The Fourth Leg

Some good friends of mine have been playfully arguing over a leg.

My Anglican friend says that the solid foundation of a Christian is like a 3 legged stool:
1.  Scripture
2.  Reason
3.  Tradition
Neither the Bible, nor the authority or the Church, nor the reasoning intellect can claim the last word, but together they offer a balanced way to discern the will of God.  This metaphor was created in the 16th century by Richard Hooker.


My other friend says that these three legs are great, but are unbalanced until you add the 4th leg: Experience.


The 1st friend replies, "Yes, experience is important, but only as they fit into the long line of Tradition."


So.


I am musing on the importance or unimportance of my own experiences with God.  This issue is also made poignant to me based on how my life has been greatly affected by Christians who have placed a HUGE emphasis on their own experience of God to make decisions regarding me.  (For those who don't know, I was kicked out of church leadership because they "felt" I was leading in a different direction than they wanted to go, not based on Scripture, Reason, or Tradition.)


First question: Does my experience of God matter?  YES.  I am certain that I am not just a speck in the universe, nor a drop of water in a bottomless ocean-- I am convinced that my God loves ME, specifically, and cares so much that he knows the number of hairs on my head.  


Second question: Is my experience of God ever misleading?  Hm.  Yeah, I guess it is.  I have sometimes felt convinced that God hated me or was just punishing me for the hell of it, or that He stopped caring-- and to this day I know that although those feelings were very strong in me, they were lies.  Perhaps also in times when I have been blissfully in the arms of a loving God, prancing in the clouds and raising my hands in worship and critiquing others who were not "feeling it" like I was-- perhaps then I was being misled as to whether or not that really was a "God moment" or me just in love with feeling in love.  Perhaps when times are tough we think that must be God's sign to kick someone out of our community.


Third question: How does God want me to interact with (or worship) Him?  Shit.  I wrestle with this constantly.  I see in scripture His emphasis on ACTION: taking care of the poor, being good stewards of money, loving His creation, etc... and then I see His disregard of OVERACTING: the famous "Martha, Martha" passage in which he tells the sister who is serving everyone so diligently to just sit down like her sibling and enjoy His presence.  There's a tough balance here.  


Fourth question: Maybe the metaphor of the three-or-four legged stool breaks down?


There's nothing in scripture that says to create the perfect metaphor to discern the will of God.  There are times when God is "gently whispering" and other times God has just blatantly said, "Ah hell, I'm just gonna come out and say it out loud so you don't get confused!"  Sometimes it lines up neatly with Scripture, Tradition, and Reason, and sometimes it DOESN'T.  (Side note: any time someone says, "I'd like to see you back that up with scripture" I laugh because of how many weird-ass things you can "back up" with scripture.  I.e.- God approves of the brutal mauling of kids who tease their elders about being bald, God approves of having multiple wives, God insists on women having their heads covered in church, etc.)


Although we've seen how the metaphor breaks down, I still believe there is truth in honoring scripture, reason, and tradition in deciphering God's will for us.  And with that, there is danger in adding a 4th element: MY experience.  So, I guess I am going with the Anglicans on this one.  Although I AM important to God, if He wants to give me individual direction and instruction I must LEAVE THAT UP TO HIM (like a burning bush or a soaked fleece).  If God has not come down in a blinding vision (or other miracle), then I have no right to say, "I believe God is telling me to do such and such."  My role within the Church universal is never to raise my own experiences above all others.