I can accept that as fair and reasonable. That lens is really rooted in "freedom" generally, and American freedom specifically. I do freely admit that lens when I first started reading the Bible. It is amusing that we find ourselves in these positions vis-a-vis the "free will" debate. :)
Alex, the "lens of our understanding" is not that we believe the individual to be the final authority in his faith.
Protestants believe Scripture is the final authority because it is the means which God has ordained that the Holy Spirit will reach us and guide us in all understanding "for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
Protestantism is not anarchy. It is a family with Jesus Christ as the head of that family.
We may quibble about exactly what the Scriptures say. That is what we're supposed to be doing -- "rightly dividing the word of truth." But we do this knowing full well that God's truth is singular, perfect and able to be found within the Bible.
"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." -- Hebrews 5:14
The more we learn in Scripture, the more our discernment as Christians grows "by reason of use" -- as God wills.
"Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments." -- Psalm 119:73
Still a lens. You take the political model of Montesquieu and Jefferson and read the gospel with it. You program yourself for misapprehension of the gospel, and so, ultimately, of freedon itself. "God made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel" (Ecclesiasticus 15); "Christ has made us free", Gal. 4:31.