{"id":5574,"date":"2014-03-09T18:44:47","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T00:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/?p=5574"},"modified":"2014-03-06T18:50:31","modified_gmt":"2014-03-07T00:50:31","slug":"discernment-6-questions-to-ask-notes-on-discernment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/2014\/discernment-6-questions-to-ask-notes-on-discernment.html","title":{"rendered":"Discernment: 6 Questions to Ask (Notes on Discernment)"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you think you see sin in someone’s life.  Or you think that something is being taught that isn’t right.  What should you do?<\/p>\n

I just love this classic cartoon:<\/p>\n

\"Something
Source: xkcd<\/a><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

Yeah, there’s always something wrong, isn’t there?  If you want to spend all your time correcting all the horrible errors on the internet, well – – – don’t!<\/p>\n

Wouldn’t it be better to spend some time enjoying the Truth?<\/p>\n

And yet the Bible does have a lot to say about being discerning, correcting error, helping others avoid sin.<\/p>\n

I think that these six questions might help us pause and reflect before we jump into every battle out there…<\/p>\n

To evaluate…<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. How serious is this error\/sin?<\/i>  All of God’s Word is important, but saying that there were 15 tribes of Israel is not the same as denying that Jesus is God.<\/li>\n
  2. How might this affect my community and me?<\/i>  Maybe a strange belief of a sect on the other side of the world just isn’t as urgent to correct as something dangerous that my next door neighbour believes.<\/li>\n
  3. What is my relationship with this person?<\/i>  Frankly, that person in the internet forum likely won’t listen to you the way your best friend will.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To decide…<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. How could I\/we glorify God in this situation?<\/i>  This isn’t about us, it’s about God first.<\/li>\n
    2. How could I\/we protect my\/our community and me\/us?<\/i> (not sure how all that grammar works, but you get the idea)  If someone is coming at your wife with a knife, don’t discuss morality and the sin nature.  Protect your wife first!<\/li>\n
    3. How could I\/we help this person?<\/i>  Sometimes it’s only the church that asks this question.  Because sometimes this person has sinned against us – in a serious way.  Our ultimate goal should not be to prove we’re right, humiliate someone, or even execute justice.  When possible, the ultimate goal should be to help – to restore – to forgive.  (Sometimes this either isn’t possible for us, or sometimes the path may be through<\/i> justice, for example.  But as God loved us as the “ungodly”, we should do the same.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What to do?<\/h2>\n

      Neither in my study nor in these internet posts do we really have time to flesh out specific responses.  The Bible gives us a lot of guidance here, in situations that are often complex.<\/p>\n

      Maybe there are times to name someone in public and point out the error.  Jesus did it (Revelation 2:20), as did Paul (2Timothy 4:10) and John (3John 1:9-11), among others.<\/p>\n\n\n
      \"Spiritual<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

      But usually, we’ll be talking with someone in private (see James 5:19-20; Matthew 18:15; Leviticus 19:16-18).<\/p>\n

      Sometimes, when the issue is small, you may not mention it at all (Proverbs 19:11).<\/p>\n

      For further study, some passages to start with might be Matthew 18:15-20, Matthew 5:23-26, 2Timothy 2:14-26, and the book of Jude<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      So you think you see sin in someone’s life.  Or you think that something is being taught that isn’t right.  What should you do? I just love this classic cartoon: Source: xkcd Yeah, there’s always something wrong, isn’t there?  If you want to spend all your time correcting all the horrible errors on the internet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1490,1492],"class_list":["post-5574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional-and-bible","tag-discernment","tag-spiritual-discernment","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nDiscernment: 6 Questions to Ask (Notes on Discernment) - Finding direction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/2014\/discernment-6-questions-to-ask-notes-on-discernment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Discernment: 6 Questions to Ask (Notes on Discernment) - Finding direction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So you think you see sin in someone’s life.  Or you think that something is being taught that isn’t right.  What should you do? 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