Hope in Cynicism (Part 6)

One of my favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes is, “you can’t believe everything you read on the internet”. Or maybe that was George Washington or Mark Twain.

If you’re thinking about what I just said, and you know even a little about history…you’re thinking…no way, did these guys say that. The internet wasn’t invented yet.

You’re using what we call discernment. The ability to discern truth from error. To distinguish the beautiful from the crude. To know what creates flourishing and what doesn’t.

We’ve been talking a good deal about hope. And I’ve defined it as this “when truth and beauty merge to give us the happy confidence that the gospel gets the last word.”

Discernment has a great deal to do with this. But I think, and I’ll argue today, that we’ve gotten the starting point of discernment all wrong.

Nobody likes to be fooled. Nobody wants to fall prey to fake news. Nobody wants to be known as the undiscerning person who was tricked into losing their retirement by a phone scam. And so when we tend to think about discernment we tend to cast it in the negative...”I knew that was a lie. I could discern that he was a scammer...”

I’ll frame the question this way. You’ve got two glasses. One a refreshing glass of water. The other a refreshing glass of water laced with arsenic. What is the task of discernment? Is it to know which one is arsenic and avoid it....OR is it to find the refreshing glass of water and drink it? That might seem like a subtle difference…but I want to show you why this is a vital part of how we view the world and ultimately how it impacts our hope.

We’re going to look at Acts 11:19-26 in just a moment but let me set up the context for you. The good news of Jesus has reached Antioch—now that’s a Gentile hub. So…to modernize that a little bit…think of a place where you’d be highly suspicious of…no way a revival is gonna happen here.

And to make it even more suspicious its not led by any of the apostles. It’s a bunch of no-name followers of Jesus who took the gospel with them. No Jewish background, no foundation of belief…but you have a whole community of Jesus followers now. And this creates such a stir at Antioch that they need to come up with a new name for these people—Christians. They aren’t Jew. They aren’t exactly Gentile. They are just people together in the same church worshipping Jesus.

The church in Jerusalem is a bit unsettled by all this. It’s outside the plan. It doesn’t fit how they thought things would go. It messes with their view of the world. It…if you remember the sermon a couple weeks ago…it rocks their core narrative.

What is happening here isn’t like it used to be…a Gentile become a God-fearer. This isn’t making Gentiles into Jews. This is making Jews and Gentiles into something totally different. What is going on here…Is this legit? Is this for real? They need…discernment.

So they have to check out if this thing is legit…so, what kind of person do you send? Who do you task with trying to see if it really is God at work here? Do you pick the inflexible and no-nonsense guy who sees everything in black and white? Do you look for someone who is able to see all of the land-mines, the untruths, the slippery slopes…someone who can dissect an argument…see where its going…who can sniff out poison from a mile away?

Wouldn’t that be the best person to send to find out if this thing is legit? Let’s see what the early church did.

Acts 11:19–26 ESV

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

They sent Barnabas....

Barnabas isn’t the guy who is bent towards sniffing out poison from a mile away. He isn’t the guy that is suspicious. Barnabas is the guy who is known as an encourager. He’s the guy who gets into it with Paul later on because Paul says, “we need to cut this guy Mark out…he’s not gonna help us on this…he’s gonna slow us down…he doesn’t have the chops....” Barnabas sees something in Mark and goes to bat for him.

You see Barnabas is a guy who can find a rose in a field of land-mines. Not a guy who can find a land-mine in a field of roses.

Why did they send Barnabas?

I’ll tell you why they sent Barnabas. They sent Barnabas because the foundation of Christian discernment is hope and not suspicion. Love rejoices at the truth. You know what that means? It means that when you go on a fact finding mission you’re looking for truth. And when you find it, even if just in a spark, you rejoice.

What happens if you send in Mr. No Nonsense Guy on this movement…what happens if you start discernment with seeing any little thing that could possible go wrong or be wrong? You end up not fanning a spark into flame. You end up stamping something out, coming back with a report about all the ways they aren’t mature, how they might not be legitimate, how it doesn’t fit what you’ve always done, how it doesn’t look like how they do things at the church in Jerusalem. It’s a predominately negative report…discernment…tell me all the things that are wrong.

But how much different is this if you send Barnabas. Guys…you won’t believe this…there’s a spark there! There’s the fingerprints of Jesus. There is a such a good work happening here…the Spirit is working and moving!!!

Do you see the difference?

This is how I’d explain the difference.

Hope-fueled discernment is like a guy with a metal detector out in a field because he has heard reports of a buried treasure. He’s profoundly hopeful. Not skeptical. He wants to find the treasure. And so he keeps digging. All those places where he checked and didn’t find the treasure he is going to call them out. He’ll put flags there so people know treasure isn’t to be found here. Each “miss” is marked with sorrow but tinged with hope. So he keeps on swinging that detector in the hopes of finding treasure.

