In Search of the Truth Beyond Reason and Emotion
Informing and Transforming Teaching and Leadership
David J. Gyertson, Ph. D
I have concluded that my primary vocational calling in life is to learn, lead, and serve as an instrument to advance Jesus Christ’s Great Commission challenge to go and make disciples by “teaching them to obey” all that He commanded. I see my vocation as a “head-first” calling, anchored to the belief that before the heart can be purified and hands equipped for sacrificial service, the mind must be renewed. Jesus came as a rabbinical teacher consistently challenging His listeners to think differently about God’s nature and intentions. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) sets forth a way of thought and application that underscores the limitations of the human intellect. Frequently Jesus corrected misperceptions and misunderstandings—all the fruit of reason without revelation—with the phrase “you have heard it said, but I say to you” (Matthew 5:21, 27, 33, 38, etc.). When He finished teaching (Matthew 7:28–29), the crowds were astonished at His doctrines, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees (the acknowledged and credentialed intellectuals of that day).
My commitment to understanding and teaching such a Christo-centric worldview is shaped by what is called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral—a model based on the practices of John Wesley to help discern the mind, will, and ways of God for the serious disciple. Four components make up the quadrilateral: Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Our efforts to discern truth need to consider these four sources of insight before concluding that we may have the mind of Christ. These sources were first referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral in 1964 by A. C. Outler in a collection of works entitled John Wesley. Scripture refers to the inspired and all-sufficient written Word of God, the 66 canonical books of the Bible. Upon this foundation, theological and church traditions are adopted which agree with the biblical text (those which are inconsistent are discarded—a hallmark of the Reformation). Next, reason is received as a gift intrinsic to the image of God in humanity, allowing us to process the insights received from Scripture and interpreted by tradition. Finally, with Scripture, tradition, and reason in place, we are prepared to experience the reality of God’s intention, helping the insights “work” in a real and fallen world.
It is important to take heed of Outler’s caution. He indicated that he wished he had never used the phrase the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral.” It created the wrong image in the minds of many and did lead to controversy. The problems he anticipated come when the quadrilateral is interpreted as an equilateral, and all four sources for authority and decision-making are equally weighted. This was neither Outler’s intent nor Wesley’s methodology. Rather, Scripture is to be viewed as the anchor to which all other sources are tethered and subservient.
I find the baseball diamond a helpful metaphor to understand the quadrilateral. Scripture is home plate. A run is not scored until each of the bases of tradition, reason, and experience are firmly touched and the runner returns to the home plate of scriptural authority, validating the assumptions gathered on the run. While one can start from an initial point of experience, reason, or tradition in the search for truth, Scripture must always remain the objective primary source and home plate against which all other elements are weighed.
An in-depth study of the Upper Room discourse (John 13–17) brought me to the understanding that the Holy Spirit functions as the coach to help me run these bases successfully. Jesus, responding to Thomas’ desire to know objectively, describes the central role the Spirit plays in the search for truth and comprehension. Using faith as the operative resource (John 14:10–14), Jesus promises a giftedness of insights, applications, and demonstrations that would create a thought and action revolution destined to change the world. Beginning in verse 26, He then describes the catalytic role of the Holy Spirit as Comforter, Tutor, Companion, and ever-present Teacher who helps us understand, appropriate, and apply the truth He reveals. The tutoring nature of the Spirit is further reinforced on the Day of Pentecost when Peter is enabled beyond his natural abilities to present an apologia for the Christian faith so convincing that thousands assent to and act on the truths they heard. Paul later reinforces the revelatory dimensions of the Spirit’s work by noting that several of the gifts (wisdom and discernment, for example) empower the Spirit-led believer to think, comprehend, and teach beyond the limits of human reason.
The words of James summarize, for me, the pursuit of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom under the coaching of the Holy Spirit. Those who work in educational settings, particularly those settings described as Christian, should resonate with the truth of the Apostle’s insights. After five decades of service to the academy, I recognize the inherent dangers and frequent failings of a head-first discipleship commitment. However, I also am privileged to work among fellow sojourners in this life of the mind who take seriously the Apostle’s “fruit of the Spirit” admonitions. They daily challenge the depths of my thinking, the motives for my pursuit of knowledge, and hold me accountable to seek the “higher education” that transcends the limitations of human intellect and volition.
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This wisdom is not such as comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18 RSV)
Space will not permit the detailed exegesis and application of this profound passage. I believe that its cautions, exhortations, and promises are self-evident—and for me, painfully and “convictingly” apparent. The Spirit helps me move from the limitations of human thinking to revelation—to move beyond reason and emotion to deeper, broader, and more comprehensive understandings in my fields of learning and application. I cannot achieve my high calling to the life of the mind without a continual surrender of pride and prejudice to the enlightening as well as enlivening work of the Holy Spirit.
In a time when there is so much “fake news” and selective truth-telling, I find myself as a teacher and leader in desperate need of wisdom well beyond the limits of my own reason and emotional predispositions. The good news is that the Author of all wisdom, who came as the revelation of the way, the truth and the life, through the Holy Spirit remains active in the minds and hearts of those who seek Him fully.
David Gyertson, Ph.D., served as president of three Christian institutions: Regent University, Asbury University, and Taylor University. Currently he is Associate Provost and Dean of the Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership as well as Professor of Leadership Formation and Renewal at Asbury Theological Seminary.
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