"The Search"

I am proud to be a United Methodist (most of the time) and I will tell you why. A century ago, a well-known and well-respected bishop pronounced from his pulpit and in the periodical that he edited that heavier-than-air flight was not only impossible; it was contrary to the will of God. How did he know that? On what was he basing this conclusion. I don't know. So, it’s a little ironic, I think, when you consider that Bishop Wright, the man that made this bold declaration, had two sons, Orville and Wilbur! Bishop Wright was wrong. Sure of himself, but wrong.
In worship tomorrow morning, we are presenting a short drama where two young people ponder how cool it would be to have a “life map” to guide them. There quandary raises the age-old How can we discern God’s will for our lives and for the church? In the United Methodist tradition (Hence. my aforementioned, albeit somewhat sinful pride), we have a tool that the church recognizes to help determine God’s truth for us. It is called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. It is a gift to the Methodists from Wesley's Anglican tradition. There are four points on the quadrilateral (hence, the name). The pinnacle, the most important point of the Quadrilateral is the bible – scripture. John Wesley once said, "God himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God!" Scripture tells the story of God and God’s interaction with humanity. So, the quadrilateral takes as its main focus the interpretation of scripture.
The other points of the quadrilateral serve that end. The first of these is “tradition.”
This means United Methodist, Christian, and even Jewish traditions. What did the bible mean to the people who heard it first, to the people that wrote it. This is important because it teaches us to put our own interpretation of the bible into its proper context. Recognizes the reality that we read the bible in a certain context.
The next point on the quadrilateral is reason. This is a sticky one. By “reason”, I do not mean that we simply ask the question “is faith reasonable?” Because the answer to that question is “no.” We follow a savior that died on a cross. Jesus said, “Because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.” This is certainly not “reasonable” by today’s standards, but it is the gospel. Reason (from the Enlightenment) refers mainly to the results of cumulative human study into nature, etc. This, too, is very tricky, but it must be a part of the equation.
The final component is experience. This does not mean the experiences of our lives (that would go under the cumulative wisdom of reason). John Wesley’s question about experience went something like this. "Does the witness of God’s spirit bear witness to your spirit that this is true?" This is obviously subjective. But, we do have a standard to measure this by. Read Galatians 5:22-26 to get a quick idea. This is also a tricky one because it I subjective. But, it is a crucial element of discerning God’s truth.
The point of the quadrilateral is not to give us hoops to jump through in order to say, I have done what I must to have my truth considered valid. The quadrilateral works to use the variety of ways that God has used to reveal himself to help us arrive at God's truth. It is a pretty cool thing, and it is one reason that I am proud to be a United Methodist.