That’s quite different than the guy who has heard a report of a treasure in a field but he wants to prove all the idiots wrong. He’s skeptical that it’s there. For him, every swing and miss is further evidence that there is no treasure here. He gives up the search must faster than the guy who is hope-fueled. He’ll miss the treasure because he won’t bother digging at the faintest of pings. He knows it isn’t there anyways.

Now, I don’t want to develop an entire theology of discernment just from one verse and one situation from the book of Acts. To do that might be…well…not very discerning.

What we need to see then is that hope and not suspicion is the foundation of discernment…so lets look at a couple more places.

First, Philippians 1:9-11

Philippians 1:9–11 ESV

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

I absolutely love this prayer. One of my favorite texts to preach. What is happening here…Paul is praying that they might have a love that is growing and abounding…but a love that is discerning....now what does that mean? What does it look like when you have discerning love?

Why is he praying for them to have this? Why does Paul want them to have discernment?

Look at verse 10. “So that you may approve that which is excellent...” what does that mean? What does it mean to “approve”. I picture this as you having a conveyor belt of a ton of choices…and you’ve got one stamp…one place where you can put this thing…that says, “oh, that’s the most excellent...”

This isn’t trying to decide between sharing Jesus or burning your neighbor’s house down. This is trying to decide between good things. You are putting your stamp on the thing that is the absolute best and most valuable. When you put your stamp on this thing in this moment that means you are saying “no” to a whole host of other things. And so this is the heart of Paul’s prayer. He is saying that his prayer for them is that they’ll always pick the thing that really is the most valuable. But how do you determine that?

The most valuable thing is that which gives me the most money.

The most valuable thing is that which gives me the most pleasure.

The most valuable thing is that which gives me the most comfort.

The most valuable thing is that which gives me the most power.

The most valuable thing is that which feels right.

The most valuable thing is that which keeps people from yelling at me. What makes them happy.

The most valuable thing is that which glorifies God, please God, increases my joy in God—or your joy in God, or makes me more like Christ.

This is how the verses are connected. Love is the referee. It moves the stamp. When love moves the stamp you can rest assured that it is always going to approve that which is most valuable. True love always picks the most vital.

What is Barnabas doing in Acts 11? He starts with a posture of love…he’s an encourager, this is his heart…that’s the kind of guy he is. John Newton was once described as someone who “loves you at first sight”. That was Barnabas too.

And so when he gets to Antioch…he’s got that stamp to approve what is excellent…and he assesses the situation and sees the finger print of Jesus and says… “There it is!!!” That’s where truth and beauty is merging…that’s where I’m seeing the gospel getting the last word....

Okay, let’s try another Scripture. Romans 12:2

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Don’t be conformed to the world…don’t let the world system define how you view things…I’d argue this means don’t be cynical…don’t be groundlessly optimistic…don’t view things through that lens...

But be transformed by the renewal of your mind…be transformed by having your mind renewed so that you see things the way that Jesus sees them…so that you see the world through a lens where the gospel gets the last word....

Then he kind of restates it… “That by testing you may discern what is the will of God...”

Again, that’s kind of like having that stamp. It’s another way of saying approve what is excellent…where do you see the hand of God…the fingerprint of Jesus…the will of God?

And then he defines it for us. What is good…acceptable…and perfect. Again, its such a subtle difference but its huge. Am I predominately seeing the world with eyes that are looking for Jesus....or am I viewing things with suspicion where I’m trying to find all the things that are NOT Jesus?

Reading a book. What does it mean to be discerning?

—Well…here are all the things I don’t agree with. Here is all that doesn’t match up to the standard of Scripture. The author is wrong in all of these points....

OR…hey, I see a little spark of grace here. A little something I can work with. I see the image of God in this point right here.

Yes, you’ll still mark all those places that aren’t good, acceptable, and gospel mature…and at the end of the day you might still say its not something you’d recommend. But I’d argue that to be truly discerning you’re trying to find that which is redemptive.

Think about this with evangelism and missions. We seem to be better at doing this on the foreign mission field than at home. They tell us in foreign missions to find a bridge…where you can you find something in their culture that you can connect to the gospel. Find that…build a bridge.

But we can do that at home as well. We can do that in conversations. Where do I see the fingerprint of Jesus? Where am I seeing the image of God? Where am I finding that rose in a land-mine?

Let’s see one more here…Luke 19:1-10. It’s Zaccheus. But I could have picked several other examples in the life of Jesus....

Now, Zaccheus has several things not going on great in his life, right. He’s still kind of a thief. He’s a tax collector. Sell out. There are several things that Jesus could pick apart in his life.

What would discerning Jesus do? Zaccheus, you’re a scoundrel…get these things right. Here are all the places in your life that aren’t going right. But what does he do? He sees a little spark of grace with Zaccheus up in that tree…I’m gonna eat at your house today…he’s inviting himself into his life…I want to have something to do with you, I’m not embarrassed to associate with you...

