The First Emergent Nazarene
I’ve noticed that many who self-identify as emerging or emergent Christians emphasize following Jesus, pursuing Jesus’ way, or living a life that imitates Jesus. I like this emphasis.
Of course, there are other aspects of being a Christian too. Christianity is also a social movement, affirms various beliefs, pursues particular practices, and involves institutions and organizations. But there seems something profoundly true about being committed first to following Jesus’ way of loving God and others and second to Christian institutions, creeds, and rituals.
The emergent/emerging Church voices have their critics, of course. Some criticisms are justified, but many more are not. I’m especially unimpressed when critics blast emerging/emergent church leaders for seeking new language, strategies, and methods to present the Christian good news.
I ran across a reprinted newspaper report recently that caught my attention. The report was of a sermon preached by an early Church of the Nazarene leader.
As I read, I noticed similarities between the leader’s sermon and the emerging/emergent church’s emphasis upon following Jesus. Here’s what the early Nazarene preacher said:
Notice that Christ does not say: “Accept the creed which I frame; observe the church forms or rituals I devise; join the church which I have found.” He only said, “Follow Me.” It is as though he had said, “Come, live my life with me.”
What does it mean? It means that Christianity is not a creed, not an ecclesiasticism, not a ritual, but a life.
It is this simple Christ life, which the world hungers for, and which gives birth to the cry that goes up from all lands: “We are tired of forms and creeds. Let us go back to Christ.”
It is this Christ life that we are to take out with us and teach and live in this city mission work that is our chosen field.
Yet the present question has been asked, “Why not do this work under present church lines with their machinery, instead of forming a new organization?” The question contains its own answer. It is because of the machinery. The churches are steadily withdrawing from this field.
Folks in the Church of the Nazarene congregation wouldn’t – and couldn’t – embrace every statement or idea advocated by those self-identified as “emerging” or “emergent.” Diversity abounds. I reported in an earlier blog about a letter from a denominational general superintendent seeking to identify differences and similarities between the denomination and the emerging/emergent church.
But there is a strong connection between the spirit of the early Church of the Nazarene and the cry for transformation arising from the emerging/emergent movement. The denomination and the movement share common cause and similar desires.
I also see similarities between critics of the early Church of the Nazarene and critics of the present-day emergent/emerging church. I have a hunch contemporary critics of the emerging/emergent church would have been among those criticizing the newly formed holiness denomination more than 100 years ago!
By the way, the leader whose sermon I quoted (and pictured above) is the very person who coined the denomination’s name, “Church of the Nazarene.” He was Dr. J.P. Widney, second president of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the founding dean of the USC School of Medicine.
Even more interesting is that the quotation above comes from the very first sermon preached at the newly organized Church of the Nazarene congregation. Widney’s words above were reported in the Los Angeles Times after the congregation’s 1895 formation.
It seems accurate to say that a central theme in the very first sermon of the first Church of the Nazarene congregation – following Jesus’ way – is a central theme in the emerging/emergent church. And although it’s anachronistic to say it, J. P. Widney may be rightly regarded as the first emergent/emerging member of the Church of the Nazarene!
At the end of the day, I think history is of secondary importance. It matters, of course. But what matters more is that we follow Jesus.
But I hope I have reminded those in my own tradition that our birth and roots are not so different from the emergent movement we see arising today.
May we all seek to follow Jesus!
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Comments
The first emergent Nazarene may have been The Nazarene himself.
I think it is very important to seek new and dynamic ways to make the Gospel relevant, while also making sure that we stay true to its message. Through thinking about the way that we have grown up learning about Jesus, and also being open to new ideas and trends (like the Emergent ideology you speak of here), I think that we can really do some amazing things in the future.
Tom,
Thank you for reminding us of who God brought us together to be. I am certainly glad that Dr. Widney and Phineas got together and began this new work 115 years ago.
In Him,
Paul
Thanks, Tom. I had suspected it was JP Widney who spoke those words before you disclosed it. Perhaps full disclosure would impel us to acknowledge that Widney did not long remain with the Nazarenes he named. I do think his emphases were somewhat idiosyncratic, at least among Nazarene folk. He did Sunday afternoon talks called “Walks with the Nazarene” that were something of a combination of romanticism and historical-Jesus fascinations. Interesting stuff, no doubt—but finally not where the Church of the Nazarene headed.
ML
Food for thought . . .
I have found, within my life experience and studies, that there is no set way to share the good news. I have also found that we are a denomination that was founded to reach the outcasts by unusual means. It is important that we keep up this tradition, otherwise we become the people that we used to preach against.
Thanks for your comments, Paul, Arielle, Jeremy, Jason, and Michael!
Stan Ingersol sent me a private note indicating that Widney eventually left the CotN and moved away from perspectives that either the Church of the Nazarene or current emergent/emerging voices affirm. Of course, I don’t want to come across as advocating all Widney affirmed in his lifetime. But I do think the points of this sermon represent a sentiment common among early Church of the Nazarene leaders and many voice seeking some way to be Christlike today.
Thanks again…
I am hearing more and more that the emerging/emergent enigma has been a flash in the pan and has not garnered much support and is entering the phase of the passé. While I appreciate returning to 100 year roots or centuries old Christianity, this decade old trend has been a waste of time and energy for me. I agree with Paul in that “ For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Cor 2:2 NRSV
Great information Dr. Oord. I am currently in discussions with my pastor about the Emergent Church and this will add to the information one has to present. Please keep up informing us of the information that is needed to well represent the Emergent Church within the Church of the Nazarene.
