"As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18). Think about it for a moment: The sovereign Lord of all creation - who's ways, means, and thoughts are unknown (except for what He chooses to reveal), who is infinite, all powerful and all knowing - came and lived among His creation in a limited body and in a manner where that creation could understand and relate. GOD (underlined) came and overlapped His life on earth w/ ours; He became our neighbor, bringing God's peace and restoration w/ Him. This is a piece of His incarnation on earth. Awesome! God the Father sent God the Son to live next door to us, and now God the Spirit has been sent w/ us to be incarnate in our world. We are called to mimic Christ and truly become neighbors to our community, bringing His peace and restoration w/ us. 
As we narrow our neighborhood search down, we are, at the same time, discerning what strategy of incarnation God is calling us to pursue in that neighborhood. We want our lives that overlap w/ those in our community, our neighbors. We desire to move in synergy w/ what is already happening there, while breathing the breath of life into those we encounter and partner w/. This "incarnation" will be different in different places. Last week I met with an awesome pastor in the Birchwood neighborhood of Bellingham, Cameron Garcia of NW Community Church. His incarnation in Birchwood is seen in community development. Mitchell and Rachelle Senti's incarnation is at the Three Trees Coffee House in downtown Bellingham, while my homies at Mosaic church in Bellingham do a blend of working both in and out of church, focusing on service. Incarnation, our "being with" our neighbors has different faces. Our desire is to plant a church and live a lifestyle that is both in, for, and with our neighbors, to borrow a thought from Baron Miller, meaning we are literally IN the neighborhood we focus on, advocating FOR the betterment of our neighborhood, and doing it all WITH our neighbors. We want to be like Christ in, for, and with that place. 
As you pray for us and our discernment, please pray that the Holy Spirit would counsel us in the best way we can be incarnate in the neighborhood He is calling us to. You can click on the prayer link to the right for some specific incarnational strategies we are praying through. I will be praying for you, that God would counsel you as to how you can further be an incarnational presence in your neighborhood. Please contact me if you want to daydream and brainstorm together about this. And may God bless you in your incarnational journey.
below is a brief email conversation i had w/ my homeboy ashley (check out his blog: http://totallyother.wordpress.com/ ). he brings up some great points as we consider incarnational living and what it means.
ReplyDeleteAaron,
I am sending this email because I am a bit concerned of your use of "incarnation" as it relates to "being with" our neighbor in your latest blog entry. However, I to encourage you to take it with a grain of salt. The intention is not to stifle but to encourage:
Now I understand the motivation is missional--wanting to communicate how the Churches you've seen and want to plant are involved in the "kingdom advances" which reflects the mission and work of Christ--but I think the tendency is to move from an order of theo-anthropology to the reverse order of anthro-theology. We must always be certain to speak first and fully of God's sovereign work followed by our free (freedom as the gift of grace--i.e. God's continued sovereign work) obedience to embrace and partner with His sovereign work.
Regarding the content of your post, then, I would suggest that the incarnation is less neighbor and more identity, less social relation and more salvific requirement. That is, the doctrine of the two natures of Christ reveals to us (1) that Jesus is one with the Father and Spirit, fully God and (2) that the second nature assumed by Christ is identical with our nature as it is in light of the fall. Therefore, Christ who is begotten of the Father belongs to humanity (became human) as it was in consequence of sin but without being a sinner (JCK Von Hoffman)--Incarnation must be in relation to the act of redemption. Incarnation, then, is not a function of human relations, social structure, or Church mission but rather an act of the Divine, a humiliation which is wrought with the power to redeem creation. The use of the notion of Incarnation must always be ordered properly . . . as Christ's being in and for humanity and not human acts in and for other men.
Again, Aaron, take this with a grain of salt. However, I'd love to get your thoughts on the entry as that may help me read it in a different light.
Warmly,
Ashley
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Aaron,
So, I did a bit of reading over the weekend and have come to realize that the term "incarnation" takes on a particular identity when talking about church planting models. I kind of get, now, what you were saying in the post. My reaction may still be the same, but the critique would not be directed to your usage of the term, which is in line with the grammar of church planting. Rather, my critique would be for those who have usurped a theologically loaded term and used it for their own ends--taking a great degree of freedom on the meaning and usage…
Warmly,
Ashley
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Ash,
You son of a.... just kidding! I really appreciate you emails. It really got me thinking about incarnation further. I made me think about how perhaps I loosely use the term. I agree w/ your conclusions, and critique of the language used in missiological work. Perhaps it is a bit of moralizing an awesome reality of Christ. My challenge is to bring orthodoxy into proper orthopraxy. If we are sent from the sovereign, "what shall we do" and what language shall we use? I certainly do not want to it water down for my own means. I specifically appreciate your thoughts that incarnation should be directly seen in light of redemption. That is ultimately my prayer for what we're doing, that we could be used in God's redeeming neighborhoods, as we are present there. Thanks for the check, I want to stayed focused…
Blessings,
aa
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI have been reading Kathryn Tanner's "Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity." Her first chapter, Jesus, is full of great insight and clarity as it relates to the Incarnation. I've not gotten to her 3rd Chapter yet, but here she digs into the implications of this doctrine of God for human life, existence and action. I think it may be a really helpful book for you as you explore the connection between, as you say, orthodoxy and orthopraxis.
Blessings and love, my dear friend.
Ash