Lifestyle of Peace | Christian Living & Discipleship

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Practicing the Reality of the Christian Worldview: An Intellectually Coherent Lifestyle Methodology

Let's look at a progression from worldview to practice, quickly running through seven areas of growth in understanding and faith practice.

1. Intellectual Coherence - A true worldview must make sense. If Christianity is actually the truth about everything, then we can and should be able to understand it in an intellectually coherent manner. Now, there will and in fact should be certain aspects of Christianity that are mysterious. If we are in fact created beings created by an infinite God, then logically a system created by a God infinitely more knowledgeable and powerful than us will have aspects beyond our comprehension.

We will also have to assume that God's moral viewpoint is higher than ours. That is the hard part. Because often we can become quite indignant about our own moral viewpoints. But God's view must be higher and more clear, if He is in fact God of the universe and the creator of all ethics.

Intellectual coherence means that God's existence is reasonable. I've found that to be the case. Whether from science, history, manuscript authenticity, and real world experiences, there is a great amount of evidence that God exists.

2. Experiential Relevance / Experiential Integration - As we recognize the reality of the Christian worldview, it becomes integrative, it changes how we see reality. The word of God is the codex to deciphering the perceivable universe. We can decrypt reality with the Biblical documents.

This is difficult because a lot of us have opinions and viewpoints on things in the world that may have to change as Jesus transforms our worldview. But the goal is to see ultimate truth, and to see perceivable reality as it truly is, not as we would want it. That is difficult. It is very difficult. Because we have strong viewpoints and opinions on many things. But if we allow the biblical documents to begin to transform our worldview, we'll begin to see the whole world with a new clarity that amazes us.

3. Biblical Grounding - Our tendency as humans is toward drifting. If we're not moving toward something, we're actually being moved away from it. That's what it's like to swim in the current of this life. Standing firmly on the scriptures is a dedicated approach to life, a dedicated total trust in the words of the scriptures to accurately depict reality and define ourselves, the past, the future, what it means to live ethically, and our future destiny. There are four key tests of a worldview: Origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. And the Bible brings answers clearly to all four of those areas of philosophical concern.

But the point here is, that our tendency is toward drifting. If we don't intentionally move toward a biblical worldview, we will drift away from one over time. The world is communicating a worldview that is systemically contrary to biblical Christianity. If we aren't intentionally absorbing a biblical worldview, then we'll be unconsciously adopting a humanist/naturalistic worldview, or something even more spooky, like a cult, or extreme political ideology.

4. Sustaining Dependence - Recognizing our infinite need for God, a sustaining relationship makes it possible for us to victoriously live out the Christian life. This sustaining relationship heals us, delivers us, guides us through difficulty, overcomes evil within us, and without us, and guides us toward our ultimate end destination.

The will of God is constantly at work. Once again, without intentional focus on this connection, we drift. There is no standing still, we're either pressing forward or drifting away.

Our relationship with God must be constantly developed. And we look to strive deeper and deeper with God, expanding the connection continuously, as God transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

Take this relationship to a new level. Dedicate real time each day to this relationship. We can talk all we want about how "it's a relationship" but that doesn't mean anything if we aren't dedicating any time to it. The fact on the ground is, either we are really living in relationship with God, or we're really not. And our life and fruit (results of our actions practically) will show which is true, for all to see.

5. Lifestyle Method - Ordering your life means living out the convictions of the truth on a daily basis. Week in and week out. A lifestyle method is the practice of our relationships with God first, with our marriage wife or husband, and our friendships, and relationships with people and the church.

We need a weekly lifestyle method that we dedicate ourselves to. I mean a weekly pattern of life, a methodism of life. I'll tell you about my method: Monday, morning prayer, work/school, 7pm basketball, 9pm-10:30pm bible study/ prayer time. Tuesday, morning prayer, work/school, homework time/relaxation, then bible study/prayer time 9pm-10:30pm. That goes on day by day, week by week, and so on. I try to carefully order my life, Bible studies, small groups, church services on Sunday, evangelism, and service work. If we're followers of Jesus, we should order our lives carefully around Christian practices.

6. Missional Imperative - What takes priority? What is the mission of life? The imperative comes from the truth. The truth is our theological core extracted from the biblical texts. When we order our lives, we want to keep one unifying factor in sight: What is my chief imperative?

