Ruth Haley Barton has written a very helpful book “to provide practical guidelines for leaders and leadership teams who want to enter more deeply into the process of corporate discernment as a way of life in leadership” (p. 12). She says: “Discernment is the capacity to recognize and respond to the presence and activity of God- both in the ordinary moments and in the larger decisions of our lives…Spiritual discernment is the ability to distinguish or discriminate between good (that which is of God and draws us closer to God) and evil (that which is not of God and draws us away from God).” It involves moving “beyond reliance on human thinking and strategizing to a place of deep listening and response to the Spirit of God within and among us” (pp. 10-11).
Her insights from the
Biblical story in John 9 illustrate what works against spiritual discernment in
religious communities: The disciples use the misfortune of the man who has been
born blind “as an opportunity for theological and philosophical discussion- ‘Who sinned, this man or his parents?’
There was no love, no compassion for this man’s situation, no concern for his
well-being. Instead, they turned him into an object lesson…The disciples were
caught in…structural alignedness, imbedded in the belief system they adhered
to…Jesus responded by saying ‘Neither
this man nor his parents sinned. This man was born blind so the works of God
could be revealed in and through his life’…One of the first lessons we
learn about discernment, from Jesus anyways, is that it will always tend
towards concrete expressions of love with real people rather than theoretical
conversations about theology and philosophy” (p.
21-23). The man’s neighbors couldn’t acknowledge the miracle…because
“their cognitive filters which helped them categorize and make sense of reality…
prevented them from “seeing” anything new or allowing any new data into their
consciousness…We only see what we’re ready to see, expect to see, and even
desire to see and we’re more stuck when we’re with others who share the same
paradigm. How desperately we need practices, experiences, and questions that
help us get outside our paradigms so we can “see” old realties new
ways…Paradigms, systems of thought, rigidly held categories, and unquestioning
loyalty systems …have a powerful tendency to filter out any new information,
including anything new God might be doing. They can filter out God himself!”(pp.24-25).
Two of her important parameters
of a spiritual community of discernment are (1) that each person in the
leadership team is working consciously on his/her own spiritual formation and (2)
the art of conflict transformation. On
point one she says: “Discernment begins when we’re in touch with our blindness
and are willing to cry out from that place “my Teacher I want to see”…The most
important prerequisite for discernment at the leadership level is that everyone
on the leadership group is on an intentional journey from spiritual blindness
to spiritual vision” (pp.30- 31). “Corporate
discernment begins with attending to the spiritual formation of each individual
leader”(p. 37). This involves “each
leader living by the Rule of Life” (pg. 114).
That practice includes fixed hour prayer (establishes designated times where we
stop and consciously engage God through scripture and meditation) (p. 116), praying the great prayers of the
church, and practicing the spiritual disciplines. “Some groups may get stuck
when they discover that while the individuals involved are intelligent
Christians they do not have the spiritual practices in place that enable them
to stay open to God in the context of a discernment process with others” (p. 38). Some of those practices include the
discipline of silence and solitude “to give God complete access to our souls” (pg. 39); the discipline of engaging the scriptures
for spiritual transformation, i.e., “finding ourselves in the story in a way
that helps us make sense of our lives and helps us know God’s guidance for the
next steps”; the discipline of prayer, particularly prayers of quiet trust (Psalm
131), the prayer for indifference (to anything but God’s will) and the prayer
of wisdom…(“Indifference is an important requisite to wisdom - When we can become indifferent to our need to
be seen as wise in the eyes of others, then we’re ready to received wisdom from
God”) (p. 43), and the discipline of
knowing and self-examination - (“Many people have been so shaped by work
environments that are competitive, harsh, and punitive that they function in
self-protective ways. When they become part of a spiritual community in which
individuals are expected to take responsibility for their mistakes, face their
own character issues, and confess their sin to one another in a way that foster
deeper levels of transformation, they honestly don’t have the skills or spiritual
capacity to do it…Discernment requires
that first of all, they are able to discern matters of their own heart” (p. 45).
She describes conflict
transformation as “the commitment to engage conflict in a way that changes
our lives for the better and deepens our unity in Christ” (p.104). She says: “Conflict transformation
begins as we affirm Jesus’ presence to be with us, and find ways to be open to
his presence. We need to frame our conversation in terms of seeking to find the
demand of Christian love in this situation; we need to commit ourselves to
remain open to God and to the other person when everything in us wants to shut
down;…we commit to direct face to face communication rather than resorting to
triangulation and speaking behind each other’s backs (Mt. 18:15). If one on one communication doesn’t bring the
needed resolution, we are committed to involving an objective third party who
is trusted by each person involved (especially if there are power dynamics involved)”
(p.146).
Barton also makes the
helpful distinction between working as a team and working as a spiritual
community. “God calls us to a Christian community made up of people who
gather around the transforming presence of Christ so they can do the will of
God (Mk 3:34-35). This is different from a
team “which assembles around a task and is bound together by a commitment to
that task. Spiritual community gathers around the person of Christ present with
us through the Holy Spirit. We are unified by our commitment to be transformed
in Christ’s presence for the work of the Holy Spirit so we can discern and do
the will of God as we are guided by the Spirit (pp.
76, 77). In areas of discernment
this involves “creating space for the Spirit -after discussing a particular
agenda item, take time to listen to God in silence to see if God’s Spirit
brings to mind a scripture that might provide needed guidance and perspective.
Then assemble the group to share these scriptures
(p. 120), listen to people’s positive or negative feelings about a
possible course of action and then act on the corporate discernment of God’s
will.
“Developing a genuine
spiritual community also requires that people articulate “the set of values
that they seek to live with integrity. It involves individuals sharing the core values that are part of
the core identity of the community, including
scriptures that are particularly important to the community” (p.92).
And it involves a “commitment to
love- not as an emotion but as a set of attitudes, behavior, and concrete
actions, i.e, taking time to listen to one another, to demonstrate kindness in
word and deed, to pray for one another when together or apart, and to practice
confession. Practicing confession “builds
trust love and accountability in our personal life. We may need to ask God to
guide us in noticing the inner wounds, character deficiencies, or sin patterns
that cause or tempt us to bad behavior. Confession is personal (between God and
me and sometimes a trusted friend or confessor); it is interpersonal (with a
person or persons I have offended) and it is corporate (in the context of community
and our prayer together). It is the interplay between those three that keep
confession healthy and productive. Healthy functioning in community is
dependent not only on our growing self-awareness but also our ability to take
responsibility for the quality our action by acknowledging and confessing sin” (pp.144-145).
Barton advocates a
written covenant for the community. “It provides a way for the group to
claim shared ownership for their behavior because it contains detailed
guidelines that help the group function together. Spiritual community is so
tender and fragile that it requires some protective structure on order for it
to survive. When we are tempted to revert to old, unredeemed patterns our
covenant can call us back to our best intentions” (pp.
153, 154). Barton’s entire book
is calling Christians back to God’s model of Christian community.
- M.L. Codman-Wilson, Ph. D., 7/19/12