何為分辨?What Is Discernment?
作者: Sinclair Ferguson 譯者: Maria Marta
一個我最近認識的朋友向我表達意見，他的意見令我吃驚，在某些方面讓我失望。我心裏說，「我以為他的分辨能力會比這判斷要高。」
這次經歷引起我反思分辨能力的重要性，和我們的世界很缺乏分辨的能力。我們知道，人往往看不清楚問題，很容易被誤導，因為他們不是從聖經的角度去思考。遺憾的是，人不禁會想到這種情況也同樣出現在教會團體，而且是何等的真實。
毫無疑問，我們大多數人都希望與當今被視為基督教的「極端分子」保持距離。我們要提防假教師，免得被引入歧途。但除此之外, 我們還應具備更多的分辨能力。真正的分辨不僅要分別錯誤與正確; 更要區分主要與次要、本質與無關緊要、永恒與短暫。是的，真分辨就是要區分好與較好, 甚至較好與最好之間的差別。
因此，分辨就像身體的感覺器官；分辨作為一種特殊恩賜，一些人在不尋常的程度上蒙賜這種恩賜，但對於我們所有人而言，一定程度上的分辨能力是必不可少的，必須不斷地培養這種能力。基督徒必須注意發展他屬靈分辨的「第六感」。這就是詩人如此祈禱的原因：「求你將精明和知識賜給我，因我信了你的命令。」（詩一一九66）
分辨的本質
但什麼是這種分辨呢？分辨一字在詩篇一一九篇66節的意思是指「辨味」（taste）。分辨是一種能力：作出鑒別的判斷；在不同的情況、行為過程之間作出區分，並且認識它們在道德方面的影響。分辨的能力包括「衡量」和評估個人、團體、甚至運動的道德狀況和屬靈狀態的能力。因此，耶穌警告我們不要論斷，就是敦促我們要分辨和辨別, 免得將我們的珍珠丟在豬前（太七16）
在約翰福音二章24-25節，有一個描述分辨的明顯例子：「耶穌卻不信任他們，因為他知道所有的人，也不需要誰指證人是怎樣的，因為他知道人心裡存的是什麼。 」（《聖經新譯本》）
這是非論斷主義（judgmentalism）的分辨。它包含我們的主對上帝聖言的認識, 和祂以上帝的方式對人的觀察（祂，至高者的禱告『求你將精明和知識賜給我，因我信了你的命令』詩一一九66）。毫無疑問，祂的分辨能力隨著祂與試探鬥爭，並戰勝試探的經歷增長，也隨著祂以上帝聖言的亮光檢驗每一種情況而增長。
耶穌的分辨力穿透心靈的最深處。基督徒被吩咐要培育類似的分辨能力。因為我們所擁有的唯一有價值的分辨能力是透過聖靈的工作，藉著上帝的話語，在與基督的聯合裏獲得。
因此，分辨是學習思考上帝的思想，在實踐和屬靈層面上遵循祂的旨意; 分辨意味著要意識到在上帝的眼中是如何看待事物的，並且這些事物在某種程度上，在上帝的眼前都是「赤露敞開」（來四13）。
分辨的影響
分辨如何影響我們的生活方式？ 有四個方面的影響：
1. 分辨充當保護的媒介，保護我們免受屬靈的欺騙。分辨保護我們，防止我們被如下這類教學之風刮走：使次要元素成為福音的核心元素, 或者將聖經的特定應用視為聖經的核心信息。
2. 分辨在恩典中運用時，也可充當醫治的媒介。我認識一小部分人，他們診斷別人屬靈需求的能力不同凡響。這樣的人似乎能夠深入別人所面對的問題的核心，並且比任何人做得更好。當然，從某些方面而言這是上帝托付給他們的危險恩賜。但只要在愛中運用分辨的能力，分辨就可能是一把屬靈外科手術的手術刀，使治愈成為可能。
3.再一次，分辨所起的作用是基督徒得自由的關鍵。有熱心但沒有分辨力的基督徒會成為奴隸------盲從於別人，受自己無知良心的束縛，沈溺於一種不符合聖經的生活方式。分辨力的增長能使我們擺脫這些束縛，也能使我們區分在某些情況下是有益的做法，和在任何情況下都是受命要做的。但在另一方面，真分辨能使自由的基督徒認識到，行使自由並非享受自由的必要條件。
4. 最後，分辨可作靈命發展的催化劑：「褻慢人尋智慧，卻尋不著；聰明人易得知識」（箴十四6）。 為什麼呢？因為有分辨力的基督徒會進入事情的核心。他對所有的事情都有所了解，也就是說，萬物在上帝裏面都有其共同的泉源。因此，知識的增長不會導致更多的挫折，反而對上帝的工作與祂的話語之和諧統一有更深刻的認識。
如何獲得這樣的分辨力呢？我們要像基督所作的那樣領受------借著聖靈的恩膏、透過對上帝話語的理解、通過對上帝恩典的經歷，和我們內心的真實狀況逐漸的向我們展現。
這就是為什麼我們還應該如此祈禱：「我是你的僕人，求你賜我悟性，使我得知你的法度 」（詩一一九125）。
本文摘自Sinclair Ferguson 博士所著的《唯獨基督在裡》(In Christ Alone) 一書。
What
Is Discernment?