An "imperative" is like the number one priority goal in the distance. If I was a quarterback in the NFL, I would run plays each down, run plays, screen plays, short passes, and so on, but I would always have in mind the long term goal of getting the ball into the endzone for a touchdown.

Our weekly practices are the daily things we do that build toward the imperative, the chief goal. As Christians what is our chief goal in all we do? To carry the gospel to the lost, and to build up ourselves and fellow Christians in discipleship growth. As I reflect on my weekly practices, I have to ask myself if I'm fulfilling the imperative. And to take a real world example, I realized with my weekly practices that I was failing in my first chief imperative, to carry the gospel to the lost. So I decided I needed to add a time of personal evangelism to my weekly practices. The imperative keeps us on track when the weekly routine threatens to mull us down in programming and an all too familiar pattern.

7. Grasping Reality - The Eternal (Real) Perspective - What do we value most? How does that need to change?

"Do we really believe that what we believe is really real?" -Del Tackett.

It's a good question. Are we grasping true, ultimate reality? Or we are caught up in the affairs of this world? This can happen without us realizing it. Pretty soon our Christian faith can become secondary to our concerns for marriage, for our children, for the house we want to buy, or the bills we need to pay, or climbing the corporate ladder at work, or just our entertainment, movies and music, or our elaborate plans to go on lavish vacations and carribean cruises. We can get bogged down in politics, in culture, even in art, or city life, or our Star Wars obsession, or a dozen other things of this world.

We begin to focus on the worldly approach to life, being concerned with what makes me happy, with what gives me pleasure, and pretty soon the thought of God, of Christ, and the coming kingdom, the city of God on Earth, in the new heaven and new Earth is a very, very distant thought. And it starts to not even feel real. And in extreme cases some will simply depart the church, depart the faith, and wade into the world, oblivious to the reality of God, and the coming judgment.

Jesus Christ will return, and I am expecting him, very very soon. Jesus is coming soon. We will see him with our own eyes. And we will see his kingdom come. We will see him. We will see this world, in fact, this entire universe destroyed completely, and remade, as the new heavens and new Earth, redesigned and engineered to perfection, with no pain, no fear, no shame, no sorrow, no anger, no depression, no disease, and no death. It's a reality. It's real. It will happen. The final point is simply this: Keep your eyes, the eyes of your heart, on the coming kingdom of Christ. Keep your eyes on the eternal city of God which is depicted like this in Revelation: (Rev 21:10-27 NLT)

"So he took me in the Spirit[b] to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal. 12 The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 13 There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.[c] 17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick[d] (according to the human standard used by the angel).

18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones:[e] the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.

22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil[f] will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life."

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Monday, September 3, 2018

Should I get Married? Is True Love possible in this world?

Do you believe in true love? I did once, a long time ago. Maybe I still do. My generation grew up with the dream of a love that would break the barrier in our hearts, and set us free. We grew up watching that movie... The Princess Bride. And we dared to hope for true love. We dared to believe in a simple life that could also be special.

This time of year always makes me feel so nostalgic. The warm summer air begins to coil together with touches of cool autumn air. And I'm reminded of times long ago. My heart is inspired. My spirits are lifted, to dream of things like the nobility of lost love, and the bittersweet sorrows and joys of this life. I love it actually. It draws me deep down, toward deeper, more real realities of this life.

I still believe in real love, like the Smashing Pumpkins song. Romance, a beautiful thing. Life, like a dream. And dreams more real than reality. I believe in hope. I was walking along in the city, along the streets of Chicago, listening to nine albums by Death Cab for Cutie, rolled into one playlist. I bought these 9 albums from some guy on Ebay for $30.00. Not a bad deal.  Death Cab reminds me of my troubled youth and early 20s. It makes me feel nostalgic.

Walking along a late summer road I looked across a steamy field. My feet crunched along the road slowly, taking heavy steps, one by one. The field arched slowly down, I was at a point like at the top of a crest. Fog hovered above the grasses. Trees rippled along in the distance. It was just, just starting to get dark. The skies in the west fell into gold and orange colors. To the east clouds rolled forward. Silent bursts of lightning flashed occasionally within the bubbly clouds. Across the twilight of the fields little flickering flashes spiked here and there, randomly. One might miss them if you looked away even for a moment. They were fireflies flashing atop the grass. Beautiful music. And I knew once again that God does live in each moment of life, if we dare to see the obvious.

