Discernment

Have you ever been accused of "playing the devil's advocate?" In modern parlance it means someone who takes a position that he or she doesn't necessarily agree with just for the sake of argument. It comes from the Latin advocatus diaboli, a title used to describe an official of the church (RCC)  selected to examine the facts critically and raise objections in the case of a dead person named for beatification or canonization. It's not an attempt to undermine the process but rather to do a careful, exacting evaluation of the facts. I'd like to reclaim that phrase in a more redemptive way. I'm often guilty of  challenging Christians to think critically about their beliefs. I playfully refer to this as playing Jesus' advocate! Have you ever heard someone speak of God with catchy slogans and phrases? I suspect we've all been guilty of that at one time or another. But often these phrases have to do with what sounds good, reasonable or supports our personal agenda but have yet to be thoroughly vetted. I still remember a well meaning church member telling my wife after she suffered a late term miscarriage, "God must have needed that baby more then you did." No one likes to have a cherished belief challenged and yet just because its cherished doesn't mean its right. Just because its pulled from scripture doesn't mean its faithful to the larger biblical witness. At one point both racism and slavery were justified as "biblical." I don't claim to have all the right beliefs. I'm still maturing in the Faith and Jesus continues to teach me through his Church! But shouldn't we all seek to have an intelligent faith? One that's attempts to be faithful to the biblical witness? One that is sound and stands up to test of time and tragedy? We never truly own our beliefs until we learn to question them. This is a process of discernment. Discernment is how we cooperate with God's Holy Spirit to determine how best to behave and believe.