|
Discerning Love by Rick Joyner |
As we have discussed, the harvest at the end of the age is the reaping of
everything that has been sown in man. Both the good and the evil are now coming
to full maturity. However, without spiritual discernment, evil will sometimes
appear good, and good will sometimes appear to be evil. How can we distinguish
them?
I followed with interest the debate among Christians about whether the movie
series from The Lord of the Rings was either good or evil. Some thought that it
was a powerful prophetic word from the Lord and some thought that it was from
the devil. I personally thought the truth was somewhere in-between, but it was
the reasoning that I was interested in and felt that it was very illuminating.
There were many profound insights into the nature of good and evil in Tolkien's books that were powerfully articulated and the
movies did a good job of projecting them. I think these insights were also very
relevant to the times to which we are coming. Even so, this was not Scripture
and I do not think that such things should be taken too seriously. I do not
doubt Tolkien's personal faith and I think he made a
great contribution to our times through his work—especially through his
influence with C.S. Lewis. But both of these men had some views and ways of
trying to convey what they believed that should be questioned. However, like
all such works, the wise will just eat the meat and throw away the bones. The
immature and unstable will throw away the meat because it has bones in it.
One of the great lines about discernment in the first Lord of the Rings book,
The Fellowship Of the Ring, was when Frodo had to
choose between going with a man who was in fact leading him into a trap or
Strider. Of the one with the evil intent Frodo said, "He seems fair but
feels foul." Of Strider, who was trying to save him, but came across as
far more hard and insensitive, he said, "He seems foul but feels
fair." Frodo wisely followed Strider and was saved from his enemy.
Likewise, when we judge too superficially we will likely be fooled.
Though I have not seen any studies to verify this, I personally believe there
are more Christians who are now estranged from the church than who are growing
in real body relationships which are essential for true Christian maturity.
Most of the Christians I have met that are no longer in a church were either
wounded or disappointed by the church, and therefore gave up on it. From these
I have often heard, "I love God but just don't like His people." This
may sound glib, but as John explained, this is a basic deception as we do not
really love God unless we also love His people. The Scriptures also go to great
lengths to explain that love is not to be based on whether people are lovable
or not. Also, love itself is not what many believe it to be.
As we studied last week, all true discernment must be founded on love. However,
what often seems like compassion can be the root of a diabolical deception. We
must always keep in mind that the fruit from the good side of the Tree of
Knowledge is just as deadly as the evil side. Humanistic goodness is a very
basic affront to God and is rooted more in the pride of man than genuine
compassion. Humanistic goodness will also result in further bondage, not
freedom.
It was once said of the great Russian novelist that
"The world has never been viewed through a more discerning eye than that
of Leo Tolstoy." Except for the Lord Jesus, and the writers of Scripture,
I would tend to agree with that statement. He had a remarkable understanding of
the motives behind the actions of people. In his classic novel, War and Peace,
Tolstoy used a poignant illustration to highlight what has now become a
distinction between modern conservative and liberal politics. I am not writing
this to try to sway anyone's vote or politics, but simply to use this obvious
example in the world to understand true compassion and discernment.
In this story Count Pierre has great feelings of compassion for the serfs on
his estate. However, his policies and practices were motivated more out of his
feeling of compassion than wisdom, which flawed his methods, and so the
condition of his serfs deteriorated. In contrast to this, Prince Andrey, simply out of his devotion to sound business
principles, greatly elevated the condition of his serfs. To the serfs,
One cannot help but to draw the parallel between these two characters in
Tolstoy's novel and the liberal and conservative political parties. In
This is not to say that some Democratic Party policies and programs in
It was because of this tendency for the people and the governments who talk the
most and do the least that Winston Churchill once said, "If you are not a
liberal when you are twenty you have no heart. But if you are not a
conservative by the time you are forty you have no mind." Bleeding hearts
seem so much more righteous, but tend to squander more resources and actually
end up hurting more people than they help. In contrast, the practical and
pragmatic who tend to be doers instead of talkers usually do far more good for
people. However, our goal is not to quit caring, but to let our love be guided
by sound, godly wisdom.
As we addressed last week, true discernment is founded on love, but humanistic
love is not love at all. Such is usually a selfish attempt to either manipulate
others or appease our own conscience by works in place of the righteousness of
God which has been provided for us by the cross. Likewise, having feelings of
compassion can make us feel more righteous, but as James wrote, "faith
without works is dead," (James 2:26), and so is love without works. Those
who seem to talk the most about love will usually be found to be doing the
least. Those who are really doing something to help others rarely talk about it
and therefore may not seem to be motivated by love at all. But as the Lord told
us, to judge by fruit and not words is true love.