I felt on the edge of a new beginning. I knew some great ordeal was coming... and I knew something beautiful awaited just around the bend. Outside of sight... but coming soon. And God would not answer my questions: Who is she? When will I meet her? What color is her hair? Does she like music I like? Will our love ever die?

Love is magical. It sets a heart on fire. Music took me away when my life was a disaster. I think if I meet my true love, my girl, my beloved wife soon, well, maybe I'll make her a mix tape. One indie rocker to another. Romantic, don't you think?

Though I don't recall, hardly, how to be that way with a woman. I can hardly recall what it feels like, in fact. That is as it should be, now that I think about it. We too often in this mixed up world think we need to try out dozens of women, or men, sleeping around with whoever, on a dizzy tirade toward love. But this is brokenness, not love. It brings pain, not romance. It leads to sorrow, not love. I learned that the hard way. I was foolish. Now, I try to live with rare wisdom. Even if no one else lives like this, in sanctity, I will. I have to. I'm tired of living the other way.

Is there someone in the future? Yes, I believe so. There's someone I'm thinking of. But I don't know if it's possible, or even advisable.

God's will. If it's meant to happen, it will. If it's not, it won't. When I bring my decisions into subjection to God's will, bad things happen less often. Or at least they're less often my fault.

I dreamt of her. But I can't see her face. I had my arms around her, but I couldn't feel her. She whispers to me, but I cannot speak. She said, I'm 30, you're 33. And I woke up.

My rational mind says it's just a delusional, a random dream. My spiritual mind insists there is something more there.

A man who seduces and manipulates many women for his own pleasure has loved no one. He has spewed himself about, and men like this are often increasingly angry, hungry, and unfulfilled. And they're mad because the more they live that life, the more they leave themselves behind. And eventually, there is nothing left inside. They've poured their soul across so many women, they've nothing left of their own but rage and emptiness. I will never live that way again, as long as I live. It is death and nothing.

To love, in a true sense, is to love one woman, in covenant marriage for life. To love, is to serve her, and walk beside her, and adore her and be adored by her. And worship God beside her. And serve God with her. To love her truly, is to love her for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and more. To love is to love one, and to die with her. That is love. Love is sacrificial. It stands the test of time.

Lust is for little boys, stumbling from girl to girl, forever unable to grow up. Love is for men who have grown up and matured enough to live a true life of honor, dignity, and biblical, sacrificial love. Divorce is not an option. Love lasts the test of time. And it never dies.

I'm a child of a broken marriage, and an ugly divorce. You do become jaded, and wonder if a lifelong love is even possible in this world. In the final analysis, I do believe it is possible. I know it will take work. But I know my attitude will be simple: Divorce is not an option. Plain and simple. The only possible reason divorce would happen is if an affair were taking place perpetuated by my partner. Any other problem would never be grounds for divorce. Never, ever.

So the question remains: Do you believe in true love? Here is my answer: Yes I do. But only because I believe in God. There is absolutely no hope outside of that first love between God and I. God makes it all possible. Otherwise my love story would be a lie, a giant fictitious false life, like the song by 'The Postal Service' called Clark Gable, in which the author of the song asks his old love, whom he no longer loves, to help him produce a fake movie scene in which they pretend they still love each other. True, real love is only a product of a miraculous event generated by God, in which two people meant for each other somehow, someway come together. It is a rare and beautiful thing.

If you're reading this my dear, I promise you this: Our love will be a special, sacred love. I will cherish it.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Top Ten Reasons Why I Love the Salvation Army Uniform

In the Salvation Army there are various levels of involvement, including adherents, soldiers, and officers. Adherents agree to the doctrines of the Salvation Army, soldiers make a further covenant, to abstain from certain practices like gambling, alcohol, and drug use. Officers are ordained leaders of the Salvation Army churches and facilities.

Part of serving in the Salvation Army is wearing the uniform. Adherents wear a red blazer, soldiers wear the uniform with the blue epaulets, and officers wear the uniform with the red epaulets.

