Destructive Discerners

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11

Our life and love depend on our discernment. (Prov 2:11ff; Phil 1:9-11; Deut 30:14-20; Gal 6:7-8)

If we make a foolish decision, then we, and others, will likely be harmed. If we are deceived, then we, and others, will likely be harmed. If we fall for false teachings, then we, and others, will likely be consistently harmed. Worst of all, certain erroneous teachings might cause us to not know the true Jesus through true salvation. (Gal 1:6-9; Matt 7:21-23)

Therefore, what could be more important than discernment? (1 Kgs 3:9; Jas 5:19-20)

And, because it is so valuable, there are some individuals and ministries who have set themselves up as “discerners.” This can be a very positive thing, at least potentially. Yet, while many wonderful people fall into the “good discerners” category, there will always be some bad apples mixed in here and there.

Ultimately, when it comes to those who proclaim to be discerning, it is up to each of us to discern the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—in accuracy, actions, and attitude. (Jude 1:11-19; Acts 17:11)

In other words, we have a responsibility to be very discerning with those who preach discernment. While some who preach discernment are simply inexperienced when it comes to discerning truth from error, there are others who are counterfeits and even toxic to both believers and non-believers. Those in the latter group do not just give discernment a bad name, they actually cause a great deal of destruction. As a result, these people can easily qualify as Destructive Discerners. (Gal 2:4-5; 2 Pet 2:1ff)

Destructive Discerner | a self-described discerner who frequently does far more harm than good, and who does this damage in the name of “discernment.”

In contrast, discernment ministries and discerning individuals should ideally be people who accurately distinguish between truth and error—that which is biblical from that which is unbiblical—out of genuine love and with loving actions. Their goal should be to glorify God, not themselves. Rather than attempting to shame and condemn people, they should desire to bless others with the truth, while protecting them from destructive falsehoods or people, including Destructive Discerners. (Phil 1:9-11; Jas 5:19-20; Acts 20:28-30; 1 Kgs 3:9)

Now, does that mean they have to be “nice” all of the time? No.

Can they rebuke or chastise others? Yes. (Matt 3:7; 2 Tim 2:25-26; 4:1-5; 1 Kgs 18; Ti 1:9-13)

But, at the same time, this should never excuse them from being objective, reasonable, Christlike individuals who not only accurately discern what they read and hear, but also lovingly discern what comes out of their own heart. (Lk 6:45; Prov 4:23; Ps 19:14; 1 Pet 3:15)

When it comes to discernment, the primary focus is usually on whether an idea or teaching is true or false. However, while the true-or-false conundrum is exceedingly important, major problems frequently arise in how these conclusions are handled by the self-proclaiming discerner.

For example, let’s say the discerner does discover some actual error or false teaching. This is a good thing, and potentially very helpful. But it is only the first step.

A primary issue with Destructive Discerners, however, is usually in how they handle their findings. Unfortunately, they often cause a great deal of damage in how they behave with this information—and how unreasonable, unloving, and un-Christlike they can be—not to mention how little they appear to care about their harmful actions and attitude, or how unable or unwilling they may be when it comes to seeing or admitting this. Ironically, they prove themselves to not be true discerners.

While we all have our weaknesses, it is wise to discern and stay away from those who claim to be top-notch discerners, but display the following traits.

27 Distinctives of Destructive Discerners

1 | SCOFFING | They practice and rely on scoffing (mockery; ridiculing others). *Note: It is argued that mocking is not always wrong; it is the reliance upon it that is troubling and destructive. (1 Kgs 18:27ff)

2 | ASCRIBE MOTIVES | They frequently ascribe motives to others (which are frequently inaccurate).

3 | PERSONAL ATTACKS | They often resort to shaming and personal attacks (name calling; insults; slander; casting aspersions).

4 | LACK OBJECTIVITY | They cannot or will not objectively reason with others; instead, they often attack those who challenge them. (Prov 9:7-8; 23:9)

5 | PRONOUNCE JUDGMENT | They frequently pronounce absolute judgments upon others (most, if not all of which are false accusations). This is not only a serious sin, it reveals a disturbing lack of discernment.

6 | JUDGE OTHERS’ SALVATION | They often cast doubt on or make absolute judgments about the salvation status of others, particularly those who disagree with them (e.g., “You are going to hell!”; “You’re not saved!”).

7 | ERRONEOUS & FAULTY CONCLUSIONS | They frequently take fragmented and/or faulty information and un-discerningly extrapolate this into an erroneous conclusion—and then they pronounce their falsehood as a full truth and definitive guilty sentence.

