Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Decision Making By the Book, Part 17 of 20

TEXT: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).

IDEA: Who can help me when I need to make a decision?

PURPOSE: Seek good counsel—biblical counsel, experienced counsel, and the best available counsel.

Asking how to know God's will is not a biblical question. Instead, we are better off asking, "How do we make good decisions?" If we change the question, we change the direction of the answer. And when the focus comes back on us and on making godly decisions, we need to follow God's principles for decision-making. Here are the five principles we've covered so far:

Make decisions in submission to God's sovereign will.

Make decisions in submission to God's moral will.

Make love and concern for the good of others the motive.

Focus on your strengths and gifts.

Consider the circumstances, but don't be mastered by them.

Making good decisions is seldom easy. The sixth principle is that we must base our decisions on wise counsel. The Bible has a great deal to say about seeking out the advice of other people:

"For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure" (Proverbs 11:14).

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" (Proverbs 13:20).

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed" (Proverbs 15:22).

"Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise" (Proverbs 19:20).

"Make plans by seeking advice: if you wage war, obtain guidance" (Proverbs 20:18).

"A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength: for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors" (Proverbs 24:5-6).

Recently a golf pro took a businessman out to a local golf course. The businessman wanted to improve his swing, but each time the golf pro tried to correct him, the businessman (a successful CEO) insisted that the way he did it was more comfortable, thus better. Before long the golf pro began agreeing with the businessman. A bystander watched the scene as the businessman paid the golf pro and left with a smile. The bystander asked the pro, "What happened? In the middle of that session you just began to tell him what he wanted to hear." The golf pro responded, "I've been at this long enough to know what people want. That man wasn't paying me for counsel: he was just paying for an echo."

If we surround ourselves with people who echo our own opinions, that is not wise, nor is it good counsel. Leaders, even presidents, have fallen because they surrounded themselves with yes-men instead of insightful men and women who would give thoughtful, unbiased counsel.

Seek good counsel on three levels:

Seek biblical counsel. If we know people mighty in the Scriptures and who know how to apply the Bible to life, seek them out to discuss the spiritual implications of our decisions.

Seek experienced counsel. Ask those who have gone through similar experiences. If people have traveled the road before us and can tell us what that road looks like, we are wise to listen to what they have to say.

A word of caution: don't listen to just one person's experience. When talking about experiences, talk to a number of people and extract direction from their combined counsel.

Seek the best available counsel. If it's a question of surgery, talk to the best surgeon. At this level, we're not looking for Christian counsel: we're looking for good counsel.

Once you've run your decisions through these three levels of counsel, heed the counsel you receive. Don't keep seeking out counsel until you find someone who agrees with your predetermined decision.

In the end no counselor can make our decisions for us. We are responsible for weighing the counsel and for making the choices.