Some prefer that the army begin to phase out the uniform. Others like myself support the uniform. We are all part of the army of God, disagreements and all. But these are my top ten reasons why I love the uniform. Could it be updated in some ways? Perhaps. Could it be a bit more ascetically pleasing? Sure. But it ought to remain, in my humble view. Here's why:

1. When I look at my fellows serving in their uniforms I'm reminded that I'm part of an army, with a united mission, and with a hierarchy of leadership. This is a wise and good thing. It reminds me that I'm part of a team, a unity, that is distinct from the world.

2. Putting on the uniform is like putting on my spiritual armor. I've made a practice of praying the armor of God each day as I serve. When I put on the uniform in the morning, I hold great peace and joy, and courage as I don the uniform, knowing God is with me. Though the uniform is simply clothing, it reminds me of the spiritual armor I wear underneath.

3. The Uniform forces me to stand out - Most of the time I don't want to stand out. Most of the time I want to hide my light, if I'm honest with myself. I just want to quietly go into the gas station, or grocery store, and get my stuff and go home. The uniform forces me to stand out. It forces me to engage with curious strangers. It forces me to declare a clear distinction from the world.

4. The uniform reminds me that the Salvation Army is more than a church, the Salvation Army is a movement, it's a force for good, it's a army of the gospel! I love the concept of a united army winning the world for Christ.

5. The uniform let's people know we are here - People in communities across the USA and the world see the uniform and they know they can come up to that person and ask for help or prayer. I've gotten stopped by strangers, at kettles, and at airports with people asking me about the Salvation Army.

6. The uniform looks good - The uniform looks sharp. Serving in the ARC ministry, I've had some men ask about how to get a uniform, and it gave me a chance to share about Jesus, the word of God, and serving in the Salvation Army.

7. The blue soldier's uniform indicates that the person has made a covenant before God to abstain from certain things, alcohol, drugs, gambling, cigarettes, and so on. This invites accountability, which is needed in our day and age, and it also calls newcomers and seekers to the way of holiness, and the way of being "set apart" for service to Christ. This doesn't imply inequality, no, but a calling to true biblical Christianity, which is a calling to holiness.

8. The red officer's uniform declares that a person has made a covenant to serve Christ in full time ministry. This is a beautiful and humbling thing. It is our "priestly garb" in a way. This shouldn't imply that the uniform has any special power, but it does declare who that person is and what they've worked for. The red uniform declares a ministry of humble service to the lost.

9. The uniform declares an outward expression of an inward reality - I'm part of a fighting army of Christian heroes for Christ. I think about what it would be like in a corps without anyone wearing the uniform, and honestly, it would lose some of the magic and synergy of the Salvation Army zeal and passion that centers around a Holy, Living Spirit of God marching to the ends of the Earth for the living gospel.

10. The uniform is a vital piece of the puzzle of the historic Salvation Army - The uniform set the Salvation Army apart. It's not lost it's value or meaning. It's not become anachronistic. In fact, tens of thousands across the continent of Africa march in the uniform proudly serving Christ and marching to the beat of a different drum. The Salvation Army is growing by leaps in bounds in various parts of the world, like Africa and Asia, and the uniform hasn't harmed that growth, but blessed it.

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Sunday, August 26, 2018

The Wesleyan Quadrilateral in Theological Reflection

This is a personal blog. The views on this blog do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Salvation Army, it's employees, or partners. The views on this blog are solely of those making them, based on the teachings of the Bible, in the Spirit.

Introduction
What is theological reflection, as a modern concept? Theological reflection is the process by which we come to understand reality as it truly is. The goal ultimately is to see God, the universe, the inspired word, and ourselves, as God sees it. This will naturally entail a limited status, for humanity cannot see as God sees, but we can see as God intends us to see. Therefore, theological reflection is the practice of seeing what is true about all aspects of reality, to the dimensions possible by the human mind. Essentially this is to see reality from a purely Christian worldview, and to perceive in the dimension of time, how God is unfolding his sovereign plan in the world. On a more personal basis, the goal is to perceive God’s will for my life, and how to obey and serve in that will to the utmost. On an institutional level, as I serve as a pastor in the Salvation Army, it is to perceive God’s will for the Salvation Army corps I lead, as well as the larger will for the Salvation Army in the Central Territory. The most effective model of theological reflection I have found to do this is Wesley’s Quadrilateral. Models that I considered and rejected include Speaking in Parables, Telling God’s Story, and Theology-in-Action (Graham, Walton & Ward, 2005, p. 13-14). The Wesleyan quadrilateral is appealing because of its emphasis on scripture, simple straight-forward method, and many applications to practical ministry. In applying it to ministry in general, the goal will be to set aside time each day to meditate on the precepts of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience and then apply conclusions drawn to daily ministry life. In a corporate leadership sense, the goal will be to make use of four questions, presenting the quadrilateral, through which we can discern God’s will for the ministry and put it into practice.

