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Here is my unedited BOOM answer. Again, its unedited. Typos, bad punctuation, and terrible referencing is allowed.
The United Methodist Church holds that Scripture, tradition, experience and reason are sources and norms for belief and practice, but that the Bible is primary among them. What is your theological position of the church?
Living out our calling as Christians requires consistent engagement with our theological heritage. As we experience God’s gracious activity in us and the world we utilize a theological framework for interpretation. As United Methodists we affirm the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as the source for our theological position. “Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.” (BoD Par 104 p. 77) Scripture is the foundation of our own understanding of God’s redemptive activity in the world. Recognizing scripture as the source of authority is acknowledging it as a revelation of the Word of God. As United Methodists we understand scripture to reveal all that is necessary for salvation. The Bible reveals to human beings the truth of the Triune God. We are witness to God the Father and Creator acting in history. We witness the living Son of God, Jesus Christ, walking among us and conquering death so that all may experience eternal life. We experience the Holy Spirit, the foundation of the Church, empowering God’s people. Within the quadrilateral Scripture is primary; our tradition, experience, and use of reason are informed by the biblical witness. That is why it is crucial we as ministers offer the Word in a variety of settings: in bible study, Disciple classes, in worship, etc.
The use of tradition, though, helps guide our understanding of scripture. The church is the bearer of traditions which help shape the specific contexts of different times as well as spurs continued engagement within our own setting. God continues to be present in each age, informing and transforming new generations. By affirming the traditions of the church we maintain connection with an ever-growing cloud of witnesses who came before us. As we recall the history of our church we can respond to those elements which offered fresh visions of God’s work in the world. We can also discard those elements that hindered a faithful transmission of the Gospel. For instance, when considering a new or different element for worship I like to ask myself, how is this transmitting God’s Word? Are we being consistent with the past? Is this new element simply a gimmick or does it carry on the tradition of the church in a new and accessible way? When considering the validity of a tradition, again we weigh it against scripture, asking ourselves is it consistent with the biblical witness. Maintaining a connection with tradition can also help us maintain a healthy connection with our cultural surroundings. We can practice more faithful engagement in our cultural surrounding without becoming enslaved by it when we have a firmer grasp on how our use of tradition in our theological is consistent with God’s divine grace.
Our experiences shape who we are. In some sense, we are the sum total of our experiences in life. We respond to certain situations based on what we know. When we engage scripture, “we read Scripture in light of the conditions and events that help shape who we are, and we interpret our experience in terms of Scripture.” (p. 81) Our response to God’s grace, for instance, can be made valid for us by our understanding of the truth of scripture. Through self-examination we are made more aware of how our experiences shape who we are as people of faith. When responding to God’s love, those experiences can “inform our appropriation of scriptural truths and sharpen our appreciation of the good news of the kingdom of God. At the church level, the collective experiences of the body of Christ help forge a corporate identity. As a minister it is crucial I understand the experiences of the congregation. Have their experiences in the previous months or years been positive or negative? What are the conditions that are helping or hindering the church’s relationship to God? How do my experiences help me respond to the needs of the church? How can our experiences together make us more effective witnesses of Christ to the world?
In discerning the Word of God and applying it to our traditions through our experiences we utilize our capacity for reason. Our reasoning skills help us read and interpret scripture. We discern God’s call in our hearts and ask the critical questions of our faith in order to better understand how to follow Christ. When we offer Christ to others we use reason to provide a clear understanding of who Christ is and what he calls us to do in mission and ministry. The truth of the Gospel is made clear by our use of reason to respond. When I prepare a sermon I am utilizing my own intellect and training to better communicate the Word to the people. If I am not clear in my preparation, then I risk dilution and irrelevance. I must use my reasoning abilities when faithfully interpreting God’s action, recognizing my own limitations in knowing the full truth about God.
As we faithfully consider and respond to God’s grace we have been equipped with a theological framework for better understanding who we are called to be as Christians. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a means for exploring more fully our calling as ministers. It helps guide us in making the appropriate choices as we continue on the journey of discipleship.
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