A Vision of Holiness

John Wesley taught that there were four primary resources available to the community of faith as they sought to help one another grow in loving God, loving neighbors, and loving one another as Christ loves us: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. These four resources have become known as “Wesley’s Quadrilateral.” Wesley believed these four resources guide the church as it seeks to faithfully live out its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ who seek to grow in holiness of heart and life.

Unfortunately, the church (at least, “The United Methodist Church”) is not doing a very good job of making disciples or of leading people to seek to grow in holiness of heart and life. Year after year we receive reports of declining numbers in membership, attendance, and giving. There is increasing evidence within the church of accommodation to the values of the culture. The impact and influence of the church is relegated to the margins of society. How has this happened?

I believe it is because we are misusing our resources.

Scripture is the primary source for Christian theology. It is where God reveals himself to the world. It is the foundation for understanding and interpreting Christian faith and life. It is meant to be read, studied, and interpreted as a whole as we seek to know more about God’s mystery, presence, and power. For many, scripture has become a collection of texts they rely on to support their particular agenda.

Tradition has come to mean “what we are comfortable doing.” In some churches if they do anything the same way twice, you’ll hear, “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” For Wesley, tradition was the record of the faithfulness of the people of God across the centuries. He valued those practices that had sustained God’s people from generation to generation.

God gives us the freedom to question, think, and teach in order to watch over one another in love. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Today reason has been reduced to whatever makes sense to me.

For Wesley experience meant a personal encounter with the divine presence and power. Today many point to what works as proof of its value and efficacy.

 Fifteen hundred years ago, a young Benedict wanted to know how best to live for God within a hostile environment. He emerged from his retreat convinced that the spiritual life is countercultural, counterintuitive, and counterproductive.  I pray that God may focus our vision so that we may find the power and wisdom in the resources we have to live such lives.