There’s a fine line between discernment and paranoia. Where exactly is the line?
If you sense that someone in your life is lying to you, and you don’t have proof of it, but you just feel it, how can you know whether it’s discernment or paranoia?
What if a pastor begins to sense that someone’s loyalty to the vision may be waning? How can he appropriately gauge whether the concern is Spirit-led?
I’ve been thinking about this some recently. By no means have I reached any profound or ultimate conclusions, but here are my first few thoughts on how to
sift paranoia out of your decision making:
- Make evaluations of people based on patterns rather than isolated instances. Everybody slips up. Everybody has bad days.
- If you’re unsure whether a negative impression you have about someone is discerning or paranoid, it’s better to talk to them about it than to let it poison the relationship. Be honest and tell them you have an impression, but you’re not sure whether you’re on the money. You might offend them, but at least you won’t run the risk of projecting false motives on them anymore. Approaching them in humility is critical.
- Get trusted input. Nobody is more key in helping me filter the paranoia out of my discernment than my wife, the Holly Spirit. Second place would go to Chunks and Lori. These people give me invaluable reads on whether what I’m sensing is from the Lord, or whether I just need some rest.
- Pray.
