Why do so many young Christians lack discernment?
So many young people will believe anything if it is about Jesus, and if one rebukes someone or tells that something is ungodly (a church, action, or even something that is supposed to be Christian), then he is told 'only God can judge' and 'don't judge'. Why do all of my Christian friends like any page on Facebook with the words 'Jesus', 'Bible' or 'God', even if they are full of 'like and share if you love Jesus' and irrelevant verses that are just supposed to make Christianity appealing, sometimes creating a false-Christianity (like the prosperity gospel, but without the money)?
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Asked July 03 2014
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George Adams
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Singapore Moses
More often than we think, common sense is a surer safeguard than many others. Someone wisely said, "When common sense makes sense, don't look for any other sense!" Sometimes we are told, "Don't rationalize. Don't try to understand these things through human intellect. These are supernatural things," and so on. But this argument is absurd. Because, God has given us a spirit of "sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7). In Christian dedication we are not called to "remove" our mind but to "renew" it (Rom 12:1,2). Mature believers are defined as those "who by reason of practice have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:14). The thinking faculty is a gift from God. Christians must be good thinkers. Paul rebuked the Galatian believers as "foolish" Galatians, because they embraced another gospel and were "bewitched" (Gal 3:1a). They began in the Spirit but started going after fleshly excitements (v3). The deceived are supposed to "come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil" (2 Tim 2:26). Peter's description of the false teachers in 2 Peter 2 is the strongest and lengthiest picture of them in the entire New Testament. In the previous chapter and the next he was "stirring up the minds" of the believers (1:13; 3:1). Therefore letting the mind into a state of neutrality is not spirituality but stupidity! In some of the so-called revival meetings, people reportedly are roaring. It is justified as the voice of the Lion of Judah! The latest is barking. There are books which expound these as the "animal sounds of the Holy Spirit!" Christians, where are we heading? Now there is crawling and hissing. What next? We may soon need warning boards in our Churches as, "Beware of Dogs and Cobras!" Are we without "understanding" (Mt 15:16,17)? Does not "nature" itself teach us (1 Cor 11:14)? Friends, these so-called new move and new revelations won't satisfy or edify your inner man. They are "wells without water"—deep but dry; "clouds without rain" — dense but no downpour (2 Pet 2:17). Return to the "old" paths; you will find rest to your souls! (Jer 6:16). The Pauline instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22 is conclusive: Analyse — all things! Accept — only good things! Avoid — all questionable things! Amen!
Jay Saunders
In my opinion the best way to acquire discernment is Proverbs and the gospel of John. But the biggest reason any Christian is weak is because they do not take the time to be schooled by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the study of God's word. God's people perish because of the lack of knowledge. God has an answer for everything under the sun. Let's take one verse: "Be sober minded always." Well, that pretty much says I can not drink alcoholic beverages, use drugs, or any medication that I don't really need. Strong drink makes a man into a fool. How about this one? "Sudden riches is a snare unto a man. " Yep. Gambling is out! If we won millions of dollars, who really knows if we could really handle the temptations that follow? I might want more and more and more until I have squandered it all. Money solves a multitude of problems, sure, but sudden riches is a snare and who is the snare of the fowler? Satan is, of course. Just thoughts!
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