SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

AND DIRECTION

Houston Graduate School of TheologyCS 501 Introduction to Christian Spirituality

Spiritual Discernment

What is discernment? Sources

Chan, Simon. Spiritual Theology, chapter 11Smith, Gordon T. The Voice of Jesus:

Discernment, Prayer, and the Witness of the Spirit. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press.

Discernment DefinedInsight – the capacity to see something clearlyDiscretion – the capacity to distinguish between

good and evil and good and betterJudgement – assessment informed by knowledge

and understanding

The two paths Through the regular practice of

discernment, a person grows in wisdom, which becomes increasingly evident in the quality of one’s choices

The ability to discern the voice of Jesus is a critical spiritual skill, basic to our capacity to make vocational and moral choices – read John 10:1-5

The exercise of discernment External – concerning the veracity of

events, situations, and people; God’s work in the world and one’s participation in it; and extraordinary phenomena

Internal – determining the source of inner impulses has always been difficult and may be the reason why most of the work on discernment has concentrated on this area

Dynamic tensions

Divine initiative

and human response

Context of life and the particularity

of Jesus’ voice

The voice of Jesus in prayer and in the world

The individual and the

community

Divine initiative/human response God is the initiator Christian spirituality is a spirituality of

response In spiritual discernment, the believer

learns how to respond to God’s initiative Discernment rests in the tension

between the priority of God and the call for genuine human action and responsibility

Context of life/voice of Jesus God speaks into the particulars We learn to be attentive to the details of our

lives We have a greater capacity to listen to

Jesus if we are frank with ourselves about who we are, where we have come from, what we have experienced, and what we hope for.

As a result, we develop the ability to attend to the inner witness of the Spirit.

Jesus’ voice in prayer and in the world A discerning person learns to be alert and

attentive to the voice of Jesus in every context of life, even through unexpected channels of communication

Effective discernment requires an openness to surprises, to the strange and wonderful ways in which God may choose to speak

We will not recognize Jesus’ voice unless we listen to the Spirit while in prayer

The individual and the community The community is both a threat and an

indispensable aid to discernment To foster spiritual maturity, the community

enables individual Christians to hear the voice of Jesus and encounter the living bread and water for themselves

Though a believer learns discernment for oneself, it is not learned by oneself

Critical affirmations

The Voices of the CommunityThe Gift of DiscernmentThe Role of Leadership

The role of leadership The leader finds a responsible place

within the process, as part of the group Leadership is one of the gifts given to

the community The community takes seriously the

perspective, skills, and gifts of the leader The leader listens to the community and

to the voice of the Spirit through the community

The voices of the community Each member plays a significant role Communal discernment seeks to affirm

the appropriate voice and contribution of each person, corresponding to each person’s giftedness and role within the community

Gift of discernment Individual contributions that enable the

group to discern well. Varieties of expressions

Seeing beyond the immediate (vision)Understanding the issues and facts (critical

analysis but beyond rational analysis)Identifying the emotional dimensionSharing of wisdom and insight (sage)

Conditions for Communal Discernment

Common Purpose

Resolve to

Decide Together

Clearly Framed Matter for

Discernment

Mutual Regard

and Accepta

nce

Good Information and Good Research

The meeting to discern

Discussion toward ResolutionModerator asks for comments and observations that

have arisen out of prayer A “sense” may emerge that there is more agreement

among the group than originally thought possible

Prayer and Silent ReflectionMeeting for Clearness Extended time of listening prayer

Open DiscussionThreshing Meeting Issues, concerns, observations, and perspectives are

freely expressed

Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction Freeing and empowering others to know

with greater confidence what God is saying to them

Empowering others to hear more clearly the voice of Jesus

Distinct from both counseling and mentoring

Distinctions Counseling

The agenda is set by the emotional needs of the one being counseled

Spiritual directors and mentors know that when it comes to emotional pathologies, they are well advised to refer others to trained counselors

MentoringThe agenda is set by the one who mentorsOne has a set of skills and trains the other in

those skills

Distinctions Spiritual direction

The agenda is not so much emotional needs nor is it a training program

The witness of the Spirit determines the course of the conversation

Fundamental posture is in being with the other in a manner that enhances the capacity of the other to know how God is speaking

Peterson’s assumptions God is present and at work in each

person’s life A wealth of spiritual wisdom exists on

which we can draw as we seek to respond to the work of God

Every person is different, therefore, directors should not work with a predetermined outcome

The Bottom Line Spiritual direction is not a ministry of

giving counsel about decisions Rather, in spiritual direction, one of the

most effective ways in which we can serve the other is by probing to see how the other can choose well, in intentional response to God