The Wesleyan Quadrilateral
The classic Wesleyan quadrilateral is my preferred method for theological reflection. Now there is a fair amount of controversy in some circles regarding if the Wesleyan quadrilateral can even be credited accurately to John Wesley. For our purposes here, the question is irrelevant. The fact as to whether John Wesley originated the Wesleyan quadrilateral is immaterial. The fact is, the quadrilateral came into common usage in various church movements, and has shown itself to be a useful method for theological reflection. Thus the question of its origin should be considered set aside for the purposes of this paper.

The Wesleyan quadrilateral asserts one primary and three secondary measures for truth in theological reflection. The one primary source is the sacred scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The three secondary sources are tradition, reason, and experience. The Wesleyan quadrilateral appeals to me greatly because it emphasizes the scriptures as the primary source of discerning truth. With increasing post-modern ideology attempting to invade and transform the church, and the threats of extreme theology, the importance of scripture in our day and age must be emphasized and re-emphasized.

According to theologian Shirley Macemon: “The image of quadrilateral fails if we expect some relative equality among the four sides. For Wesley, tradition, reason and experience simply were not meaningful in a theological context except in the context of scriptural truth. Wesley was clear that scripture carries deep truth: when the literal sense of scripture is bound in a cultural context, or is contradicted by other scripture, then its truth must be discovered beneath the literal surface” (Macemon, 2003).

First we examine the scriptures. According to the Asbury Bible Commentary (1992): “John Wesley considered himself to be in the Reformation tradition of sola scriptura (Scripture alone), and he liked to refer to himself as homo unius libri (Carpenter & McCown, 1992). The chief criticisms of theological reflection point to the fact that much of the time theological reflection can be based more on personal experience and less on the scriptures (Hey & Roux, 2012, p. 194). Reflecting on the sacred scriptures of the old and new testaments should be the chief aim of every Christian. The scriptures are exceedingly useful for teaching, rebuking, training in righteousness, and correcting, so the people of God can be rightly equipped for good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV). The word of God is like a two-edged sword, and it cuts to the depths of the heart, discerning the intentions and thoughts deep down within us (Hebrews 4:12-14 NIV). The word itself says in Psalm 119:15 (NIV): “I will meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” There are so many ways to effectively reflect on the word of God. The important part is that we know the scriptures through and through, and reflect on them on a daily basis, until the scriptures become an active part of the mind. That way in given situations, the word will come into our minds to teach us how to respond to all manner of events and difficulties in life. Of course the word alone is not where the power comes from. As John Wesley said, “We know that there is no inherent power in the words that are spoken in prayer, in the letter of Scripture read, the sound thereof heard, or the bread and wine received in the Lord's Supper; but that it is God alone who is the giver of every good gift, the author of all grace; that the whole power is of him, whereby through any of these [means] there is any blessing conveyed to our soul” (Carpenter & McCown, 1992). God communicates through His word, and from the word we discern our doctrines. Our doctrines are the base truths derived from the scriptures, as given by the Holy Spirit. This leads us to consider tradition.

Tradition in the Wesleyan quadrilateral is the idea that we trust and look to the history, writings, ecumenical councils, and the tradition’s general heritage with a trusting eye, believing that the Holy Spirit did certainly inform and guide such decisions and teachings across history (Reasoner). In the Wesleyan tradition various factors impact this aspect of tradition. For example, key to Wesleyan theology is Arminian precepts regarding issues like free will and divine sovereignty. In Wesleyanism, holiness theology is a core factor of the tradition, and this helps us to interpret the scriptures. We then see the scriptures through the lenses of the faith tradition, and the doctrines developed and guided by the tradition over history help guide us in our faith journey. Tradition of course must always be subservient to scripture. If we detect something within our faith tradition that does not jive with a fair reading of scripture, that aspect of the faith tradition should be rejected as false. Tradition is subservient to scriptural authority.

