Discernment & Humility - Smith

The following are quotes from Gordon T. Smith’s book, The Voice of Jesus. Note the interesting relationship found between discernment and humility. Can we really know the will of God if we continue in self-centeredness and self-exaltation? Can we really discern God’s will without humility?


Discernment, then, is not merely a matter of rational analysis, of weighing the pros and cons and seeking to respond with a biblically informed mind to the options we are facing. Neither is discernment a matter of pure revelation, what some call “a word from the Lord.” Rather, it is a way of knowing and seeing that is experienced as a profound interplay of intellect and emotion in which head and heart are informing and guiding each other. Discernment is a matter of attending to both the circumstances of our lives and the emotional contours of our hearts. (53)

(Jonathan) Edwards had a basic assumption that guided his investigation (of discernment): the real test of the validity of spiritual experience is the outcome – the fruit of the experience. For example, he stressed that if we feel grief for sin, it should result in a life that moves away from sin. If we have great joy in the midst of worship, it should lead to a life in which joy is more fundamental and central to our day-to-day experience. In other words, if God is truly present, personal and corporate transformation will occur. Edwards challenged the view that dramatic emotional experience meant that God was present and that transformation necessarily followed. What mattered was not the depth of emotion or feeling; the trust test was whether the experience led to genuine spiritual growth. (48)

Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant. Mark 10:43

Yet the wonder of Jesus’ words is that those who make a difference are those who have learned to give power away, to serve in such a way that others are enabled through that service to be all they are called to be. In other words, the genius of making a difference in our world is not through the exercise of power, and even less through the accumulation of power, but through the empowerment of others. We make a difference through service. (150-151)

Humility is critical. The Spiritual Exercises (by Ignatius) include a word that expresses the hope of humility for which we long: indifference. Holy indifference is not apathy; it is rather the inner posture of freedom, where we are able to say and feel that we are open to whatever God wills. If God gives wealth, this is good. If God withholds wealth, this too is good. If God grants us the position for which we have applied, that is good. If God grants it to another, this is good as well. We are indifferent. It is not that we do not care, but we have chosen to place our hopes and longings in God, and come what may, we will be content with how God provides. It also means that we will trust God to do His work in His time. (152)

On a basic level, humility includes an awareness of sin and the need for repentance. Humility also fosters a courageous self-disclosure and honesty with God and self. . . Further, a person of humility is disposed to the purposes and will of God. For (Charles) Wesley, without a fundamental humility or meekness, expressed in a submission of the spirit before the holiness and goodness of God, there can be no knowledge of God. This submission is the antithesis of self-exaltation and self-centeredness. (46)