Incarnational Mission to Hyenas?

A middle-aged African Muslim woman speaks up: "Jesus came as a human to save humans, even though he is God. If God had wanted to save hyenas, he would have become like a hyena. We want to save Muslims and so this compels us to go into the mosque ...". [1]

This middle-aged woman understands incarnational mission perfectly, and has expressed it far better than I ever could. The Word became flesh (Jn 1:14), and 'I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some' (1 Cor 9:22) put into practical action.

God becomes fully human to reach humans. Human ... yet also somehow different, standing out, but not apart.

Today Muslim background believers in Christ are instinctively doing incarnational mission - sharing Jesus in their local context, without going to theological college or picking up a single textbook.

We are called to do the same - to enter in a local culture, right where they are ... yet also somehow different, standing out, but not apart.


[1] Quote from 'A Wind in the House of Islam' by Garrison - an excellent book.

Nothing Less than Radical Will Do

The talk of the news is the fear of radicalisation, how to stop people being radicalised and so on. For sure it is a real problem. The real issue though is not so much radicalisation itself, but the direction of radical thinking & action.

The thinking, teaching and actions of Jesus were radical, and still are today. As followers of Jesus we need to be radical! Yet not radical in the direction of controlling people, killing people, doing terrorist acts and the like. No, radical in the direction of Jesus. A direction that calls for laying down power, shunning violence, no longer asserting control. A direction that releases people, restores people, enables them to flourish.

Steve Chalke with the Oasis Trust says "If we are going to overcome the escalating problem of extremism and terrorism that our world faces, we need a different answer. We need to find a narrative that is radical enough to turn the tide". On this point I agree with him - and that narrative is Jesus Christ.

Our Western consumer/individualist culture has dumbed our senses, and seduced us into non-radical lives. Maybe our younger generation, especially those disaffected in any way from the soup of consumer living, are searching for something, a cause, a radical way of living. Will we offer them the radical way of Jesus, or will a lack of distinctiveness in us mean that they believe there is only one option ... that of radicalisation in a different direction?

Back to Ekklesia

Say the word 'church' and what comes to mind? For Christians hopefully not a building ... but the mentality might not be not far off. Rather than physical stones or bricks there may be building blocks in the form of activities or ministries that people assume must be in place. Often that range may be extensive, even if the church is small in number, perhaps resulting in an anxiety that unless this or that is in place then this is not really church.

Such a mindset is detached from the New Testament use of the Greek word 'ekklesia', which at its most basic simply means a group of people called together. There is no special requirement for any particular ministry or activity, other than being called together by the Spirit to live as Christ's followers presumably as some form of community.

That definition can apply to a group of any size - starting with a mere handful. Their legitimate anxiety need only be 'are we living for Christ as the Spirit would have us do?', rather than 'do we have ministry X, Y or Z?'. Presumably the Spirit will call them to do things that they can achieve (at least with the Spirit's supernatural help!), and it will be tailored for the people involved, rather than a cloned blueprint of a.n.other church.

We need to re-calibrate our mindsets back to ekklesia, and be both formed and led by the Spirit as He will ... not by our preconceived expectations.

Yikes - I agree with the National Secularist Society

This week I found myself agreeing with the National Secularist Society ... well, on one point at least.

The Anglican Church published their figures, showing how regular attendance had dropped below 1 million people on Sundays. Representing less than 2% of the population, the secularists have pointed out that this invalidates the case for the link between state and (anglican) church.

I agree ... although thats really because I'm not in favour of a link between church and state in the first place!

We preach Jesus, and His Kingdom. A Kingdom that transcends nation states and national identity. Within a nation it could be that a vast majority of the population believe and are inheritors of His Kingdom, and a natural consequence of their Jesus-discipleship would be to help their nation align its values with Kingdom values. That in turn would lead to practical application in many positive ways.

Yet even in such a society state and church can and (as many baptists argue) should remain separate. Yes they can respect each other, yes they can work together in many useful ways.  But remember a nation state's power system, though established by God (Romans 13), remains a human power system and therefore transient and temporary, as well as carrying risk of corruption. The Kingdom, however, is a foretaste of what will be, and will be eternal.

Best not confuse the two.