Discernment of TruthHere is part of a beginning chapter of an ongoing work about discerning the spiritual history of a place. I will be adding more in the next few weeks.Spiritual Mapper or Spiritual Historian? There is a quote from George Santayana that most of us "Part Time" historians remember and probably misquote when we are defending the importance of history. We usually say something like; Those that IGNORE History are doomed to repeat it. But, the actual quote; "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", is quite different. This brings up all kinds of thoughts about the nature of "Remembering" and the word "Cannot". Then there is the word Condemned. Strong, unavoidable, reeking of the idea of doom and judgement.
We smugly use this quote to make a point about something that most of the time has nothing to do with history or the problems of society that stem from our having forgotten to remember societies before ours that made the same tragic mistakes. I think that somehow we must believe that we are better than our ancestors and thus incapable of making the same mistakes they made. But, we are as guilty as they were when they "REFUSED" to remember. There is a logical conclusion to this recognition of guilt. That conclusion is the process of "Repentance". Our history is crying out to us to wake up, turn around and take a different path.
Ever since I came to the conclusion that my love for History had a place in my life as a Christian, I have dedicated myself to applying what I have learned to what I know about Christ and His desire that all men come to know Him.
I remember reading George Otis Jr.'s book "The Twilight Labyrinth" and saying to myselft, "You mean I am not crazy!?!" I had believed that I was so different from others that there had to be something wrong with me. I had ideas that seemed to make sense in light of what I had read in the Bible. But, when I tried to explain some of those ideas to others, I encountered a number of reactions that lead me to understand that I was speaking a foreign language.
Simply, what I was trying to describe was the idea that in the spiritual world as in the material world, there is such a thing as cause and effect. And, that down through history one can find the fingerprints of God, & His footsteps, as well as the crimes of satan, by discovering the evidence of these cause and effects.
This is as good a place as any to thank George Otis Jr., for the wisdom and clarity with which he has taught about this discipline over the years. Without his gifting in this area I would not have found my calling and purpose in life.This is also not intended in any way to replace the various good books out there that describe why and how history still matters. But, it is intended to clarify an ongoing discussion about the proper place history (Spiritual Mapping) has today in the process of intercession, evagelism, prophecy, and developing unity in the Body of Christ.
Let me start with the very term Spiritual Mapping. This term evokes many responses from people from all parts of the Body of Christ. It is a term that was coined a few years ago when this discipline was being rediscovered and relabeled. And, like a lot of things in the modern western evangelical church it aquired this label innocently enough. It is JUST a label that describes a process in which we as Christians try to answer the question; Why does evil exist where it does? Why is one place more overtly dark than someplace else. To attempt to discover the answers to that question, we have to dig into history. It is what we do with what we find that has caused a whole heck of a lot of controversy.
The Bible records many intstances throughout the old and new testaments that give clues to how to discover and interpret "what came before". 1 Corinthians 13 defines this process; "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 13: 1-3 This shows us that in any endeavor such as mapping (historical research), that we are held to the standard of love. If in our discovery process we are not loving in our actions, then we have failed. If we dishonor our neighbor or our Brother in Christ with what we do then we have to seriously re-evaluate the process.
The process of discerning any situation you or your organization finds yourself in is not exclusive to the church, and comes with various labels depending on the environment that you walk in. In the military and goverment it is called intelligence gathering. In business it is called market research. In academia it is called homework. It is basic problem solving. Thoughout history men that were faced with problems have attempted to understand and solve those problems by applying logic as they know it. Depending on the problem and the circumstances, decisions have been made all through history, both good and bad in all aspects of life. Some of those decisons have resulted in tragic consequences that have caused bloodshed, changed governments, and destroyed families. Some have done just the opposite. By bringing good things into our world. But, in either case the results of these decisions are what we call history.
After all, history is really an accounting of human decisions and their conscequent impact on humanity. Starting from the very first decision to go against the Father's Command to not eat of the fruit of the tree in the garden.
To get back to Santayana's quote, that is a rule that continues to be broken today by a majority of today's society. I have to admit that I was one of those in my youth that did not understand the importance of history. But, in this spiritual world of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, history is one of the main tools that we have access to to prosecute the battle against evil. History brings us the forensic clues that we can use to discern satan's age old tactics against the children of the Most High God. These are the clues that we have that enable us to see where the prowling lion has been and what is important to him.
In this book it is my intention to describe that balance that we need between the technical side of historical research done in support of evangelism and intercession, and the prophetic discernment required to sort out the copious amounts of research that historian's compile. Yes, prophetic discernment is necessary in this discipline. Discernment is needed in sorting out the tactical from the strategic aspects of the spiritual battle.
