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Learn Discernment to Make Wise Decisions!”

 

It is my desire to train you to make wise decisions in a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual way, no matter the pressure of the situation or the stress you’re under. It is for this reason that I went through the rigors of the US Army Ranger School, to learn how to apply the military decision-making process (MDMP) under duress and in extreme situations. I wanted to be the very best leader I could be to accomplish the mission. While I learned MDMP in a classroom environment first, it had to be trained into me so that it was reflexive, instinctive, and habitual. That does not happen by accident! I needed to be able to lead soldiers in ways that defeated the enemy and accomplished the mission, just like we need to be trained to heed God’s wisdom and make wise decisions based upon it. I can’t put you through a spiritual ranger school, but I can open your eyes to the reality that God is using your everyday life as just that – the ranger school of life to teach you discernment. Let’s give our pain and suffering meaning for the glory of God (James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:1-5).

 

Discernment, according to the Bible, is the capacity for rational thought and the ability to make wise decisions, to understand what is right and true, and to act upon it. In other words, the discernment that we are to cry out for is not that God should make the decision for us, but that He would give us the capacity to know what is right, to understand truth, and to act upon that information to make good decisions that glorify Him and manifest the good fruit of His Spirit.

 

When people approach me to seek counsel on the will of God for their lives, I teach them that discernment is more about how you make the decision, than about what decision you end up making. While I do believe what we do matters (of course it does!), I believe discernment is the why and how of the what. If you learn how to discern God’s will, then you will more times than not choose life and blessing. This is the exact opposite mindset of the “Magic 8 Ball” understanding of God’s will that so many people use in their prayer life, which, by the way, is the complete absence of the wisdom God entrusted to you with a brain to learn how to use and apply to your everyday life. Quite the opposite, discernment is the ability to apply the wisdom of God to real life decisions, using the agency and faculties God has commanded you to steward as one who is wise – Don’t be a fool, learn discernment to make wise decisions!

 

Let’s turn to the Field Manual and take the first step of a soldier’s training regimen.

 

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 26:16,
 
“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet [discerning] answer.”
 
This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply it to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

 

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

For each soldier to be on the same sheet of music with their Commander, if that is even possible on this side of Heaven, we must strive towards the goal of wisdom by reading from the same field manual – the Bible – and by training ourselves for godliness according to the same training regimen (1 Timothy 4:6-8). Today, we are learning that we must prioritize the urgency of making right decisions as individuals and as a member of a spiritual community called the body of Christ.

 

The word translated “discreet” in today’s battle drill is more often translated discernment, as in Psalm 119:66, “Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments.” Another time it is used serves as a beautiful illustration of today’s battle drill, from 1 Samuel 25:32-34, when David praised Abigail for being wise and admonished her husband, Nabal, for being a fool:

 

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male. [emphasis added]

 

Abigail applied wisdom to her situation by assisting David and his men who had protected her husband’s flocks, even though her husband refused to help David, and, in fact, was so foolish as to offend David and throw gasoline on his burning anger. If it wasn’t for Abigail’s discernment all her husband’s household would have been destroyed that day.

 

Remember, discernment is the ability to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in a rational decision-making process which seeks to apply God’s wisdom to your specific everyday circumstances. As we learned from this powerful illustration from God’s Word, we learn that there is a life-or-death reality to our need to learn how to apply today’s battle drill. Solomon made this urgency clear in how he gave multiple examples to the importance of “giving a discerning answer” in Proverbs 26:17-28:

 

Like one who takes a dog by the ears is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him. Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “Was I not joking?” For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body. Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross are burning lips and a wicked heart. He who hates disguises it with his lips, but he lays up deceit in his heart. When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart. Though his hatred covers itself with guile, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him. A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

 

The urgency of learning how to apply God’s wisdom to our everyday lives in a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual way, no matter the pressure of the situation or the stress you’re under, brings us to the third action step of a good soldier of Jesus.

 

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Biblically, the process of knowing and proving God’s will for your life begins with the same step for every member of the body of Christ, as Paul explained in Romans 12:1-2:

 

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

We must first decide to gather around the Commander, Jesus Christ, and set our ambition on becoming like Him, gentle and humble in heart, before we can do or decide anything else – this is your spiritual service of worship, being transformed into His image through the renewal of your mind. To emphasize how this renewal of the mind process works, I want to emphasize an important teaching on discernment from Proverbs 2:1-9:

 

My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. [emphasis added]

 

When you examine Proverbs 2:1-9, you see that it is one large conditional statement, an “if-then” proposition:

 

IF you:

