The Tangible Kingdom Week 3
What is Incarnational?
This week’s chapter of The Tangible Kingdom began with the question, “what is incarnational?” The previous chapter asked the question, “what is missional?” I think that understanding one within the context of the other is so helpful and important. One thing that we’ve noticed in our group going through the workbook, is that the idea of “mission” is not something that a lot of us immediately connect with. It’s an interesting observation, and one that I’ve noticed before with my friends who do not follow Jesus. ”Mission” has a certain connotation that brings to mind a project to be done, or a goal to be accomplished. There are even harsher connotations rooted in our particular culture and history surrounding some of the early American settlers and their “mission” to native people groups; the idea of “manifest destiny” in the States; and further back into the Inquisition and the Crusades. “Mission” is a term that I’m not sure is helpful all of the time. Mostly because for so many people, they have too often seen or felt the results of “mission” and have yet to see or feel the depth of incarnation.
What this chapter attempted to point out is that mission, when separated from incarnation, is indeed harmful. Christians who value mission over incarnation can be seen yelling on street corners, protesting abortion clinics, and picketing strip clubs (sometimes with unexpected, and hilarious results!). Mission and Incarnation then, are “inseparable twins”.
From the book:
This is why missional has an inseparable twin. The word is incarnational. It means “to take on flesh.” If missional means “to go,” incarnation is about how you go and what people see as you go. It encompasses your posture, your tone, your motives, and your heart. Incarnation is critical because it will eventually determine whether or not people will want to know you or your God.
As our primary model, we looked at Jesus’ life, and the people he interacted with. Jesus gained a reputation of being a “friend of sinners”, and while he always spoke the truth about sin and people’s need for forgiveness, it was the religious who were agitated by him and the “sinners” who were drawn to him. Jesus’ posture toward people was unique among the religious leaders of his day, and seemingly refreshing and intriguing to those outside the religious/political power structure.
Among our groups’ conversation last night, it became pretty clear that everybody was very comfortable with the idea of incarnation, in that everybody could easily share about people in their lives who do not follow Jesus with whom they have good relationships with. In fact, it seems that many of us are more comfortable being in friendships with these “sojourners” than we are with many of the religious people we know. (I’m not saying that’s always good. Some, myself included, have much cynicism that we need to move past).
The biggest question for us last night, was how to marry mission and incarnation. If we are so comfortable with friends who don’t trust Jesus, how do we maintain the trust we’ve developed while being authentic enough to share our own story and faith in Jesus. Some very good questions and conversation arose out of that.
- When does my lack of pointing out a friends’ sin and/or bad decisions actually become a lack of love for them?
- How do I maintain a posture of both grace and truth in my friendships with sojourners?
- Is there an ultimate goal for us in relationships? To see a friend “get saved”? Doesn’t that create a motive that puts the relationship out of balance?
- What does it look like to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in our day to day lives and relationships?
Overall, three weeks in, our little community is becoming more and more comfortable with each other, sharing about our lives, doubts, and struggles in ways that are inviting and encouraging to one another. It’s so good to be with a group of people who genuinely want to trust Jesus, not be jerks, and make our communities and neighborhoods a better place for everybody to live.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to our time together next week. We’ll be taking a look at “The Gospel” and discussing what Jesus says the Gospel is as compared to what we have often made the Gospel to be. Spoiler Alert! The Gospel as being only and entirely about the salvation of individual souls is a conception of the Gospel rooted in the Enlightenment and Western thought. The Gospel Jesus lived and proclaimed is much larger and encompassing than that…
