Leading Students to Develop Discernment
What is true in our world today? The secular world has countless worldviews that we and our students are exposed to everyday. Ronald Simkins describes a worldview as something which is “derived from people’s experience of their social and physical environments, and provides a more or less coherent way of thinking about the world.”(1) As we strive to make disciples, faithful youth workers want to equip students with discernment that’s shaped by a biblical worldview.
Discernment means practicing wisdom. It is the ability to “distinguish between right and wrong” - not based on the world’s values but based on the truths that our Triune God has revealed through His Word. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to train students in learning and practicing biblical discernment, but there are some general principles in Scripture that can guide us in our efforts.
Applying the Truths of the Gospel
The difference between secular knowledge and Christian discernment begins with recognizing the truth of the gospel. Through the gospel, the Holy Spirit uncovers the emptiness of worldly lies while reminding us of our complete inability to save ourselves. He leads us to understand that the only path to salvation is through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the foundational truth for guiding students to live with Christian discernment.
Asking Good Questions
Asking good questions is an art form. Good questions lead us to think, investigate, and search for the answer. They have answers that are true and can be found with a little digging. Too often, we ask questions that are either too easy to answer or we ask questions that go over students' heads and cause them to check out - and sometimes the questions are simply boring and predictable.
Good questions inspire students to investigate their options and sift through the answers. Practicing Christian discernment begins with constructing good questions without being afraid of the tough questions. Asking good questions and inviting students to discuss real-life situations will equip them to grow in discernment. Providing answers too quickly and avoiding thorny issues will stifle a ministry that trains students in discernment.
Recognizing False Teaching
We are called to teach students to know the difference between the gospel and small snippets of something that may sound like the gospel but is far from it. In a digital age, part of discipleship means helping students recognize, understand, and avoid gospel-distortions, whether from within or outside the church.
There is a difference between addressing those who distort the gospel with grace and humility and calling out those in a prideful and arrogant way. We do this with our students by inviting them to consider the message and walking them through the ways it’s been distorted. Rather than blasting the false teacher, we want to equip our students to develop discernment. That posture should lead us to model humble discernment rather than judgmentalism and theological-superiority.
Leading students to develop discernment equips them to know, love, and live the truths of the gospel in real life. And yet, it is an easily-overlooked element of discipleship. We are helping them develop a lens through which they can process all they experience in life. In doing so, they are able to discern the truths of God revealed through his Word.
(1) Ronald A. Simkins, “Worldview,” ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1387.