The Way of Discernment

Summary: An exploration of spiritual practices that can facilitate decision-making. 

Over the next several months I will do a reading projection around the concept, history, and teaching of Christian discernment. I picked up The Way of Discernment in part because one of the people I meet with for spiritual direction is processing through both individual and corporate discernment and it felt like a good time to do a personal deep dive.

I have some biases going into the idea of discernment that may change, but I want to say them out loud because they will likely keep influencing how I read going forward. First, I think discernment is a spiritual practice of seeking after God. Many people frame discernment as primarily about decision-making. And I fear that when the focus is the process and not the goal of seeking after God, we reduce what is a spiritual practice to a self-help checklist. Second, and related, developing discernment is about building character and virtue and orienting ourselves to rightly seeing God, not developing skills to interpret and decide or process information. Third, while I think there may be a “spiritual gift” of discernment, this is a general gift of the church, not limited to only a few. There are likely people who are better at discernment than others, but that doesn't mean that discernment is only for the gifted. Fourth, the development of discernment is a part of the discipleship process. I started listening to a series of lectures on discernment by Timothy Gallagher, and he suggested that teaching about discernment was a third-level task. In this view, what comes first is to evangelize and introduce people to Jesus; then, once they have met Jesus, they need basic discipleship. Discernment was part of a more advanced discipleship work that requires people to be more intentional, introspective, and focused on their role in sanctification.

With that too-long introduction, The Way of Discernment is helpful and a book I would recommend, although it is oriented toward spiritual practices to make decisions. She agrees that discernment is often a shorthand for decision-making and can be problematic. In her conception,

“...decision is the occasion for seeking God, not the primary goal. Setting out with the goal of making a decision that we then ask God to bless is to confuse the goal and the means. Rather, discernment involves the goal of seeking God through the means of decision making.” (p44)

“To summarize: Discernment means making a discriminating choice between two or more good options, seeking the best for this moment. These choices, while personal and conditional, are set within the community of faith and honor our previous well-made decisions. Discernment does not bring us absolute certainty, but rather operates in a climate of faith. Seeking to follow God's call moves us toward that which is better for us individually and for our world, and assures us that God will accompany us into the unknown.” (p10)

“To summarize: desires underlie all our motivation; discernment urges us to choose well among these desires. Our experience as loved and saved sinners allows us to believe that discernment can happen. We can enter into a process of sifting through the ambiguities of our situation. Our experience as co-creators of God's unfolding purpose in creation underlies the importance of discerning well. It matters to the continual outworking of God's creative life. Growing in spiritual freedom through spiritual indifference is simultaneously the essential prerequisite and the goal of spiritual discernment. Without this spiritual freedom, discernment, as such, does not exist. With it, discernment becomes a powerful means of growing in holiness. Finally, seeking great desires, the “more,” invites us to stretch beyond our limited horizons to do something great for God. Ignatius's foundational statement about indifference, here rewritten to express it from God's point of view, cuts to the heart of the spiritual indifference that we seek before, through, and as a result of our discernment.” (p36)

• Men have been in charge most often throughout history.


• Therefore, God intended that there be a hierarchy.


• So, working against a gender hierarchy is in opposition to God.