8 | LACK OF CONCERN | They lack genuine concern and contrition about their false accusations. If they truly cared about the truth—as well as about sin, error, love, and others—then they would be quick to openly confess, repent, and seek forgiveness.

9 | POOR RESPONSE | They respond poorly to correction—often ignoring or minimizing the truths presented to them, or mocking and attacking those who offer correction.

10 | SCORCHED EARTH POLICY | They often apply the “scorched-earth” tactic to those who disagree with them or whoever they deem to be in error (destroying such people as much as possible). They especially apply this destructive scheme when they themselves are caught in an error or sin—instead of honestly owning their wrongdoing.

11 | NO SELF EXAMINATION | They rarely if ever objectively and humbly test and examine their own hearts, theological beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

12 | LACK OF GOOD FRUIT | They lack good fruit, particularly the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23)

13 | POUND OTHERS | They heavily rely on one main tool, a hammer, as they harshly criticize and pound others for real or perceived errors and wrongdoing. (Gal 6:1; 1 Pet 3:15)

14 | GNAT STRAINING | They often fixate on lesser problems (“straining at a gnat”), while not focusing on the much bigger realities, including positive, true, and hopeful things (e.g., the gospel; restoration; reconciliation; grace).

15 | CONDESCENDING | They tend to be very condescending and have a know-it-all attitude.

16 | NO GRACE | They are woefully lacking in grace and graciousness toward others.

17 | LACK SELF-AWARENESS | They have a lack of self-awareness—or lack of concern about what their behavior and character reveal.

18 | CONDEMNATION | They are far more focused on condemning and taking people down than they are on restoring or building others up with the truth. In other words, they are more witch-hunter than truth-seeker.

19 | SHAME & COERCION | They try to pressure, coerce, shame, and bully others into agreeing with them and their faulty conclusions (e.g., “Either you agree with me or you are of the devil!”). Unfortunately, many people succumb to such tactics.

20 | LACK OF LOVE | They may have an abundance of knowledge (not necessarily the truth), but a woeful lack of wisdom, grace, and even love, particularly when it comes to applying and living out this knowledge or truth.

21 | RATIONALIZE HOSTILITY | They often rationalize their mean-spiritedness, hostility, and personal attacks by relabeling it as “speaking the truth in love.”

22 | LACKING HUMILITY | They have a clear lack of humility.

23 | STUBBORN | They are stunningly stubborn. Which means they usually only double-down when their error is exposed.

24 | ENABLED | They are surrounded by enablers and perhaps an echo chamber. Those in their circles will not confront them on error or harmful actions, usually due to fear or groupthink (which often produces a cult-like group and mentality, ironically).

25 | WINNING IS EVERYTHING | They focus far more on winning an argument than, ironically, on the truth, love, or pleasing God.

26 | IN ERROR | They themselves, in great irony, have one or more significant erroneous beliefs (which they will not own or repent of).

27 | UNDISCERNING | They also, in irony-upon-irony, lack discernment, at least in more than one key area.

It is vital to realize that most, if not all, of these 27 Distinctives of Destructive Discerners not only involve serious and destructive sin, they also reveal a disturbing lack of discernment.

We know all of these characteristics exist. We know that there are people who have more than one of these traits. What we must also be aware of is that the more of these traits an individual has, the more he or she qualifies as a Destructive Discerner.

So, it’s extremely important to understand that just because someone tries to practice discernment (Heb 5:14), or is even naturally gifted in discernment, it does not mean they will actually be biblically discerning, loving, or Christlike. When things like pride, foolishness, sin, and selfishness get mixed in, discernment can easily and quickly become corrupted and harmful, if not downright destructive.

What Is The Solution?

Not only do we need more people who ardently discern, we need more who accurately discern out of love, and in loving ways (Phil 1:9-11). Part of this is being able to correctly distinguish the bad from the good, the Destructive Discerners from those who lovingly and accurately discern.

When it comes to handling Destructive Discerners, we can confront them once or perhaps twice. But if they do not respond well, if they will not admit their destructive ways, then we need to be done with them, according to Scripture (Ti 3:8-11).

To continue to engage with them is to invite personal attacks, if not abuse (Prov 9:7-8; Acts 13:45-46). Furthermore, we are more likely to be guilty of enabling their destructive ways, not to mention the high likelihood that it will only lead to further division and damage within the Church (Rom 16:17-18).

As always, wisdom and discernment are key here.