Dreams for Nazarenes

For those of you who aren’t Nazarenes (i.e. when someone says Entire Sanctification you stare at them blankly), who haven’t lived your life as part of the peculiar brand of Evangelical Christianity of which I find myself a part (i.e. you don’t have a closet full of Caravan badges, Bible Quizzing trophies, or back issues of Holiness Today), who may exist outside of the denominational paradigm (i.e. you don’t have Faith Promise Offerings or Alabaster Offering boxes as part of your worship) then this post may not be for you. If you have any idea what I am talking about, well then this post is for you so read on.

With the death of Christendom and the continued transition into whatever world post-modernity is going to give us the Church of the Nazarene, like all denominations, finds itself in the midst of a vitally important time of its history.

We are a peculiar people, the Nazarenes. Often we have highlighted this peculiarity through an all out emphasis on personal holiness and sancitification. Unfortunately, this has too often led to us believing we cornered the market on holiness. But this is not our lone peculiarity. Within the layers of our story there are incredible stories of transformation and redemption that have demonstrated the Spirit’s work within our body. Nazarenes have always had the peculiar ability to minister to those on the wrong side of the tracks. From the street revivals that marked our beginning to a strong sense of compassionate ministries, Nazarenes have deep roots in ministering in urban settings, among the poor, and with those who have lived hard lives. This makes us peculiar.

We are also peculiar because we don’t realize who we are or our influences. We are a Wesleyan Holiness Tradition. We don’t really mean that though. We don’t know Wesley. We kind of know Wesley, but the holistic theology of holiness that Wesley espoused and demonstrated is far different from that which we have usually taught and striven for. The Fundamentalism that shaped the late 19th and early 20th century has influenced our practice and theology as much as anything Wesley did. This makes us peculiar too. We have a deep history of fundamentalism that has mixed, watered down, and altered our ability to truly be Wesleyan. We are peculiar in this regard.

We are peculiar because we love missions. We have long committed ourselves to sending our resources, our teachers, and our prayers across the globe in an effort to spread the kingdom of God. In this God has shown his favor and there are far more Nazarenes outside of North America than within. Yet, our leadership, our theology, and our expectations for the church have remained almost entirely North American in their bent. Our power base and our culture as a church has long been dominated by Mid-Western White American Culture. This despite the fact the the average Nazarene in this world is probably a woman living in the third world makes us peculiar indeed.

And so our peculiarities, for the good and the bad, give rise to dreams in my life. God has placed dreams within my heart for my people. I dream that we as a church will care less and less about what makes us unique as a church and instead reclaim what makes us part of the THE CHURCH to begin with. I dream that we will talk about Baptists, and Presbyterians and Non-Denominationalists and Catholics without disdain or a sense of having figured something out that they haven’t. (Most Nazarenes do not even realize that Orthodox Christians exist nor have any clue about the deep and rich history of the Orthodox church, so we don’t disdain them often. ) I dream that we will instead go to our fellow believers with open hearts and minds to learn from them.

I dream that the philosophies of ministry that have enabled the spread of the gospel around the world would shape our ministry in North America. This would especially emphasize a greater emphasis on compassionate ministries at home, better cultural intelligence and relevance, and a willingness to go into uncomfortable places and seek to do ministry. We are simply far too comfortable in our North American ministry settings.

I dream of a day when the Church of the Nazarene has a sense of how diverse it truly is. For a small and historically insignificant denomination, we are spread wide around the globe. We have great diversity of race, language, and even theology. You can’t have a dynamic family of believers from such diverse backgrounds without having a diverse and rich theological tradition as well. Right now our theology lacks healthy diversity because the voices that have shaped it have been far too similar. I dream of the dominant and formative voices of our denomination coming from places I have never heard of and people who otherwise we would not be connected to.

I dream of a church without fear. The shifting world, changing culture and the end of Christendom absolutely put fear into the hearts of far too many Nazarenes. They may not be able to articulate that this is what they are feeling or truly understand what is taking place around them, but they feel it. The world is changing. The beliefs that too many have artificially built our faith around are crumbling, and we don’t know where to turn. We must turn to the unchanging one that we serve. We must trust that his church will prevail and we must abandon fear as any sort of motivation for our mission in this world. We are a people motivated by love and fear has no place in our hearts.

And so I dream, I dream of the Church of the Nazarene indeed being peculiar. I dream of being peculiar because we will be a people that have overcome a change in the world around us by realizing He who holds us together is unchanging and unattached to culture or people. God’s mission for us in His Kingdom is enduring. May we be a peculiar people because we too endure to see the coming of His Kingdom without allowing our own idiosyncrasies to get in God’s way.