Reason is the third side of the Wesleyan quadrilateral. In C.S. Lewis’ book The Pilgrim’s Regress he writes allegorically of a man being imprisoned and condemned by the ‘Spirit of the Age’ pictured as a monster (Kilby, 1995, p. 26-27). The man begins to doubt and question the monster, so the monster looks to condemn him. But then reason, the woman riding on the horse, rides in to rescue the man. Reason leads him to a sharp cliff though, which reason cannot help him cross. Only faith can do that. Reason is a powerful ally to have. And reason is the strength by which we discern the world around us, and how the scriptures fit into a practice of Christian living in the world. The danger in reason is the spirit of the age. The spirit of the age is able to convince people of this world of things that are false and bizarre (Kilby, 1995, p. 26). The spirit of the age is telling the world there are dozens of genders, the spirit of the world touts the benefits of lying, of adultery, and of abortion. The spirit of the age’s bizarre form of reason is countered by Holy Spirit-guided reason. John Wesley affirmed the usefulness of reason, but warned that it should always be guided by the Holy Spirit (Reasoner).

The fourth side is experience. John Wesley placed an important emphasis on pragmatic personal experiences one has with God (Hey & Roux, 2012, p. 199). Wesley affirmed that one can certainly be deeply impacted by feeling the presence of God (Hey & Roux, 2012, p. 199). Indeed, Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed during his Aldersgate experience (Hey & Roux, 2012, p. 199). Experience is a vital aspect of the Wesleyan quadrilateral, without which, one cannot testify to a true salvation. One must experience Christ personally, and assent to Him, and serve Him, and this is done through experience.

The Wesleyan quadrilateral in Theological reflection is useful in personal faith growth, and in connecting the realities of the Christian faith on a personal basis into the realities of life on Earth (Dickey, 2006, p. 1). This Wesleyan quadrilateral form of theological reflection is also useful for ministry formation, as well as spiritual discernment in the context of practically obeying God’s leading, in a personal, as well as corporate sense (Dickey, 2006, p. 2).

Putting the Quadrilateral into Practice in Leadership
Henri Nouwen the famed Christian leader said: "Few ministers and priests think theologically. Most of them have been educated in a climate in which the behavioral sciences, such as psychology and sociology, so dominated the educational milieu that little true theology was being learned. Most Christian leaders today raise psychological and sociological questions even though they frame them in scriptural terms. Real theological thinking… is hard to find in the practice of ministry. Without solid theological reflection, future leaders will be little more than pseudo-psychologists, pseudo-sociologists, pseudo-social workers. They will think of themselves as enablers, facilitators, role models, father or mother figures, big brothers or big sisters, and so on, and thus join the countless men and women who make a living by trying to help their fellow human beings to cope with the stresses and strains of everyday living. But that has little to do with Christian leadership because the Christian leader thinks, speaks and acts in the name of Jesus, who came to free humanity from the power of death and open the way to eternal life. To be such a leader it is essential to be able to discern from moment to moment how God acts in human history and how the personal, communal, national and international events that occur during our lives can make us more and more sensitive to the ways in which we are led to the cross and through the cross to the resurrection…" (Theological Reflection – What Others Say).

Theological reflection for me is a constant, ongoing practice of considering the scriptures, the revelation of the Holy Spirit, facts of reason from books and various studies, and experience of daily life. This ongoing practice of theological reflection develops over time, gathering information and experience and processing those things through the context of scripture throughout the days, weeks, months, and years of my life. I’m constantly turning around complex ideas in my mind, trying to understand how a Christian worldview applies to any given situation, and what the truth is in any given situation. I engage in theological reflection when I go for walks, when I post on social media, when I sit in Bible study, when I read the scriptures, when I pray, and when I allow my thoughts to wander in my office. The Wesleyan quadrilateral doesn’t appear like a diagram in my mind, but it certainly plays out in a more organic way.

In my leadership role, in the Salvation Army right now, I’m a second year cadet who will be graduating in nine months from the Salvation Army college for officer’s training. In all likelihood I will be assigned to a small corps (church) somewhere in the Salvation Army Central Territory, which makes up eleven states in the Midwest of the USA. My role will be as the leader of the corps, guided and supported by the corps council (church members) and the advisory board (business leaders from the community). Theological reflection from the Wesleyan quadrilateral will be a key part of my daily duties as a “corps officer.”

