Once we agree that God exists and wants to communicate with us, there’s one universal question: How can I know that I’m hearing correctly? Rather than give you a false sense of security, I’m going to share the most hopeful insight I’ve heard in several months. You can’t.
Don’t get me wrong. There are ways to sharpen your discernment, and we’ll talk about those. Cultivating discernment is crucial. But every human is vulnerable to confusion or deception to some extent. Even our empirical knowledge gets revised when we realize that the “facts” weren’t as factual as we thought. In reality, we’re most vulnerable to deception when we think we can prove anything with certainty.
The truth is, you can’t really know that you’re hearing correctly, but we can. A friend pointed out recently that, although each of us can comprehend only part of the picture, together we have the mind of Christ. Instantly I knew this was a missing piece for so many who struggle with discernment.
We tend to fixate on being correct. God is more interested in us connecting with him and each other. He didn’t give us as individuals the capacity to fully grasp anything. Instead he entrusts the mind of Christ to us collectively. This interdependence protects us from each other and from ourselves. It protects us in our areas of greatest strength and greatest weakness. He created us to need each other, and that is really. good. news.
If you cultivate a lifestyle of listening to God, and listening to the people he’s put in your life, you will sometimes make mistakes. But not listening doesn’t protect you from mistakes, it leaves you even more vulnerable. There’s hope in knowing that I’m connected to other people who help me discern.
This isn’t all that spiritual. For example, let’s say I’m condemning myself over something trivial. Often I don’t even have to admit it to discern that it’s false. Just the idea of saying it out loud is enough. Just imagining how a loved one would respond helps me recognize the truth about myself. You’ve probably done this type of reality check without thinking of it as discernment. The point is, it’s only possible because of the relationship you already have. Apart from relationship, we would be prisoners of our own thoughts.
Being connected isn’t a substitute for discernment. It’s no excuse for not developing your own listening relationship with God. But my (limited) revelation isn’t just mine. It’s given to me (in part) to deepen your experience of the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. It’s humbling, energizing, and honestly… terrifying. In the best possible way.Now it’s your turn: How can you enlist other members of the body in your process of discernment?
How can you deepen our understanding of the mind of Christ?