Let's talk about the Incarnation for a minute.
You know, the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The event in human history when God left heaven, was born to a virgin in a town where every loves Toby Keith and Skoal, lived for roughly thirty-three sinless (and righteous for that matter) years, to seek and save the lost. Let's talk about that.
Here in Jesus, whose mission was "to seek and save the lost" we have our prototype for incarnational mission work. We have the ultimate example of someone leaving a comfortable place for a tough place in order to see the gospel change a culture. Only in this case that someone is God, that comfortable place is where he dwells in sinless harmony of the Trinity, that tough place is our world (filled with ghastly people like liberals and right wingers), and that culture is the entire world. Really if our idea for incarnational ministry is founded in anything other than the person and work of Jesus Christ, it is at best incomplete, and at worst incredibly damaging for the sake of the gospel.
We can talk up and down about how Jesus did incarnational ministry. How he lived in an industrial town, so he swung a hammer for a few years. How he used common examples for the kingdom of God. Things such as seeds, plows, sand, vineyards, and so forth. How he ate and hung out with the marginalized and poor. How he taught in the religious institutions. How he used public speaking, small group, and one on one forms of teaching. How he chose to live in a specific culture (Jewish), and practice that cultures traditions (but never in a legalistic way), so that he could save a group of people in that community. In all of this Jesus is our great example of incarnational ministry.
There is a great aspect of Jesus' incarnational ministry that is often overlooked. A part that is so foundational, that if missed or marginalized, one's attempt to be incarnational to a specific culture with the gospel will fall short. Theologians have rightly asserted that Jesus was our example of what it means to be spirit-filled in sharing the gospel and interacting with the culture. What is often neglected when referring to how Jesus did incarnational ministry is his motive. What was his motive for seeking and saving the lost? What motivated Jesus to leave the fellowship of the Trinity, come to earth to seek and save a people who didn't want anything to do with him in the first place? If Jesus is our example in how we do ministry, and for being empowered for ministry, then he must also be our example in what motivates us to do ministry!
So what is the motive? The answer comes to us in the Gospel of John,
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."
Quite simply, Jesus was sent by God to do a specific work. Accomplishing this was the food of Jesus. This was not simply a motive, but it was what he hungered for. The only thing that could satisfy Jesus is accomplishing what God has sent him to do. For those of us who seek to do incarnational ministry just like Jesus, this has serious implications:
1. Like Jesus, you must be called of by God.
Ministry is not a profession. Recently a pastor friend of mine laid out for me a great ten year plan for me to plant a church. He talked about me getting my feet wet in ministry, paying my dues, and working my way up the corporate church ladder. I have another friend who is getting his seminary degree so that he will have the most career options in the pastorate. Now don't get me wrong, paying your dues, and a good Bible education are absolutely vital for the man who wants to be incarnational like Jesus. Yet they are nothing more than extra pieces of flair on the 35 year old TGIFRIDAY'S worker, if God has not called you. Before jumping into ministry, like Jesus, you must have a clear sense of calling from God (usually a specific call to a specific place). If not, then what is your motive? What is your food?
2. Like Jesus, you must lift up the Scriptures
"My teaching is not mine, but is his who sent me." You must be a Bible guy who elevates the Scriptures. It is God's word that changes people. More than best practices, more than lofty speech, more than feel-good self-improvement talks, it is the word of God that changes people. Everyone wants to have the next cool theology. Be the next Andy Stanley, the next John Eldredge, or Mark Driscoll. How about just being a Bible guy. It was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for you. If you spend more time learning new ways to be incarnational, to be a good leader, or to do church in your culture, then you will ultimately fail in all of those areas. If you aren't, like Jesus, a Bible guy, then you are not going to truly be incarnational, or effective.
3. Like Jesus, you must love the glory of God above all else
"The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood." When it comes down to the nitty gritty, the glory of God must be the chief motivating factor in all you do. This will ultimately be what motivates you to be a Bible guy. This will be what allows you to be close enough to Jesus to hear his call on your life. Those who know they are called by God have piles of verses that confirm that calling, and they are humbled by them. Their motivating factor is the glory of God, because they know that when it is, then God will use them to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you truly want to be incarnational, like Jesus, and the glory of God is not your bedrock of factors, then unlike Jesus, you will fail to be incarnational and save people.
Jesus is our great example of how to enter a culture and influence it with the gospel. My prayer is that for myself, and for you, that we would be motivated by the same things Jesus was motivated by.
Blessings,
Matt
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