Did you know, according to PBS North Carolina, the average person makes approximately 35,000 decisions in a single day. Obviously, not every decision we make is a major decision. There is a difference between deciding to get married and deciding on what to eat for lunch. However, each decision carries consequences.
There is a website called 12most.com. They tell us there are twelve different kinds of choices you make in your life. It must be true because it is on the internet. This is their list:
Choice to learn Are you trying to learn something new every day? Knowledge is a choice.
Choices in and of relations Do you surround yourself with people, or not? How close do you let people get to you?
Choice of personal health Are you eating your fruits and vegetables? Do you exercise? Or are you smoking like a chimney and drinking like a fish?
Choice of where you reside Are you going to live in the city, or the country? Are you going to live in the north, or the south?
Choice of personal finances How comfortable are you with personal debt? Would you take a loan out to buy an RV?
Choice of parenthood Are you going to have children? How are you going to raise your children?
Choice of life’s priorities What are the most important things to you?
Choice of vocation What are you going to do when you grow up?
Choice of time We spend our time on the things that are the most important to us. What takes up most of your week?
Choice of spirituality Are you going to be a Christian, or one of the other world religions? Are you going to be a true disciple and strive to be a little more like Jesus every day? Or are you just a church member? Are you going to be an atheist or an agnostic?
Choice of self-worth Do you see yourself as a child of God, or the runt of the litter? Do you like yourself? Are you proud of yourself?
Choice to choose Are you going to take control of your life, or just do what others expect?
Life is filled with choices. Each choice we make comes with a consequence. The church is not excluded. In the life of the church, we make many decisions. That is why discerning God’s will is important. That takes us to our scripture lesson.
We find ourselves in the first three verses of the thirteenth chapter of Acts. There is absolutely no association with the previous story, except to say the church is growing. According to our text, the prophets and teachers had assembled in Antioch. Some believe the names listed are in order of importance. If they are correct, then Barnabas is the most influential member in that congregation and Saul is the least. They were worshiping and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them. The divine helper is clear in his communication. He tells the assembly to set apart Barnabas and Saul. They are about to begin their divine purpose. Everyone heard what the Holy Spirit said, so everyone fasted and prayed before they laid hands on them. Before long, Barnabas and Paul were gone.
It is a great story, but it frustrates me. Look at the story one more time. There were five people present. When the Holy Spirit spoke, all five got the message. It doesn’t say that Simeon or Lucius missed it. It doesn’t say only two got it. It doesn’t say some got a different message. It says all five got the same message and did what God commanded. I find this short story frustrating because that is not my experience within the local church. In the churches I served everyone seemed to hear something different, so everyone is pulling in a different direction. I was always in the middle trying to keep the group together. I found that to be extremely exhausting. Discerning God’s will is not easy.
One of the things I clearly have in my life is my calling. I can say that today; I couldn’t always. When I graduated from college, I worked in the secular world for three years. I hated every day. It all seemed so pointless. I see my calling now, but I didn’t go to seminary right away because of self-doubt. I didn’t do poorly in school, but I was never comfortable in the academic world. My parents never encouraged me to go into the ministry because they thought I was too social, not academic enough. They were wrong! One of the reasons I was successful in the local church was that I wasn’t too academic, and I was social. This is the point. My life would have been much easier if God would have spoken to my whole family, like God spoke to the five in the scripture lesson. God never told my parents about my calling, I had to convince them. God rarely speaks in a loud voice. Instead, God normally speaks to us in a soft, still voice. No wonder we ask God time and time again, “what do you want us to do”?
If you google the phase, “how to discern God’s will.” Countless websites will be suggested. Apparently, there is a surplus of people trying to discern God’s will. All the websites were different, but they were all the same. A man by the name of Ron Edmonson seemed to have the best summarization. He says you can discern God’s will for your life by asking five questions. Each question is biblically based. No question is more important than another; they act in concert. I hope you remember them the next time you are faced with a difficult decision. I hope you remember them the next time you are trying to discern God’s will. These are Edmonson’s five questions:
Does what you are considering conflict with the scriptures? That means you must read the Bible. Our country has spent a great deal on education. Use your education and read the Bible. There is no reason you should be ignorant of the Bible. There are some wonderful tools to help you understand the Bible. Be honest with yourself. How often do you read the Bible? Maybe one of the reasons you can’t discern God’s will is that you’re not reading the Bible?
Does what you are considering conflict with your wise counsel? The faith was never to be lived out in isolation. That is why fellowship within the church is important. How many spiritually mature friends do you have? Spending time talking about sports or recipes will not help you discern God’s will. You need to cultivate some spiritually mature friends. What do your spiritually mature friends think about your plan of action?
Does what you are considering conflict with the spirit within you? The Holy Spirit lives within each believer. Listen to Him. Does what you are considering bring you peace, or conflict? There has never been a time in your life when you were orphaned. God has always been with you. God is with you now. Is what you are considering bringing you closer to God?
Does what you are considering conflict with your experience? God gave you a brain; He expects you to use it. With age comes experience and wisdom. What are your past experiences telling you about your present situation?
Does what you are considering conflict with your passion for life? God tends to call us to do the things that fuel our fire. When I look at Bible characters like Joseph, David, the disciples, Abraham, or Paul, it appears their calling matched their wiring. Your passion and your calling stand side by side.
I like those five questions because they remind me of the old Wesleyan Quadrilateral. The founder of the great Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703-1791) believed you could discern God’s will by considering four things: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Wesley believed it should be heavy on scripture. The commonality between John Wesley and Ron Edmonson is shocking.
Did you know approximately one hundred churches close in America each week? That figure came from Palmetto Family Research in South Carolina. After I retired, I worshipped in one of those churches. Located on the border between Pennsylvania and Ohio, in eastern Ohio, their last worship service was held on April 23rd of this year. Like the death of a terminally ill person, the death of that church was expected, yet it was still shocking. Everyone knew the end was coming, yet no one could prevent it. Weekly the faithful few gathered. They were nice people who talked about a wide variety of things. They reminisced about the “glory days” of their community. They reviewed the noteworthy news headlines. They lamented how the world had changed. They boasted about the latest conquest of their local high school team. They talked about everything, but they didn’t talk about their dying church. It was clear to me – they were in denial. With a world of things they could have done to save their church, they did nothing. In other words, they decided to close. Every decision we make has consequences.
I do not want to sound cold, but I want to be honest. I do not believe that now defunct church tried to discern God’s will. I have a hard time believing God told them to close. After all, our world is filled with physical and spiritual needs. It isn’t just true of churches. It is true of individuals. The choices we make say a great deal about ourselves and our faith. What is God calling you to do?
Russ Adams 