Experts Lacking Discernment

ronniefloyd.com welcomes guest writer Dr. Nick Floyd. Nick is the Campus Pastor at Cross Church Fayetteville.

I am 29-years-old. A millennial. An expert, or so I think sometimes. In fact, most of my younger friends are also experts. Experts in what you may ask?

Everything…sports, church, politics, and anything else that may come up. Often my own pride leads me to think that I know more than I do. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about my generation, it’s that we are in desperate need of one thing: discernment. Honestly, this lack of discernment goes beyond my generation. Many of us think we are experts. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about people, it’s that we’re all in need of discernment, regardless of our age.

Discernment is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Often, right and wrong is not so black and white. Sometimes, it is the difference between wisdom and putting our foot in our mouths. Some are gifted with discernment, most  have to learn it. Discernment is knowing when to tweet and not to tweet. It is knowing when to open our mouths and when to keep them closed. It is understanding when to step out in faith and when not to be stupid.

James 1:19 gives us an excellent filter for our discernment. James writes, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Isn’t it interesting that the first thing he tells us to do is to listen? If I could paraphrase James’ words, I would say, “Dude, stop talking, don’t get angry so easily, just listen.” Often our lack of discernment comes when we refuse to listen and try to quickly get our opinion across because someone has ticked us off. Does your speech follow James’ train of thought? Better question: Does your social media follow this command of Scripture? May we all learn to discern.