In the classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens tells the story of the period leading up to the French Revolution. Several themes are interplayed throughout the novel as two cities, London and Paris, are juxtaposed. I have adapted the title of this novel and altered it slightly in order to accomplish the same task, that of juxtaposing two organizations: the Church of the Nazarene and Nazarene Compassionate Ministry Centers (CMCs) in the U.S. and Canada. Like the historic novel, these two organizations share some of the same themes—resurrection, class struggle, and social injustice.

The church has the awesome privilege of recounting the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and explaining the significance these events have to the life of all humanity. CMCs have a similar responsibility to live out in practical and tangible ways the significance of Christ’s resurrection in the life of those redeemed and those yet to realize the significance of Christ’s resurrection on their lives.

If Christ is not resurrected, our faith is in vain. All that we hold true is forged in the resurrection of Christ. It is because of this fact that we have a hope, not in the things we see but in the things to come. The church stands firmly on this statement and is called to live in that reality. The church is called to live our lives as though the things we hope for will come to pass, not according to the things we see. CMCs are called to exercise the reality of the things hoped for. They are tangible expressions of God moving and transforming the realities of a fallen world to the reality of a world reconciled by God. The church preaches new life because of the resurrection of Christ. CMCs are called to demonstrate the hope of a new life impacted by the resurrection of Christ, not in the life to come but in the here and now.

The church has struggled throughout all of its history with the wicked effects of class struggle, between the haves and the have-nots. The Bible captures the stories of the poor (the have-nots) and the responsibility that the church (the people of God, the haves) holds in relation to them and their care. CMCs as the haves (the people of God, the church) are tasked with caring tangibly for the have-nots (the poor, the least of these, the marginalized). As organizations, we have found ourselves struggling with each other from the perspective of the haves and the have-nots.

In their formative years, CMCs, have often been dependent financially on the church to sustain their work. As the organizations have grown, they often outgrow their sponsoring organization financially. Unfortunately, in some instances, we have found that the outgrowing has not only resulted in financial outgrowth, but sometimes also in the loss of shared purpose. At the root of this misfortune has been the lost witness to the world of how two organizations formed in a mutual alliance can work and grow together. The task of overcoming class struggle is not exclusive to social dynamics, but is relevant in organizational behavior. As we struggle to figure out organizational harmony, we are losing sight of the real issues: addressing persons in our midst who find themselves among the poor, the marginalized, and those classified by society as the least of these. Our charge is to escape the evil of establishing a system that will pervert the purposes of God and establish tangible expressions of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Hand-in-hand with the theme of class struggle is the theme of social injustice—a political theme. Jesus spoke to the issues of social injustice in the New Testament, just as God spoke through the Judaic laws to social injustice in the Old Testament. The church is charged by God to speak to social injustices. As a denomination, we have not always carried this charge well. CMCs, like the church, have not always done well in this area. Too often, we have fallen short of the entire mandate. We have addressed the symptoms of social injustice, but we neglect to speak to the systems of social injustice. Some might argue that politics is not the role of the church. However, when we look closely at the life and death of Christ, it is shrouded in politics. As Christ’s representatives, we cannot escape the politics of systems and social injustices. To speak to half an issue is to almost not speak at all. As ambassadors of Christ, we have relegated our charge as reconcilers of people and systems for God to panaceas of ideology.

You might ask then, why the contrast of two organizations which seem to share the same themes? If these organizations have similar purposes, why should we have this discussion? Well, like the opening sentences of the historic novel, the same may hold true for our organizations. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”

Two organizations that seem to share so much in common have not always lived well with each other. Rather than seeing ourselves as flip sides of the same coin, we have the unfortunate history of not seeing ourselves as an alliance forged by God to speak and demonstrate the significance of who God is to a fallen world. Instead, we have at times behaved as if we are adversaries. The history of the Church of the Nazarene is birthed in the themes of resurrection, class struggle, and social injustice. As a church, we began in tangible expressions of living out the relevance of Christ’s resurrection to class struggle and social injustices. As time progressed and systems matured, CMCs were formed to further impact society with the transforming knowledge and grace of God. CMCs are not a substitute to the mandate given to the church, but rather a progressive way of living out the mandate. The church is still called to be the church, and CMCs are there to serve the church in living out its witness. We are called to live in harmony as organizations and model before the world how organizations forged by God can be transforming agents demonstrating the hope we have for realizing Christ’s grace on this side of heaven. The kingdom of God is being realized when God’s strategy for transforming the world through the church is implemented. Compassionate Ministry Centers serve the Church of the Nazarene, as it witnesses to the presence of the church in the world. We establish the will of God in the world when we establish good over evil in the lives of the poor and marginalized.

Both organizations are called to live compassion, to be compassionate, and to demonstrate compassion. Compassion in the life of an organization is not simply relegated to the organization, but to every believer to live out the reality of a life transformed by God, touched by the things of God to impact a world for God. As we look forward to the future of our denomination, we might do well to remember what Christ demands of us, whether we find ourselves serving in the church or a Compassionate Ministry Center. As leaders in the church or Compassionate Ministry Centers, we must answer questions such as:

1. Are we engaged in God’s strategy for transforming the world?

2. Are we focused on being allies for the will of God, or are we in danger of missing our purpose in the rhetoric of power struggle?

Our ability to thoughtfully answer and live out such questions would go a long way in creating a positive tale of two organizations on a common mission of sharing the hope of Christ with a broken and needy world. Indeed, such would be the “best of times.”

by Althea Taylor
Coordinator of Nazarene Compassion Ministries
USA/Canada