  • Receive My words (1)
  • Treasure My commandments in your person (1)
  • Make your ear attentive (2)
  • Incline your heart to understanding (2)
  • Cry out for discernment (3)
  • Lift your voice for understanding (3)
  • Seek wisdom as silver (4)
  • Search for wisdom as hidden treasure (4)

 

THEN you will be able to:

  • Discern the fear of the LORD (5)
  • Discover the knowledge of God (5)
  • Discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course (9)

 

Why is this important? The passage explains that this “if-then” conditional statement holds true in life BECAUSE doing the IF’s puts you in the pathway of God, who:

  • Gives wisdom (6)
  • Speaks knowledge and understanding (6)
  • Stores up sound wisdom for the upright (7)
  • Shields (“He is a buckler” in KJV) those who walk in integrity (7)
  • Guards the paths of justice (8)
  • Preserves the way of His godly ones (8)

 

This is the logic loop of God’s Word and just like in computer code, a conditional statement determines the path on which you will walk in life. But unlike computers, you have free will – the responsibility to make wise choices and deal with the consequences of your choices. If you stop at a red light, then… If you look both ways before you cross the road, then… There is a rationality to an IF-THEN statement that you can train into your life to live on mission for God.

 

This battle drill must become instinctive, reflexive, and habitual. You must make learning discernment to make wise decisions a daily habit of your life. Every promise of God comes with this choice – choose obedience, which leads to life, or choose disobedience, which leads to death! These were Moses’ parting words to God’s people before they entered the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

 

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

 

Either consequence – “life and death, the blessing and the curse” – is a promise of God! That’s why the Commander calls us to learn how to “give discerning answers” as today’s battle drill. This leads us to the final action step of our soldier’s training regimen.

 

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

What differentiates the church from every other team or community is that we gather around Jesus and not around a goal or task.
 
No matter how biblical or spiritual the goal may sound, if it is not around the person of Jesus Christ and becoming like Him to reflect God’s image to the world, that task can take you off God’s mission and into your own ambition. While the church is a missional organization, our primary purpose is to become like the One who has enlisted us to Himself so that we can offer Him right worship and bring glory to God. Becoming like Jesus is our greatest calling, and it is only through the spiritual transformation process that the church can ever make wise decisions or live on mission or even offer right worship to Him. To prioritize “doing” before “being” is the fundamental error of the American church. As Ruth Haley Barton stated in her book Pursuing God’s Will Together:

 

We are unified by our commitment to be transformed in Christ’s presence through the work of the Holy Spirit so we can discern and do the will of God as we are guided by the Spirit. We participate in Jesus’ prayer “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done” in our own small corner of the world.[1]

 

If we are going to be a people who live on mission for God, then we must be a people who “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” as our greatest priority (Matthew 6:33). As we just learned from Proverbs 2:1-9, only by God’s grace can we receive wisdom (6), speak knowledge and understanding (6), store up sound wisdom for the upright (7), shield those who walk in integrity (7), guard the paths of justice (8), or preserve the way of His godly ones (8).

 

To make any one of these things the purpose in and of itself, is to risk losing focus on God’s mission. That is why we must prioritize our spiritual formation and seek the transformation through the renewal of the mind that only comes by walking closely with God in the easy yoke of Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 12:2a). We must be the ones who receive God’s words (1), treasure His commandments in our person (1), make our ear attentive (2), incline our heart to understanding (2), cry out for discernment (3), lift our voice for understanding (3), seek God’s wisdom as silver (4), and search for His wisdom as hidden treasure (4).

 

When we do this, then we will be able to discern the fear of the Lord (5), discover the knowledge of God (5), and discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course (9). Just as Psalm 119:9 simply teaches, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” We train discernment by abiding in God, hiding His Word in our hearts, and prioritizing our lives around His mission! The more we invest daily time into the meditation upon and memorization of God’s Word, the more instinctive, reflexive, and habitual it will be to remain on the path of God’s “good and acceptable and perfect” will (Romans 12:2b).

 

Therefore, today’s battle drill of learning discernment to make wise decisions is you deciding to apply what you have learned from Jesus, doing what He would do in each of your circumstances and difficult situations. You learn to make wise decisions by walking with the One who is the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). This was Jesus’ promise for your life when He first invited you to walk with Him, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).

 

It is the Holy Spirit at work in you to bring about God’s will in and through your life as you walk with Jesus, so keep on walking with Him (Philippians 2:12-13). John said in 1 John 2:5-6, “Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

 

Make this battle drill a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Therefore, live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.
 

You can listen to the message by clicking the below:

 

You can watch the message by clicking HERE.

 
 
 

FOOTNOTE:

 
[1] Ruth Haley Barton, Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 77.
 
 
 

^