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My Testimony - A Concerned Former Nazarene
Although being raised in the Catholic church, I came to realize my need for a vital relationship with Jesus, and to trust in Him alone for my salvation in June, 1981.
My husband was not on board with me at the time, but, went along with my desire to find a good Bible believing church. Eventually, we found a Nazarene church in our area and grew in our Bible knowledge and faith.
During the 1990’s, we began to notice a gradual change in the church towards a more watered down, positive-message presentation of the gospel. With the onset of the new century, and a new pastor, the changes took on a more deliberate structure. The pastor began introducing seeker-sensitive philosophies to the church board and the congregation. Instead of staying with the Nazarene’s early roots of being a ‘believer’s church’ of building and equipping the congregation , the church was now going to go the way of the current popular trend of some of the market driven churches and focus on unbelievers and their needs, wants and comfort levels. The board was given a popular leadership (church growth) book to read. A healthy church was no longer defined as a church full of spirit-filled, God-fearing, active believers, but a healthy church was now defined as a church that was growing numerically and making people feel good.
Relationships, small groups, and the like, became the emphasis for ‘spiritual’ growth.
As a result, talk of sin, holiness, sanctification, repentance through the blood-stained cross was moth-balled and replaced with talk of being good to each other, becoming part of a journey (not a walk) with God, making people comfortable through the popular and over-used illustration of a foyer, livingroom, and kitchen environments. The call was no longer to repent of sin and trust in Jesus for salvation; the new call was to ask Jesus into your life so it will be better….out with God’s wrath towards sin and sinners….and in with the life enhancement Jesus who will make everything alright.
Similarly, all other ministries in the church became affected as well. Children’s Ministry’s focus became that of entertaining the young ones so that they would think of church as fun! Youth Ministry began to major in fun as well, with open-gym nights, and Rob Bell’s Nooma videos. Adult Sunday School (for the most part) suffered from a lack of good oversight; teacher’s could and would teach from a variety of authors and put solid Bible study to the sidelines.
We began to hear authors being recommended from the pulpit like: Richard Foster, Tony Campolo, Leonard Sweet, Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, John of the Cross. On one occasion, I sat stunned as the Youth Pastor preached one morning almost thought for thought of a sermon that I had watched the night before on YouTube of Rob Bell’s popular teaching of The Dust of the Rabbi.
At the same time that I began to question, research, and raise concerns about The Church Growth Movement, I also learned about another movement that had infiltrated the Nazarene denomination as a whole, and that being the Emergent Church Movement, and Contemplative Spiritual Formation Movement.
There were some elements of the emergent church, and spiritual formation that was beginning to creep into our church, but, when I had visited Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and Trevecca University, I saw firsthand that the students were being saturated with emergent thinking via emergent/liberal authors, and professors. Contemplative spirituality was being openly practice on the campuses through Prayer Walks/Stations, Labyrinth experiences, eastern yoga, and trips to a Monastic community in Kentucky. Emergent authors were welcomed to their pulpits or workshops.
The Nazarene Publishing House was printing and promoting the same fads.
I spent hours in research on the internet and found that the church growth, emergent/liberal agenda, new-age, eastern, and Catholic influences and mystical experiences had a firm grip on many Nazarene universities and seminary. I found Nazarene churches that had emergent churches operating within their own buildings, offering them as alternative worship venues. My reaction was similar to the apostle Paul's in the New Testament when he warned the believers with tears in his eyes. I tried to do the same.
With a heavy heart, many late nights, prayer and tears, I tried to alert my pastor, board members, District Superintendent, and General Superintendents of my concerns.
I met with the Head of the Theology Dept. of one of the universities; I wrote to the President of a university too.
I was very disappointed by the shrugged shoulders or silence to my pleas.
My husband and I needed to make a decision regarding the future of our younger children, so we were invited to a Baptist church close to our home and were immediately impressed by the strong Biblical teaching systemically through all the ministries. The pastor emphasized to us that their church was a ‘believer’s church’ and that they were well aware of all the movements that were compromising all the denominations and Christian universities today and they rejected them.
After attending several weeks, my husband made the decision to leave the Nazarene church and denomination and entrust ourselves to the spiritual care of the Baptist church in our community since we were being fed the Word of God on a weekly basis from the pulpit and in Sunday School.
I still pray for our old Nazarene church, denomination, the universities and seminary.
I hope God will open the eyes of the leadership and that the people in the congregations will cry out to be fed from the meat of God’s Word so that they will grow in the faith and knowledge of the Savior. I pray that they will no longer desire to have their ears tickled by positive, life-enhancement messages, or feeling and experience based prayer/worship practices.
May God refine His church as the day of His coming approaches.
Sincerely,
B.D.
Ohio
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