CotN and The Manual

Hi I was hoping someone could help explain some of the do's and Don'ts of the Church of the Nazerene.

I was going through The Manual and the do's and don't of what it expects of it's members.
Such as

No alcohol
No tobacco
No dancing (within reason)
Types of reading
Types of Movies to go see
Types of show to watch
Modesty as it pertains to swimming

etc.

Are these stricly enforced or even strickly followed by it's members? I'm not trying to debate or anything just trying to understand. IOW's are these just historical statements that are "somewhat" followed or are these a way of life of a Nazarene?

thanks

I don't post much, mostly because I'm a Nazarene PK, so I may have a skewed view of things, since growing up this way caused me to rebell and get into all sorts stuff I won't mention. The manual is reviewed and revised every few years, and changes are made based upon gaining attendence, society norms, etc., IMO (not that it was correct to begin with), with things that have no absolute biblical grounding.

When I was growing up, it was a sin to dance at all, and I was not allowed to attend any school dances. ALL movies were against the Nazarene doctorine. I remember not understanding why I couldn't go to Star Wars when I was a small boy, when my friends could. I remember having to lie to my parents at the age of 13 in order to go see my first theater movie, Ferris Beuller's Day Off. I am now 37 years old, and now my own parents (my dad changed careers 10 years ago after 30 years of pastoring) admit that they were too strict, and also like to attend good movies themselves nowadays. I don't really get it, even after growing up Nazarene, but any denomination will have its doctrorines.

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Romans 8:38-39 KJV
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

thanks, I appreciate that.

It all depends on the church members and/or the pastor.

I know that many in my church go to movies. The pastor even references movies in his sermons. No one says boo about it. I don't go to them, but for health reasons - triggers migraines.

Then there was the membership class I took with my current pastor. He said that he'd be more upset if he heard about someone gossiping than if he heard about them drinking alcohol. He doesn't advocate drinking, and I don't know of many in my church who drink. But the emphasis was a good one on his part - gossip can be just as damaging as the effects of alcohol.

But as onmywaytofreedom said, things change with each General Assembly. It used to be that tobacco and alcohol were viewed as THE harmful things to one's body [The Temple of the Lord]. But at the most recent assembly, I forget the wording but that focus became more general by adding in gluttony or some such thing. This would be of interest to Nazarenes because we'd never think of smoking but we can have some awesome potlucks with lots of unhealthy pigging out...slowly killing our "Temples of the Lord" through high cholesterol, etc.

My current church isn't that legalistic at all. But the one I grew up in [which is on its deathbed] was a bit. So, as I said, it all depends.

I should add - there is a growing movement in the denomination in the US that is starting to be more concerned with holiness as being more Christlike, not the holiness of the last century that emphasized the externals more.

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Pane Ježíši Kriste, Syne Boží, smiluj se nade mnou hříšným.