What is Discernment?

Today I’m going to focus on the idea of discernment, especially when it comes to natural health. The Lesson of the day in my 90 Day Challenge was to consider all the ways we are manipulated by marketing. Since we can no longer live in a world free from advertisement (TV, social media, billboards- there are even screens at the gas pump now!) we must learn how to navigate wisely through all the noise.

Everywhere you go, people are screaming for attention, from product advertisements to special niche influencers, its difficult to discern who to listen to. One thing I’ve gleaned from years of marketing classes is to PAUSE before buying. Give it a “potato,” as my husband likes to say.

One Potato…

Two Potato…

Typically by the third potato, the impulse has passed and my rational brain takes the controls back from the emotional. There’s no doubt about it- targeted marketing is a very powerful tool. They say 99% of purchase choices are actually emotional decisions. While I understand that in the realm of Home Decor or Women’s fashion- of course we want our house to look inviting and we want to feel glamorous in that new dress! It’s much harder to see the emotional trap when it comes to health and wellness. After all, taking a supplement every day is hardly glamorous.

What are they actually selling us with all those devices, pills, and mushroom coffees on the market today? Just like the fashion industry, they are selling you a dream. The way you THINK you will feel wearing that dress is the same way you might feel when you take the pill. After all, everyone wants to feel more youthful and energetic, right? In fact, the supplement may even be MORE of a temptation than the cute dress!

Make it stand out

So how do we practice discernment in a world inundated with alluring sales pitches, ingenious marketing gimmicks and promises of hope that stir the soul? It’s not easy. We must be wise. We must do our research. Most importantly, we must not purchase impulsively.

And that’s really hard to do in this one-click-Amazon culture.

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Thankfully, God made me a researcher, or at least a study-er. I rarely push the “I believe” button, especially when something sounds too good to be true. (Conversely, I almost ALWAYS push the “I believe” button when something is presented as a hoax or a conspiracy… I’ll save that for a different post) I suppose it says something about my personality when I will readily believe certain ingredients can harm me, but I am suspicious of anything claiming it can help!

One thing I learned recently from a friend is how to search PubMed for the funders of a research project. I use PubMed studies all the time as I’m preparing a lecture or a class… but it never occurred to me to examine where the money came from. In other words, who stands to profit from said study? The video showed an example of a Pfizer pharmaceutical trial that was funded by (get this) Pfizer.

Surprise, surprise!

The fact of the matter is, everyone has an angle. If I’m telling you a funny story, my intention is to make you laugh. If I’m sharing a heartache, the story will sound much different. If I want you to love something that I love, there’s an angle in that, too, albeit unintentional. It’s the natural human tendency to layer our language in such a way to elicit certain reactions from others. God designed us this way- it’s how we connect. On the other hand, marketers KNOW THIS and play to our desire for connection by emotionally manipulating us. It’s soooo much easier to resist false information when we know manipulation tools are being intentionally employed.

Of course we must always pray for discernment, especially when the choices are difficult or the stakes are high. I’ve found that a good strategy (for me) is not to push the “I believe” button right away, but rather the “Hmmm… interesting” one. If I allow myself to entertain the possibility of an idea, I’m more likely to look into it further. Its my own “one potato, two…” method. Instead of counting, I’m categorizing. The important part is to have some sort of filtering trick.

The dictionary definition of Discernment is the ability to judge well, to determine what is true and what is false. In Christian circles it reaches beyond that into the realm of spiritual implications. Overall, discernment is a muscle we can strengthen or lose, depending how much we exercise it. The Bible says to test all things (1 Thess 5:21) and hold fast to what is good. It also declares itself to be a sword, rightly dividing the wort of truth (2 Tim 2:15) But my favorite verse with regards to searching for answers comes from Proverbs 25: 2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.”

This is the verse that I hang my entire wellness business on. If anyone claims to have all the answers, know this- they don’t. On this side of eternity, we are always searching out the things of God. He designed us to do exactly that. Of course others have gone before us and searched out matters so we can learn from them. But there is plenty of uncharted territory when it comes to natural health, and plenty of snake oil, too.

For me, the decision of what to research (and what to discard) is often, “Did God make that medicine or was it made by man?” I am much more likely to discard medicine made by “the wisdom of man” than the things of God which are considered foolish. Even if the ungodly have taken hold of a certain natural modality, that doesn’t mean the modality doesn’t work. It doesn’t mean God didn’t CREATE it to work. It simply means the honor and glory is not being given to the creator.

Generally my starting point is, “if a remedy is found in the world God made, it is worth exploring.” Of course prayerful discernment should always be used as to the spiritual origin of any claim, especially when it comes to revealed knowledge. When it comes to scientific information, we must also discern its financial origins- were the people who stand to profit from a study also the ones who funded it? And lastly, we must discern the emotional manipulation- how does this advertisement make me feel? Does it prey on my pride, or even worse, on my fear? Above all, Christians should be aware that the things of God would never arouse such emotions. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love and strength and a sound mind. 2 Tim 1:7

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