As a leader I have two central imperatives that should always be in my mind, one, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and two, to meets needs in His name without discrimination. These are the two primary imperatives of the Salvation Army found in our mission statement. This is biblical, and in my view best summed up in the great commission and the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 28:16-20, 25:31-46 NIV). Now, not only do I have to reason from the Wesleyan quadrilateral how to engage with the world, and discern all truth and decisions I make, but I also must consider how these truths fit into my imperative, how I pragmatically engage in ministry. And more so, how the corps, the corps leaders, the employees, the volunteers, the programs, and the finances will be mobilized to achieve the mission. The mission is biblical, that’s a good start, so the imperatives are solid. Next I will have to consider how to point the corps in the direction God is taking it. This will require constant prayer, fasting, and a corporate seeking after God’s will for the corps as a whole. It shouldn’t be about my ideas, or what I have a passion for necessarily, it should be a raw discerning of the will of God and a complete yielding to God’s will in any given situation. This will be challenging for people in the corps who are not used to operating on that sort of level. But we’ll have to make it work.

Is God calling us to open a new evangelism outreach? Is God calling us to expand the building? Is God calling us to partner with another ministry? Is God possibly even calling us to shut down this corps entirely? We have to discern what God is wanting us to do, and then do it. Obviously whatever we perceive God is asking us to do must be run through the Wesleyan quadrilateral: Is it biblical? What does tradition say about it? Is it reasonable? And what does our experience tell us about it? Once those questions are adequately answered on a corporate level, then we can proceed with whatever God wants us to do next. In my own leadership, I’ll keep those questions with me on paper, and when praying and considering ideas, we’ll return to the quadrilateral and discern if our approaches to ministry can survive the rigors of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.

The Wesleyan quadrilateral will have to be a daily part of my reflective practices, personally. The real area where theological reflection happens is between God and myself. And it won’t happen anywhere else, corporately, or in leadership, if I’m not doing it myself, one on one with God. So theological reflection will have to be part of my daily prayer and Bible time with God. Often I will pair my theological wrestling with exercise in various forms, usually going for a walk or working out in the gym. The ideas and concepts involving scripture, tradition, reason, and experience all flow together in my mind as I consider difficult topics and issues of the day. Let’s look at each of the four areas of the Wesleyan quadrilateral and consider how each section will play out in sculpting the discerning of ultimate reality.

Of course the first place I always look for discerning truth is the sacred scriptures. Scripture verses are always running through my mind as I discern key issues. Each day I try to read and study a chapter or two from the scriptures, to keep my knowledge fresh. When I consider tradition, reason, or experience I always check those thoughts with the scriptures to ensure I’m not getting lost, or in a preverbal isolation of theological apostasy. The scriptures always surprise me with their shocking relevance to the most cutting edge issues of our day. They cut right through the spirit of our age in refined, simple truth.

Secondly I consider tradition. Often I’m reflecting on holiness theology, and how it stands out from other faith traditions as a truly biblical calling to “be holy as He is holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV). Often I reflect on the current state of the Salvation Army, the Olivet Nazarene tradition, and the United Methodist Church. I consider our positions on issues like scriptural authority, the sacraments, sanctification, Christology, evangelism, women in ministry, marriage, and other issues. I reflect back and forth between the scriptures and the tradition, to recognize with at least some of the issues, that scripturally, one could easily be a Calvinist or Arminian or Wesleyan and get such doctrines from the scriptures. So there is a large tent of Christianity out there, and I love to learn from other faith traditions like Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, Baptists, and Presbyterians. There is a large tent of theological discussion in the body of Christ. There is also an apostasy of various movements outside the tent, and cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons which should be refuted and resisted. In any case, as I consider the core traditions of the Salvation Army, I wrestle with those traditions, and examine my love for those traditions and allow them to inform and guide my practice of faith.

