Mennonite Church USA

My hope for the church spiked in late January at the annual School for Leadership Training at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Va. My courage rose because we studied group discernment, the practice of listening for God’s voice in the midst of difficult circumstances. As part of that study, we studied the need to cultivate “indifference” to all but the will of God …

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”—Luke 1:38

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”—Luke 22:42

My hope for the church spiked in late January at the annual School for Leadership Training at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Va. My courage rose because we studied group discernment, the practice of listening for God’s voice in the midst of difficult circumstances. As part of that study, we studied the need to cultivate “indifference” to all but the will of God.

I first learned about such indifference from the Quaker tradition of communal discernment. They use the term to describe the spiritual practice of laying down one’s vested interests, desired outcomes or opinions for the sake of God’s will. Those of us who serve on governing boards experience something similar when we admit a conflict of interest. For example, if I were serving on a search committee, and my son was being considered as a candidate for the office, I would need to step aside from the decision.

In a process of spiritual discernment, we may find that we’re so committed to a particular outcome that it is difficult to imagine God revealing a different outcome to the group. That’s why, in a process of discernment, Quakers may ask each person in the room to respond to the question: “Are you indifferent?” If the answer is no, the person may be asked to observe the process rather than participate in it.

When I consider some of the decisions in our church that need to be addressed through discernment, a voice cries out within: “How could I possibly be indifferent about something that is so important?” That’s because I associate indifference with a disposition to apathy or laziness—a casual comment of “whatever” when facing a decision. But I have come to understand that indifference in a communal process of discernment is far from apathy.

On the contrary, it grows out of a deep desire to know God’s will, unfettered by petty desires or selfish ambition. It is a disposition that must be cultivated over time. The words of Mary and of Jesus in the verses cited above reflect such a disposition. Both Mary and Jesus had far too much at stake to be apathetic. Yet they were indifferent in the sense described here.

Lack of indifference can be a serious impediment to genuine discernment. If we have our minds firmly made up before we enter the group process, we can hardly be impartial to the outcome. In some matters, we may have such strong opinions that we speak of them as a matter of conscience. Rather than listening in the process of decision-making, we may feel compelled to insist, debate or perhaps shout our opinion. Therefore, when we gather in a communal process of discernment as people of conscience with sharply differing opinions, it may be exceedingly difficult to find group consensus. That’s why, in a highly polarized political environment, we may lack the capacity for healthy discernment.

Lately, in order to cultivate indifference, I’ve been praying the prayer of relinquishment I learned from Richard Foster (Prayers from the Heart, Harper San Francisco, 1994). I commend it to you as well.

Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.
May your will be my delight.
May your love be the pattern of my living.
I surrender to you my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions.
Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.
I place into your loving care my family, my friends, my future.
Care for them with a care that I can never give.
I release into your hands my need to control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity.
Eradicate the evil, purify the good and establish your kingdom on earth.
For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Ervin Stutzman is executive director of Mennonite Church USA.