FROM
Sinclair Ferguson
Someone
I know recently expressed an opinion that surprised and in some ways
disappointed me. I said to myself, “I thought he would have more discernment
than that.”
The
experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment and the lack
of it in our world. We know that people often do not see issues clearly and are
easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help
reflecting on how true this is of the church community, too.
Most
of us doubtless want to distance ourselves from what might be regarded as “the
lunatic fringe” of contemporary Christianity. We are on our guard against being
led astray by false teachers. But there is more to discernment than this. True
discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means
distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the
indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means
distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and
the best.
Thus,
discernment is like the physical senses; to some it is given in unusual measure
as a special grace gift (1 Cor. 12:10), but some measure of it is essential for
us all and must be constantly nourished. The Christian must take care to
develop his “sixth sense” of spiritual discernment. This is why the psalmist
prays, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge” (Ps. 119:66).
The
Nature of Discernment
But
what is this discernment? The word used in Psalm 119:66 means “taste.” It is
the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and
recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of
action. It includes the ability to “weigh up” and assess the moral and
spiritual status of individuals, groups, and even movements. Thus, while
warning us against judgmentalism, Jesus urges us to be discerning and
discriminating, lest we cast our pearls before pigs (Matt. 7:1, 6).
A
remarkable example of such discernment is described in John 2:24–25: “Jesus
would not entrust himself to them … for he knew what was in a man” (NIV).
This
is discernment without judgmentalism. It involved our Lord’s knowledge of God’s
Word and His observation of God’s ways with men (He, supremely, had prayed,
“Teach me good judgment … for I believe Your commandments,” Ps. 119:66).
Doubtless His discernment grew as He experienced conflict with, and victory
over, temptation, and as He assessed every situation in the light of God’s
Word.
Jesus’
discernment penetrated to the deepest reaches of the heart. But the Christian
is called to develop similar discernment. For the only worthwhile discernment
we possess is that which we receive in union with Christ, by the Spirit,
through God’s Word.
So
discernment is learning to think God’s thoughts after Him, practically and
spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God’s eyes and
seeing them in some measure “uncovered and laid bare” (Heb. 4:13).
The
Impact of Discernment
How
does this discernment affect the way we live? In four ways:
1. It
acts as a means of protection, guarding us from being deceived spiritually. It
protects us from being blown away by the winds of teaching that make central an
element of the gospel that is peripheral or treat a particular application of
Scripture as though it were Scripture’s central message.
2.
Discernment also acts as an instrument of healing, when exercised in grace. I
have known a small number of people whose ability to diagnose the spiritual
needs of others has been remarkable. Such people seem able to penetrate into
the heart issues someone else faces better than the person can do. Of course,
this is in some ways a dangerous gift with which God has entrusted them. But
when exercised in love, discernment can be the surgical scalpel in spiritual
surgery that makes healing possible.
3.
Again, discernment functions as a key to Christian freedom. The zealous but
undiscerning Christian becomes enslaved—to others, to his own uneducated
conscience, to an unbiblical pattern of life. Growth in discernment sets us
free from such bondage, enabling us to distinguish practices that may be
helpful in some circumstances from those that are mandated in all
circumstances. But in another way, true discernment enables the free Christian
to recognize that the exercise of freedom is not essential to the enjoyment of
it.
4.
Finally, discernment serves as a catalyst to spiritual development: “The mocker
seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning”
(Prov. 14:6, NIV). Why? Because the discerning Christian goes to the heart of
the matter. He knows something about everything, namely that all things have
their common fountain in God. Increase in knowledge, therefore, does not lead
to increased frustration, but to a deeper recognition of the harmony of all
God’s works and words.
How
is such discernment to be obtained? We receive it as did Christ Himself—by the
anointing of the Spirit, through our understanding of God’s Word, by our
experience of God’s grace, and by the progressive unfolding to us of the true
condition of our own hearts.
That
is why we also should pray, “I am your servant; give me discernment” (Ps.
119:125, NIV).
This
excerpt is taken from In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson.