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First Evangelical Church Association

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Discernment

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Bulletin
Issue 22 •
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April 2005 •
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A joint and integrative ministry of
spirituality, mission and social concern

An Interview with
1 An Interview with
Gordon T. Smith

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Gordon T. Smith
4 Learning Discernment (1)
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— The Spirit Assures Us of
God’s Love Interviewed by Chi-Hok Wong

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8 Learning Discernment (2)
— The Spirit Calls Us to
Repentance
Gordon T. Smith is currently serving in interim preaching
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ministry at Seven Oaks Alliance Church and as president Church
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of Overseas Council Canada in British Columbia, Canada. Canada
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12 Learning Discernment (3) Our friendship with Gordon Smith began in 2001, when he
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— The Spirit Calls Us to Truth
first came to speak at our Spiritual Direction Training
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Program. We have been blessed to have him as our advisor
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of Spiritual & Ministry Formation ministry.

16 Learning Discernment (4)
— The Spirit Guides Us in
I still remember when you first came to serve our
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Times of Choice
community as our speaker for the First Evangelical Church
 2001
11

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 !"#$%&' Association (FECA) Spiritual Direction retreat on November


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2001, I shared with you that we wanted to build a long-term
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20 Learning Discernment
friendship and partnership with you. Since then, you have
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— Guided Meditation

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very much. Every time they did evaluations, you received
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23 Christians in the Marketplace very high scores. We are also grateful that you agreed to be
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the advisor for our Spiritual and Ministry Formation Ministry.
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28 The Heart of a Servant
What have these past three years of serving and

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teaching among the FECA community meant to
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The “Y” Malawi Project you?
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is the quality and intentionality of the approach to spiritual
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34 Listening and Obeying

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 formation; it is well designed — comprehensive, biblical, and with a
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strong emphasis on the individual in community. Naturally, because
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of my own interest in discernment, I am glad that discernment is a key

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part of the approach to spiritual formation at FECA.

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Second, I am also impressed with the quality of people who
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participate; it takes much commitment to stay with the program over
the months (and years). These are people with demanding jobs and
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family responsibilities; yet they appreciate the value of being
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intentional in spiritual formation. They are eager and committed. And
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it has been a joy for me to be able to contribute to the work of God in
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their lives.
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In your doctoral studies, you focused on the subject

of discernment, comparing the approaches of John

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Wesley and Ignatius of Loyola. What motivated you

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to choose this specific area of research?

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The reason for choosing to study Ignatius Loyola and John Wesley
may not sound all that impressive or spiritual. At the time that I began
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my studies, I had a growing interest in John Wesley, having just read
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a biography of him along with his Journal. I was also interested in his
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emphasis on sanctification in the Christian life. But I was studying at
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a Jesuit university (Ignatius Loyola is the founder of the Jesuit order)
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and I thought that the only way that they would let me write a

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dissertation on Wesley was if I made it a comparative study with

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Ignatius! Furthermore, at the time, they had a keen interest to see

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how the thought of Ignatius Loyola compared and contrasted with
other spiritual writers. As it turned out, it was tremendously valuable
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for me to study both of them.
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What is your own definition of discernment? What

are the essential qualities we need to cultivate if we
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want to become discerning persons?
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This is a very good question. Briefly speaking, discernment is

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the spiritual practice by which we weigh and consider inclinations of

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the heart and the mind to determine what is truly from God. We are

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attending to the Spirit, seeking to know the mind of God — how God
is speaking to us, leading and guiding us.
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The essential qualities of a discerning person are these:

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(1) a person whose mind is richly indwelt with the Word of God (a
discerning person is a student of the Scriptures); (1)
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(2) a person in community . . . we know what it means to live in
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mutuality (mutual submission, mutual service, mutual (2)
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encouragement). But I should stress, it does not mean that we

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• 2 •
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 are lost in community; we must stress the importance of spiritual
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solitude at the same time.
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(3) a person of humility, notably the humility of eagerness to know (3)
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and do the will of God.
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I could also stress the importance of self-knowledge and patience,

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and the vital need for emotional self-awareness. But I think these

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three are the most critical: the Scriptures, the community, and

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humility.

You were previously the Vice President and Dean of

Regent College. After that, you became the President

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of Overseas Council. In your journey of changing

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ministry focus and platform, how did you discern the

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will of God for this change?
This was a very difficult decision for me. I thoroughly enjoyed
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the work at Regent College and valued the opportunity to give
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academic leadership and to teach theology and spirituality within
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the curriculum. But after five years, I sensed that perhaps I had done
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all that I could do within the administrative responsibility.
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Furthermore, I also felt that I would only stay if I was sure that it was
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God’s calling to continue. After much prayer and wrestling of spirit,

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my wife and I concluded I would not accept another five-year term.
Overseas Council
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Only after that did the opportunity open with Overseas Council. This,

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in turn, has allowed me to provide leadership to a strategic dimension
of Christian missions: the formation of leadership in seminaries and
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Bible colleges around the world.

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In the Evangelical circle, spirituality is a very popular
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thing to pursue. We find both wheat and chaff in
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this phenomenon. What do you think is the DNA of
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a biblical and balanced Christian spirituality?

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In my estimation, there are three critical indicators of an authentic

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Christian spirituality: it is Christ centered, it is biblically oriented,

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and it finds expression in Christian community. Christian spirituality
is about life in the Spirit; and there is only one Spirit: the Spirit of
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Christ; the Spirit who is also the author of the Scriptures; and the
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Spirit who enables us to live in the fellowship of the Spirit, which is
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the body of Christ.

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Again, much more could be said; but these are the three most
critical issues when it comes to discerning an authentic Christian
spirituality.

First Evangelical Church Association Bulletin • April 2005 • 3 •