Ron, the “flash in the pan” suggestion is something that has been used against just about every new movement, including Methodism, and those that came out of it.
The idea that ‘emerging’ is a flash in the pan is something that a lot of folks would like to be true, so they argue it. It’s also the case that the publishing blitz of emerging is changing. But, there’s a reasons why the core aspects of emerging aren’t going away.
The first is because it reflects a great deal of core Christianity in a way that reformers throughout the centuries have understood. In a way we could say it is another contribution to restoring Wesley’s whole vision—which was fairly divided over the years and in the last century has seen a rise in the Holiness movement and Pentecostal movements, both pointing to aspects of the Spirit’s work. Emerging church emphasizes communal, social activity that values both Christian community together and involvement in the community around in all kinds of social works.
Second, with communication the way it is, there’s a massive shift in how communities can form and how learning can take place. Couple this with a breakdown in traditional church attendance, there’s just going to be a continuing movement of non-affiliated church communities who form outside the boundaries of what has previously been considered ‘church’. These might be house churches or other forms of community.
There’s a lot more reasons its around even if its probably not going to be a big numbers movement. It’s funny how smaller movements can still have a massive impact in how the broader church is transformed.
I still fail to understand the difference between the Nazarene Church and the Emerging Church. Are the Emergents more progressive towards accepting the present ways of life and also accepting gays?
Dorothy – you and Clark show your love in the way the Bible tells us. It has only been a couple of years, but I was very glad to meet the two of you and glad to have you in my house. Our prayers are with the family for he is with his heavenly father singing praises to him. But we are here to pray with you. God Bless Clark and Love to Dorothy and Saraalso family
Thanks Tom, I appreciate your work. As a graduate of NNU and an ordained elder in the COTN living in a predominately Muslim nation, these debates take on a whole new flavor.
It is this simple Christ life, which the world hungers for, and which gives birth to the cry that goes up from all lands: “We are tired of forms and creeds. Let us go back to Christ.”
It’s about finding the essence of what faith in Christ really means and how it is to be expressed. When we move outside of our “little world” and realize that power that the Good News for all people everywhere we are compelled to find ways to express it in meaningful and appropriate ways.
Thank you,
Steve (http://www.doeverythinginlove.com)
Should we not all follow Jesus and imitate Him in all we do? Since Jesus went through everything we have gone through and will go through (not the exact same situations, but comparable), is it not enough to follow Jesus? It seems to me that Jesus was concerned with social justice; that was part of the way that Jesus loved others. How many groups call themselves an emergent or an emerging church? Do they know what all it means? Do different churches have different definitions of an emergent/emerging church?
Tom,
I am certainly not up on my Church of the Nazarene history but my question would be to whom was Dr. Widney reacting against? That is to say, who were those who were placing great emphasis on the creeds, ritual, etc? I think one the characteristics of the emerging/emergent church is that it is, in large part, reactionary. They are reacting to the stifling traditionalism and machinery of a particular tradition or organization that has possibly lost site of its founding principles.
One of those principles is usually (but not always) a response to a previous generations staleness or ritual. Thus it seems that those who called for transformation a generation (or two) ago are now those who are mostly stuck in the mud and slinging it as well. Some of the same arguments used to form “new” organizations 80-100 years ago are being repeated today and are being met by the same challenges faced by the previous.
What is the solution? Well, I am not sure! There must be some give and take on the part of the “old” and the “new.” The heritage that offers the opportunity for a voice cannot be thrown away. Yet, neither can the heritage not allow for the a new voice that is seeking to express its faith in a relevant (oops I used a bad buzzword) ways.
>>danny
In considering our need to be engaged and relevant with culture, I suppose we could call it whatever we wish – emergent, progressive, crazy – as long as Truth is being presented in a community of love and followers are following Jesus and leading others to Him – I’d say it’s a movement that God can work through.
God’s mission won’t be bound by organizational “machinery” as Dr. Widney stated. I pray we are all covered by the dust of the Rabbi.
Hi Dr. Oord!
Great post.
I too see many similarities between the early Church of the Nazarene and the contemporary emerging movement. It is sad that words such as “emergent” and “postmodern” have been dirtied so badly, that these words have become tabooed catch phrases, which describe a fabricated monster that has little to do with the actual movements.
As a Wesleyan, I think we ought to be thrilled about the current cultural shift between modernity to postmodernity. Postmodernity and the emergent movement properly understood aligns well with Wesleyan Theology. I am excited to see not only our denomination grow and develop in the age that awaits, but additionally the entire Wesleyan Holiness tradition.
—Jerad
I agree that our focus should ultimately be on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I agree with many points in this post. However, I still struggle with the ideas of the emergent church. I live in Wisconsin and the ideas of emergent church are still relatively unknown and vague here. What I do know I have learned in our studies here. I still struggle with how many emergent leaders are willing to give up key biblical truths. In this post there is mention to the criticisms of the emergent church. I believe in reaching out to people in the world around us and being loving and accepting of them but cling to the truths of the Bible and I will help others to understand our beliefs but I will not compromise or water it down. Could someone respond to the criticisms of the emergent/emerging church and help me further understand. I would like to be able to separate truth of the emergent/emerging church from the false rumors.