They grumble b/c Jesus is eating with a sinner. Do you see how they are viewing the world? Do you see what they are seeing? They are seeing all the landmines. Here are all the ways that Zaccheus doesn’t stack up.

But that’s not how Jesus views him. He has come to seek and to save the lost. “He is a son of Abraham...” Jesus sees something there. He sees his repentance, he sees something with his climbing up the tree...” Oh, this is excellent, this is good, this is perfect, this is the work of my Father!

I have to show you one more…Luke 7:36-50. It’s the sinful woman who anoints Jesus when Jesus is at the house of Simon the Pharisee. Simon is a discerning dude, right. He’s a Pharisee. He knows the law super well. He is able to line it right up against your life, measure you by the law…and then tell you “here are all the ways you don’t stack up.” He can “discern” all the error out of your life.

And he’s measured this woman who has come to his house…oh the audacity of her just barging in like this…and he has measured her...”She’s a sinner. Unclean. Filthy. Lowly. Worthless.”

And I bring this text out because of what Jesus says to Simon. “Simon do you see this woman....”

See.

Discern.

Of course Simon sees this woman. How could he not see her? She’s disrupted the whole dinner party. Yes, I see her.

Discernment means the ability to sniff out the land mines. Yes…I see her…she’s a sinner…she’s wicked…she’s doing unthinkable things by letting her hair down in your presence…not only do I see her Jesus…but I see you…and I’m questioning YOUR discernment. If you were truly a prophet…if you were truly able to discern…you’d know what kind of woman this is.

Yes…I see her Jesus.

But what if hope is the foundation of discernment. What if hope is how you get your sight. Do you see her Simon? I see her. And I see you.

You gave me no water. She wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You have me no kiss. She hasn’t stopped kissing my feet Simon. My feet!

You didn’t anoint my head. She anointed my feet.

She has loved much. “Your sins are forgiven”.

Jesus is seeing things with an entirely different set of eyes. Truth and beauty are merging here…he sees her love…sure he sees her many sins…he knows every one of them…they will be part of what he sees when he’s peering into the cup of wrath in the Garden of Gethsemane…that cup that is God’s settled disposition toward her sin, my sin, your sin... But what Jesus sees isn’t that…he sees His forgiveness, His blood, His grace, His love…poured over her. A new identity. One marked with love.

He sees that the gospel gets the last word.

Hope and not suspicion is the foundation of discernment. Do you see how this shapes so many things?

What does this mean for ministry? What does this mean for assessing the ministry that we do…I would venture to say that many people often are hesitant to engage in ministry because they know they’ll be judged with the wrong kind of discernment....we can find all the land-mines…all the error…and so you slip up and we’re able to point those things out. And we can say things like. “Oh, we’re just wanting excellence for the sake of Jesus...” How much different if an entire culture of people was looking for those sparks of grace, the fingerprints of Jesus, celebrating those building them up, fanning those into flame? Looking for the ways you are succeeding so as to encourage you....Do we have that bent…are we thinking that way about all the people around us?

What does this mean even for your own walk with the Lord? I’ve shared the story in the past about how I mortified a group of teenagers when I shared a picture my kids drew when they were really little and I said it was so horrible…I pointed out all the flaws…the unicorn didn’t look right, things weren’t proportional, some of the people had like 8 fingers…it looked like something a 4 year old drew… That’s how we think God views us. But what if his foundation for discernment isn’t all the stuff you get wrong…but he views you through the lens of what He’s doing in your life?

What does this mean for our relationship with other people? How might it transform friendships? Just an entire culture and an entire way of being?

But why don’t we do this? We’re naturally bent toward slander. That’s part of the fall. The fall means that we now view things through a wrong lens and we call it right. We can even jazz it up with a little bit of religion…that’s what the religious leaders did in Jesus’ day. They viewed the world through a lens of cynicism and suspicion but said they were measuring by God’s holy law.

We can do the same thing. We’re born not as children in God’s kingdom. Yes, we still have the image of God in us…that’s where we still see those fingerprints of Jesus…but as such it means we’re bent towards slander. And part of redemption means forsaking that old way of life, the old way of viewing things, that familiar way of protecting ourselves against hope. We can’t afford to view the world with hope instead of suspicion because we struggle to believe the gospel for ourselves…meaning we view ourselves with suspicion instead of hope.

But Jesus is changing all this. He is giving to us eyes of hope. A new way to view the world. A way to be people of hope…yes, a discerning hope…

One that believes the gospel gets the last word. As Tim Keller so beautifully said it, We’re more flawed than we’d dare to admit, but we’re more loved and accepted than we’d ever dream, at the same time.

This gospel is slowly shaping us into people who are like Barnabas…people who can see a rose in a field of land mines. Who have hopeful discernment.