Ghosts aren’t real. Or are they?

No. This is not a paranormal post. But recently I have been thinking a lot about the importance of spiritual discernment as believers. We live in a world where the supernatural appeals to everyone but scares the Christian. It is made easily available to the public, but usually from the wrong source. In an attempt to maintain solid, well-balanced doctrine we have forgotten that the other half of faith is the spiritual, and without it, we cannot truly live the complete Christian experience that Jesus paid for.

I find it troubling that people are more used to hearing about vibes, aura, fortune-telling and manifesting than they are about hearing the voice of God through prophecy, word of knowledge, and the Holy Spirit. Why is everyone more willing to talk about the supernatural than the church and what can we do about it?

We Don’t Talk About Bruno

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post on why we love magic in fantasy. In this post, I spoke about how we all have an innate, God-given desire for the supernatural. We were created by God to know Him through a spiritual experience. It is this desire that makes us love stories like Frozen and the Chronicles of Narnia. We long for the supernatural because we were made for it.

Still, many believers and churches shy away from it. For some, the gifts of the Spirit are obsolete antiques of the past. As such, many don’t really talk about the supernatural and don’t reach out for a brighter experience of faith because those things have passed away. Many don’t believe prophecy is for the modern believer.

In short, we don’t talk about Bruno. But what if we did?

The Abuse Isn’t an Excuse

I believe that there are valid reasons as to why many believers are cautious when it comes to the supernatural. There have been abuses from different people in the handling of the gifts of the Spirit. There have been false prophets and people inspired by the enemy to confuse others, gain popularity, or exploit people. But we must remember that this isn’t something new. 

In the book of Acts, Peter encountered a man, Simon, who wanted to buy the Spirit in order to gain power (Acts 8:9-24). In their letters to the churches, Paul, Peter, and Jude warned against false prophets, apostles, and teachers (2 Cor 11:13-15; Gal 1:6-9; 2 Pet 2:1-3; Jude 3-4). Jesus himself knew that people would prophesy in His name but do so apart from His Spirit (Matt 7:15-23). Yet none of them stopped operating in the supernatural, nor preaching the fullness of the Gospel. None of them let go of their relationship with the Holy Spirit or stopped believing that God could use them to heal, deliver, teach, and prophesy (Acts 19:11-12; Rom 15:18-19; 1 Cor 14:1, 39; 1 Thess 5:19-21; James 5:14-16; Jude 20). The abuse of the gifts didn’t stop them from pursuing their genuine, pure expression. Like them, we cannot let the abuse of some rob us of the experience of the fullness of God.

There is a real hole inside of people that longs to be filled by a spiritual experience, and many of them are finding the answer to this desire through all of the wrong sources. When we as a Church refuse to embrace the Holy Spirit and educate the body of Christ, we can’t be surprised when people embrace the spiritual world from the wrong source. How do we pursue the Spirit of God while remaining balanced? And how do we teach people to discern between the power of God and other spirits?

The Key to Balance

Imagine a scale. If we place the Word of God on one side, but forget to add the Holy Spirit on the other, the scale will tip. If we emphasize the Holy Spirit on one side of the scale, but forget to add the Word of God to the other, again, the scale will tip. The only true way to maintain balance is to have both of them on the scale at the same time. This is what we should seek in our experience with God and the supernatural.

Many of us have overemphasized the Word to the point where we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to show up in new ways. The Pharisees did this. They loved the Law but missed the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. But the other extreme is true. If we overemphasize the move of the Spirit to the point that we lose the fundamentals of our faith, then chaos will ensue. The Bible will remain dead unless we have the Holy Spirit, and the pursuit of the spiritual can turn into chaos unless we have the guardrails of the Word.

The Importance of Discernment

I have met people who believe everything that smells of the supernatural is from the devil, and others who believe everything goes as long as people live good lives. Discernment keeps us out of both extremes.

One of the gifts of the Spirit is the discernment of spirits. I believe God is intentional with this. He created us for the supernatural, but in His great love He also provided a way for us to discern between light and darkness. Why? Because oftentimes the enemy will disguise himself as light in order to lead us astray. But God doesn’t leave us to fend on our own.

How Do You Grow in Discernment?

Discernment is something that all believers are called to grow in and cultivate, and it is one of the things that differentiates mature believers from new ones.

“But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” – Hebrews 5:14 (NKJV)

The Bible says that if anyone lacks wisdom, they can ask God and He will give it (James 1:5). As Children of God, all of us carry His presence and by maintaining our relationship with Him thriving, we can more easily discern when something originates from Him or not.

The best ways I have found to grow in discernment are to be saturated in the Word of God, surrounded by other believers, and having a living relationship with the Holy Spirit. When we know the Word, we will easily know if something contradicts it. When we are surrounded by other strong believers, we will have a community to help us see clearly when we can’t see for ourselves. And when we cultivate our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we will grow attuned to the still small voice that can either confirm if something is from Him or warn us away from danger.

What is the gift of discernment? This is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and these gifts are available to all those who are children of God and have experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The gift of discernment is more fine-tuned than general discernment, and it’s given to some according to His will and purpose (1 Cor 12:11). Its main purpose is to identify the spiritual source of something, such as a prophetic word or atmosphere. When someone operates in the gift of discernment, their knowledge isn’t just mere critical thinking or intuition, but a sudden knowing and clarity that comes straight from the mind of God. This gift isn’t just personal, but for the edification of the Church. If we are to pursue the supernatural, we need people of character with the gift of discernment of spirits.

A Final Thought

I believe God wants us to experience the fullness of His glory, both through His Word but also through encounters with the Holy Spirit, miracles, signs and wonders. If we are to pursue the supernatural, we must also pursue God and pray for discernment. There is a world of people aching to experience something real, and if we don’t step up as believers, someone else will. Let us be the ones that lead people to Christ by the teaching of the Gospel and a demonstration of power.

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” – 1 Corinthians 2:4 (NKJV)

Thanks for reading!
Anna

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash