What is a Nazarene? What about an Emergent Nazarene? I ask those questions a little tongue in cheek. The obvious and most honest answer is: “a Nazarene is a Christian”. Beyond that however, Nazarene is similar to a country in and of itself within the world of Christendom. And how can one know much about a country until one sets off with the intent to explore that country. Don’t get me wrong. This affliction is not specific to the Nazarenes. No less can be said of any other denomination or “brotherhood”.
As I type this, I’ve got a membership form waiting to be filled out and turned in to a local Nazarene church here in OKC. Aesthetically at least, this church seems to profess a vision in line with the great and mysterious EMERGENT. From what I’ve read so far, I think I’ve got EMERGENT pegged as a some sort of distant cousin to the great and mysterious OZ.
I’ve never been a Nazarene before, and don’t think I have ever planned on being a Nazarene. However, I have been a Christian before, and that’s got to count for something, right? Since my salvation nearly 10 years ago I’ve always considered myself a part of a group which professes to NOT be a denomination. So, by default, NOTness is where I’ve taken my stand over the last decade. But as things tend to do, things change. God has most definitely shown my family that it has come time for us to make a change.
From the outside looking in, one quickly finds that the NOTness of the Indies and the SOMETHINGness of denominationalism are pretty similar to one another, only on a much smaller, and even more divisive scale.
And so, growth begins again. I’ve grown spiritually from milk to meat within the “confines” of the Independent Christian Church movement. When you’re inside of the indie group, and probably most any other group or denomination, as a young and maturing Christian it becomes very easy to begin to feel as if you live in one of a multitude of countries, each with its own borders, leaders, laws, and politics. And for no other reason than we were born in this country, we begin to speak the language, adopt their beliefs and ideals, and become emboldened to the point that we are even willing to fight to protect, and occasionally expand, our borders. Soon enough we start believing that our country is the biggest and the baddest.
And yet in the hard, cold truth that can be Christian Reality (a hard place to visit, and an even more difficult place to call home) the ONLY thing that a denomination truly can be is a word. And it isn’t even a good kind of word. It’s the bad kind of un-PC word that I’ll go ahead and label a “Label”. As Christians I wonder why we so willingly allow ourselves to be labeled with a denominational moniker when regardless of the label, underneath it all we can ultimately be nothing more than Christians.
All you need to do is read a history book, or maybe go to the grocery store, and quickly enough you see that labels are good for nothing other than the application of rules and guidelines, specifications and instructions, directions and orders, competition, and ultimately power and control, usually all in the name of maintaining worldly order. This last fact explains why labels are very important in the World, but in Christendom show why all labels but one should be of no importance.
Need a Proof?: Ask a Baptist, a Nazarene, a Catholic, a Methodist or any faith-filled, loving Christian the following question: What do you want to hear come out of Jesus’ mouth when you get to heaven? The answer is obvious: “Well done good and faithful servant.” Not “good and faithful Baptist”, not “good and faithful Nazarene”, not even “well done Indie”. Rather, we all want to hear “good and faithful servant”.
Yet, as I stand ready to bare my neck to my potential Nazarene brothers and sisters (sheesh…), I suppose I must come to terms with yet another fact of my existence. To Join, or Not To Join. I must Join, I suppose for no other reason than because I must.
Or must I? Why join a church? Where is that in the Bible? Why do we even practice it? Where did it originate? What on Earth is Church membership, and what in Heaven’s name is it truly good for?
Really, rather than joining a church, aren’t we actually joining a denomination. Aren’t we already a part of The Church before we’re a part of a denomination, hence the fact that we’re allowed to “join” a denomination in the first place? And isn’t the hard truth that we do so to the exclusion of all other denominations or groups. As Christians, we do these things and we truly believe we are exercising good theology, when really there is no scriptural basis for something which is truly at the core of so much divisiveness. And if you don’t think it is divisive, then simply attempt to implement wholesale changes to the “professed” non-essentials of whatever denomination to which you happen to belong. I’ll bet you’ll soon find yourself knee deep in the blood of the “defenders of the faith” over some matters which, prior to being at the root of what has become a blood-bath, were of no consequence at all.
As for me? I’m throwing my lot in with the Nazarenes; at least until God leads my family elsewhere. Quite simply put, “it’s the way the world works”. And honestly, the place God has led us to seems to have a genuine caring about them. They may call themselves Nazarenes, and they may preach a solid and grounded Nazarene Faith, but can a church which has grown from 15 to 600 in attendance every weekend, in as short a time as 3 years, truly call itself Nazarene? Or is it much closer to truly being The Church. I’m hanging my hat on the latter, and I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. God is good!!! Amen!
As I type this, I’ve got a membership form waiting to be filled out and turned in to a local Nazarene church here in OKC. Aesthetically at least, this church seems to profess a vision in line with the great and mysterious EMERGENT. From what I’ve read so far, I think I’ve got EMERGENT pegged as a some sort of distant cousin to the great and mysterious OZ.