Next, I consider the area of reason. What can I learn from reason and evidence? I could go on for ages in this area, but let’s keep it brief. What can we discern from the great minds throughout history? What can we learn from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, or John Locke, Carl Jung, or Milton Friedman? There is a great deal to be learned from the great minds throughout history. There is also a great deal to be resisted and avoided from history’s failures. History itself fits into the category of reason. Other disciplines also fall under this umbrella including: philosophy, sociology, psychology, science, medicine, math, and so on. There is so much to be learned and discerned from these disciplines I could go on and on, but suffice to say that anyone in full time ministry should be well-read. Of course there is always a danger of allowing the ideas and concepts of the great thinkers of history to supplant the scriptures and traditions of the movement. I can learn some fair truths about power structures and the plight of the oppressed from Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse, but should I allow critical theory and Marxism to supplant scripture and tradition? Not at all. I can learn a great deal from John Locke and Edmund Burke on natural law and free markets, but should I allow them to supplant scripture and tradition? Absolutely not. There is a webbing along the edge of the Christian worldview, where cultural engagement, ideas, and practice mesh with the world, and that is where these ideas become helpful from the greats of history and their theories.

Finally, I then consider experience. Experience teaches us so much in our daily lives. Experience is where we truly encounter God and discern where God is leading us. Experience has taught me a great many things in my Christian faith walk with God. There are many areas of practice in the Christian faith that just aren’t clearly laid out in the scriptures. For that we have to project from the scriptures, tradition, and reason toward a daily practice of Christianity that is authentic, enriching, and a faithful experiencing of the one true God.

In ministry work and in my personal time I try to look upon the edges and the unnoticed default behaviors that I go to and re-examine these daily experiences in light of God almighty. What does a truly Christian life look like in the most practical sense? Does a true born again Christian spend this much time watching TV and browsing the internet? Does something need to change there? What about how I eat? What about what I do with my free time? Is retirement even biblical? What about saving for retirement? What about the amount of trash I create as an American? How should I live differently? Is theistic evolution biblical? What should I do to win people to Jesus? What is biblical and non-biblical in SA’s social justice work? Is it a sin for me to fail to administer sacraments given the SA’s position on sacraments? If I’m too nervous to witness to someone God is telling me to witness to, will their blood be poured over my head on judgment day? All these questions and many more, I must somehow filter through scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to discern how I should respond, how I should speak, and how I should live out my faith.

My ministry duties also extend beyond the area of the Salvation Army corps officer position. I also do a great deal of writing on my own personal time. I love to write, and I write regularly on my blog Lifestyleofpeace.com. It’s been an effective way to engage in theological reflection. When I’m turning an idea around in my head, or struggling with some theological concept or current issue, I’ll reason through it and allow my thoughts and ideas to be poured out in a post on my blog. This is very helpful for personal growth and for discerning truth. Among my various ministry concerns, I do a lot of writing and wrestling with the difficult issues of our day and age. I feel called to engage in the wrestling we do as church movements on the frontlines of the most difficult issues the church faces. People either completely ignore these issues because they’re out of touch (ignorant), avoid them like the plague because they’re afraid of offending (abdicating their duty in my view), attack them with an aggressive condemning edge (non-biblical and sometimes grounded in bigotry), or take them head on in a biblical manner, by speaking the truth in love, without apology (assertive approach). Of course my preferred method would be an assertive approach to difficult issues of the day.

Given any issue of the day, I start with the scriptures. What do the scriptures say about a particular issue? Then I look to my faith tradition’s viewpoint on the issue. Then I look to reason, and discern it from modern and historic thought, while carefully resisting the spirit of the age. Then I look to experience and how it ought to play out practically. This process repeats itself in professional ministry work, in my personal writing, in my home life, and in my relationship with God. I must be wise as a viper and innocent as a dove if I’m going to do ministry right, and somehow attain to the resurrection of the dead and eternal life (Matthew 10:16, Philippians 3:11 NIV).

Conclusion
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral has shown itself to be a highly useful biblical format for theological reflection. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is biblical in affirming sola scriptura, while also not being too narrow, because it includes tradition, reason, and experience as checked against the sacred scriptures. This was shown to be the best model of theological reflection for my preferred format. Various other formats of theological reflection were considered and rejected. My plan for theological reflection involves a daily practice of the Wesleyan quadrilateral both in a corporate sense in ministry work, and on a personal basis in devotions, bible reading, and blog writing. The Wesleyan quadrilateral has been shown in two examples to be useful in discerning personal biblical practices and in contending with ministry issues and issues of the corporate church body as a whole. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is a simple, yet profound way to reflect theologically on the practices of ministry and personal Christian living in the world today.

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