WHAT YOU TALKIN’ BOUT WILLIS?

*Disclaimer Edit: These thoughts are initial thoughts and much more needs to be considered regarding practical implementation.  The goal of this post is to add to the conversation on how we can grow in Nazarene Unity while celebrating Nazarene Diversity. 

My FOLLOW-UP/CLARIFICATION to THIS POST: Do We Really Need Religious Orders? (Spoiler: Probably Not)

This week Joshua Broward posted a blog titled “Will the Church of the Nazarene Split?” As you might imagine, the title alone caused a bit of a stir in people (ahem, see Facebook comments). The idea of a split is one thing people who love the Church of the Nazarene are most afraid will happen. The emotional reaction by many to this blog can be summarized like this: “For goodness sakes man, don’t say it out loud!” as if the mere mentioning of a split might cause it to happen.

You can read Josh’ blog here:  http://www.humblefuture.com/humblefuture/2015/12/9/will-the-church-of-the-nazarene-split 

For careful readers, Josh’s blog is simply descriptive of a situation most of us know exists and has existed in the Church of the Nazarene for quite some time – I daresay since the merger at Pilot Point – where an appeal for tolerance of different non-essential beliefs won the day and birthed a denomination.   

PASSING THE PEACE

Peacemaking is a Christian practice rooted in the Gospel of Peace and tied to the heart of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.  It’s far easier to be “peace-breakers” who stir up division in order to conquer those they disagree with and/or “peace-fakers” who pretend things are okay but employ passive-aggressive techniques to assert their way. 

The VERY WORST thing we can do is NOT TALK about a potential split or the underlying conflict that exists that has us wondering about a split. Ignoring conflict doesn’t make it go away. Look, I get that it’s uncomfortable and a little bit scary. We all know the conflict exists (see: any General Assembly ever). Furthermore, ignoring conflict is dishonest and unrealistic – and I believe this is untenable for people who believe in grace, truth, and love. True Christian peacemaking is proactive, not passive. True Christian peacemaking trusts that Jesus Christ is Lord of his Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against her. 

Not only did Josh honestly pose the question, he proactively called for a Third Way, offering some ideas toward peacemaking and remaining together as a denomination.  I’d like to expound upon this with some brief thoughts regarding a systemic way this could be implemented positively in the Church of the Nazarene.

IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY

As I spoke with my friend Danny Quanstrom on the phone yesterday, we revived a conversation we’ve had off and on for a few years. Indeed, many have theorized this solution over at least the last few decades. We believe it’s time to consider the creation of Nazarene Religious Orders. A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder’s religious practice (Wikipedia).

Why religious orders? We need a structure to match the need. Our denominational structure was created for a certain time, place, and context. Specifically, it’s a structure tied to an early 20th century American church. All of those categories have changed, thankfully, BECAUSE we are accomplishing our mission to know Christ and make him known. We must acknowledge that the structure that brought us through our first 100 years is not the structure needed for the next 100 years. We are a diverse church in a global, post-modern world. We should structure ourselves toward that reality. 

Religious orders acknowledge diversity in non-essentials and allow them to exist and flourish precisely because we are not trying to make everyone the same. Orders would allow us to unite more intentionally around our Articles of Faith and governance, rather than dividing because of different contextual identities of how we practice our Arminian/Wesleyan/Holiness faith. Orders are not a foreign idea to the Church of the Nazarene. For example, Nazarene Youth International and Nazarene Missions International have their own constitutions/charters/governance. The difference is that these are polity/organizational orders, not orders based on covenantal practices. 

Nazarene Religious Orders would replace the special rules, now called the Covenant of Christian Conduct. Don’t freak out. There is much good in this section of the Manual. The idea of covenant relationship is Christian (and Wesleyan). At the same time, this section is limited in scope and by different missional contexts. It also poses the danger of making non-essentials into essentials. This leads to a Pharisaical approach to Christian living where rules replace relationships. Anyone who’s been Nazarene for more than a second knows what I’m talking about!

We have essential beliefs (Articles of Faith) a unifying mission statement (Christian, Missional, Holiness), and a shared organizational/governance structure. Nazarene religious orders would be particular expressions of how we practice being Nazarene. 

Briefly, let me identify three distinct potential Nazarene Religious Orders (More/different orders can and will be created over time as we accomplish the mission. Also, these are just ideas off the top of my head).

*Holiness-Revival Order. Perhaps characterized by the practice of revival services, calls for decision, crisis experience, and some of the old special rules formulated as prophetic witness to society’s ills. 

*Social Justice-Mercy Order: Perhaps characterized by the practice of intentional, incarnational living among the poor, a life of monetary simplicity, seeking to change unjust social systems.

*Sacramental-Historical Order: Perhaps characterized by the strong influence of the historic Christian faith in shaping practice, especially taking a high view of the sacraments with a commitment to Word & Table as the essence of Christian worship, developing corresponding practices. 

The root of the conflict in the Church of the Nazarene is our diversity, certainly in America, but also includes the diversity of the global church. The coming years will bring more diversity.  How will we navigate that diversity without being suspicious of each other and/or tearing each other apart? We need a new structure.  I believe must be proactive now rather than reactive in the future.   If we don’t do something in the near future, one of the two other options Josh predicted will come to fruition – the denomination will split or fade away into obscurity. 

How can one be so bold as to predict a split or fading away? Increasingly we see evidence of power and identity struggles over non-essential issues. Ask yourself: How much time did we spend at the last General Assembly talking about such critical issues as: “Should the words ‘Church of the Nazarene’ be on every local church sign & literature?” Just think about how awesome General Assemblies COULD BE if we didn’t have to spend so much time on those issues anymore. Seriously, we could spend more time praying and discussing essentials – which is what Wesley had in mind for Christian conferencing. 

Nazarene Religious Orders CELEBRATE diversity in the Church rather than force cultural uniformity. Uniformity is counterfeit unity. Instead of demonizing one another and destructively trying to force each other to change and be like us, we can promote unity in the Spirit and the bond of peace. 

I love the Church of the Nazarene & have given my life to her. I hear many of you say the same thing. We express that love in different ways. It’s okay that we have different love languages. As John Wesley said about the catholic (universal) spirit: If your heart is like mine, give me your hand, for you are my brother (and sister).

Grace & Peace,

Jason