Western Yearly Meeting Pastor's Retreat: Discernment Conference

I wanted to share a little about the pastor's retreat I went on this weekend. The focus of the retreat were two training sessions one on discernment and the other on a product called Financial Peace University.

Briefly on Financial Peace University. It is an excellent program to help you learn to pay down debt and slowly but consistently grow wealth. Allison and I went through it before we were married and it has colored the way we think about our finances. One day we will yell "I'm debt free!"

Also I want to highlight the most important reminder I received on discernment - Everyone on the committee must be focused on being in the middle of God's will.

I want to spend some time on a overly stretched metaphor used in regard to discernment. I appreciated the speaker's presentation and thought it was a lot of useful information but it left me wondering if we have dumbed down our faith in a supernatural God and traded it for well thought out mechanisms we try and pass off for supernatural spirituality. Not only this conference but others who speak on discernment cross a line by saying we are trying to hear - God speaking to us. I believe it is more accurate to say that discernment is seeking what God's will is. God's will is always there and working in our world to bring God's kingdom to earth. In our particular conference I think the boundary was overstepped when the speaker used 1Samuel 3:1 "The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions." to say that it wasn't God who wasn't speaking but it was the people who were not attuned to God's voice. When this metaphor goes here it seems that it discounts the actual direct revelation of God, visions, dreams, and epiphanies replacing them with a more humanly understandable mechanism. Perhaps this comes from a Christian heart that is a little too charismatic but it believes that God indeed, still brings these kinds of revelation. I believe God is quiet at this time in the West because of our prosperity and all we simply have to do is obey. While our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world need this type of revelation to direct followers and demonstrate the power of the Gospel in the face of death throughout their lives.

Discerning the will of God is oh, so important. But it is not the same as hearing the voice of God. If we truly want God to show up in dreams, visions, and epiphanies then we must be one thing, holy; and do one thing ask. And I don't mean the mamby pamby-on my way to work-in the car-please help me God-asking. I mean it becomes the most important thing you do for a season-sackcloth and ash-fasting-unceasing prayer-on your face-using your vacation time-vow of silence-asking.

Though both of these are important, my hope is that people do not pass by the hard discipline of seeking to hear God's voice for an easy to package mechanism that helps us understand God's will.