I’ve never been a Nazarene before, and don’t think I have ever planned on being a Nazarene. However, I have been a Christian before, and that’s got to count for something, right? Since my salvation nearly 10 years ago I’ve always considered myself a part of a group which professes to NOT be a denomination. So, by default, NOTness is where I’ve taken my stand over the last decade. But as things tend to do, things change. God has most definitely shown my family that it has come time for us to make a change.
From the outside looking in, one quickly finds that the NOTness of the Indies and the SOMETHINGness of denominationalism are pretty similar to one another, only on a much smaller, and even more divisive scale.
And so, growth begins again. I’ve grown spiritually from milk to meat within the “confines” of the Independent Christian Church movement. When you’re inside of the indie group, and probably most any other group or denomination, as a young and maturing Christian it becomes very easy to begin to feel as if you live in one of a multitude of countries, each with its own borders, leaders, laws, and politics. And for no other reason than we were born in this country, we begin to speak the language, adopt their beliefs and ideals, and become emboldened to the point that we are even willing to fight to protect, and occasionally expand, our borders. Soon enough we start believing that our country is the biggest and the baddest.
And yet in the hard, cold truth that can be Christian Reality (a hard place to visit, and an even more difficult place to call home) the ONLY thing that a denomination truly can be is a word. And it isn’t even a good kind of word. It’s the bad kind of un-PC word that I’ll go ahead and label a “Label”. As Christians I wonder why we so willingly allow ourselves to be labeled with a denominational moniker when regardless of the label, underneath it all we can ultimately be nothing more than Christians.
All you need to do is read a history book, or maybe go to the grocery store, and quickly enough you see that labels are good for nothing other than the application of rules and guidelines, specifications and instructions, directions and orders, competition, and ultimately power and control, usually all in the name of maintaining worldly order. This last fact explains why labels are very important in the World, but in Christendom show why all labels but one should be of no importance.
Need a Proof?: Ask a Baptist, a Nazarene, a Catholic, a Methodist or any faith-filled, loving Christian the following question: What do you want to hear come out of Jesus’ mouth when you get to heaven? The answer is obvious: “Well done good and faithful servant.” Not “good and faithful Baptist”, not “good and faithful Nazarene”, not even “well done Indie”. Rather, we all want to hear “good and faithful servant”.
Yet, as I stand ready to bare my neck to my potential Nazarene brothers and sisters (sheesh…), I suppose I must come to terms with yet another fact of my existence. To Join, or Not To Join. I must Join, I suppose for no other reason than because I must.
Or must I? Why join a church? Where is that in the Bible? Why do we even practice it? Where did it originate? What on Earth is Church membership, and what in Heaven’s name is it truly good for?
Really, rather than joining a church, aren’t we actually joining a denomination. Aren’t we already a part of The Church before we’re a part of a denomination, hence the fact that we’re allowed to “join” a denomination in the first place? And isn’t the hard truth that we do so to the exclusion of all other denominations or groups. As Christians, we do these things and we truly believe we are exercising good theology, when really there is no scriptural basis for something which is truly at the core of so much divisiveness. And if you don’t think it is divisive, then simply attempt to implement wholesale changes to the “professed” non-essentials of whatever denomination to which you happen to belong. I’ll bet you’ll soon find yourself knee deep in the blood of the “defenders of the faith” over some matters which, prior to being at the root of what has become a blood-bath, were of no consequence at all.
As for me? I’m throwing my lot in with the Nazarenes; at least until God leads my family elsewhere. Quite simply put, “it’s the way the world works”. And honestly, the place God has led us to seems to have a genuine caring about them. They may call themselves Nazarenes, and they may preach a solid and grounded Nazarene Faith, but can a church which has grown from 15 to 600 in attendance every weekend, in as short a time as 3 years, truly call itself Nazarene? Or is it much closer to truly being The Church. I’m hanging my hat on the latter, and I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. God is good!!! Amen!
1 comment:
For better or worse, welcome to the Nazarene Tribe! I wrestled with joining this denomination as well. I was exposed to the Church of the Nazarene when I was young, found Jesus, was discipled there, and received a call to Pastor; all in the Church of the Nazarene. As I grew older though, I grew very disenchanted with the Church of the Nazarene and the institutional church in general. I left the denomination and thought I’d never return. Well, that goes to show what I know because I have once again found myself to be Nazarene. The difference is that this time I feel I am a Nazarene much more organically, because of relationships; this makes the institutional stuff a tad (just a tad) bit more bearable.
I am surrounded by good people on our district here on the east coast and they are very open and accepting of my less than traditional, but very sincere outlook on faith. They have provided a safe place to explore my faith in a post modern context and to pastor a small community that very much identifies with many aspects of the emergent church. Belonging to the Church of the Nazarene, understanding that it is only a small part of the church catholic, has helped give me a larger church community context. As long as I stay organically connected to this community and it doesn’t become just institutional hoops to jump through I think I will continue to make my home here.
I think as Nazarenes we have a great tradition, I love the early history of our church as we sought to be a church for the “despised”, the poor and the marginalized. I can identify with holiness in this context, one that understands that holiness is more about loving others than personal piety. Anyway, welcome again to the tribe.
Peace,
James
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