We attended an 80th-year birthday celebration this past weekend for someone that you all know. You have probably seen him in parades, seen him on posters and heard him give his famous tagline: “Remember…Only YOU can prevent wildfires.” I refer, of course, to “Smokey Bear,” that  beloved fictional park ranger hat-wearing black bear created by artist Albert Staehle for the United States Forest Service in August, 1944 as a symbol for its wildfire prevention campaign. 

     In May 1950, the name was given to a real bear cub that was rescued from a forest fire in New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains. Discovered by a group of native American firefighters, he was found badly burned but was nursed back to health by veterinarians in Santa Fe. “Smokey” was then flown to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where he lived until his death on Nov. 9, 1976. He was returned to New Mexico to be buried near the site where he was found. There is now a “Smokey Bear Historical Park” which includes his gravesite.  

     In 1952, singers Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote a jingle for Smokey and added “the” to his name to maintain the song’s rhythm, but his official name is “Smokey Bear,” not “Smokey the Bear.” (NOTE: If you heard the catchy little song it was likely sung by none other than Gene Autrey!). The chorus of the catchy little jingle goes like this: “Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear, prowlin’ and a growlin’ and a sniffin’ the air. He can find a fire before it starts to flame. That’s why they call him Smokey, that was how he got his name.”

      The words of the chorus reminded me of one of the spiritual gifts God has given to members of His body, the church that we call “the gift of discernment” (or “distinguishing of spirits”…I Cor. 12:10). The spiritual gifts are special abilities that God gives to each member of the body of believers and the purpose is “for the common good” of the body (I Cor. 12:7).  They are not for personal edification but for the building up and protection of Christ’s body, the church. The gifts are listed in I Cor. 12,13; Ro. 12 and Eph. 4.  (NOTE: I would guess those lists are not exhaustive and that God can equip you with any special ability you need to accomplish a task He leads you to perform).   No believer has all the gifts but all believers have one or more gifts. That means we need to work together in dependence upon one another. So it is important that each of us discover, develop and deploy our gifts for the body to be healthy and growing.  

     I believe a gift that is not often focused upon but that is very vital for the well-being of a local assembly of believers and the body of Christ in general, is that of “the gift of discernment,” which is the unique ability to detect wrong and evil before it manifests itself and devastates a body. It is the ability to distinguish between the spirit of error and the spirit of truth before it is manifest by the results. It is a difficult gift to exercise because others might think you are just being paranoid or imagining a problem that doesn’t exist. But we need to listen to those with that gift for they can save a lot of grief, heartache and division.  

     Smokey Bear “could find a fire before it starts to flame.”  That is a perfect description of someone with the “gift of discernment.”  We need those among us with that gift and we need to listen to them and in doing so may avoid being led into doctrinal error or false practice.  If you happen to have that gift, be sure to exercise it with love (I Cor. 13), but please use it!  With all the “winds of false doctrine” tossing believers about these days, we definitely need folks with the “gift of discernment” to speak up. And, don’t just assume others see or sense the dangers of which you are aware. Remember, not all have that gift.

Forever His,

Pastor Dave