On the Doorstep of Advent, Part 2

Incarnation and Ministry

John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh. It became that which is subject to change, weakness, pain, and death. In a word, he became like us, we whose flesh is like grass (1 Pet. 1:24). But in the Incarnation and through the Great Commission, he has likewise asked us to become like him. He has asked us to become incarnational.

The Christian faith says that God did become one of us in the person of Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh. Even though he is the sovereign Creator, Jesus did have a name. Jesus did have a face. There were particulars about him. For example, he lived in 2,000 years ago, not 10,000 or 1,000 or 100 years ago. He lived in Middle East near Jerusalem, not in Europe or Asia or America. He spoke Aramaic, not Latin or Spanish or English. He was a carpenter, not a banker or a soldier or a cab driver.

C.S. Lewis has stated it aright, "The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man -- a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular colour, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab."

What this means is that the truth of the Christian faith, what we call "the Gospel," this news of humanity’s sin and God’s great love and grace that overcome and defeat human sin, is able to adapt to any and every culture. It is incarnational because the God of Christianity is incarnational. Do you realize that Christianity is the only truly catholic and global religion? Islam began in the Middle East and today, 90% of its adherents live in the Middle East. Buddhism and Hinduism began in the Far East and today, 90% of its adherents live in the Far East. But Christianity began, formally speaking, in Jerusalem and within 500 years spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Within another 500 years it spread through Europe. In another 500 years it came to America and now, it is widespread through all of Africa and Asia especially. The reason for this is because of the incarnational nature of the Christian faith.

As we look at the culture in which we live, we have to seek to understand that culture and speak the truth of the Gospel in cultural relevant ways. Jesus did not confront the Pharisees by quoting from the King James Bible. He did not wear a suit and tie. Rather, he contextualized the truth of the Gospel, this message that says through trusting in Christ, we are freely and graciously accepted by God. Jesus incarnated the one true message into the form of first century Jewish life. The apostles did the same by taking this message and writing it down in Greek, the most popular language of their world. Christians for two thousand years have been doing the same, taking this message and speaking into their social and historical contexts.

We cannot afford to not do this. If we do, then we deny the incarnation itself. We must seek to know our culture. What are its hopes and fears? What does it value? What does it idolize? And by asking these questions and actually taking the effort to listen, we will learn something of their humanity, the same humanity that we share and that Jesus Christ shared with all of us. Then, we can begin to incarnate the deep, deep love of Jesus in cultural relevant words and ways. We can affirm the incarnation of Jesus, not only by what we say about him, but also by how we say it. We must speak it and show it in incarnational ways that complement the community in which we live.

Our words and our works which communicate the loving, saving, redeeming work of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, these too must be incarnated, they must become en-fleshed in our time and in our place if they are to be true to the one who we worship: the Incarnate God, our Savior Jesus Christ.