Just a Minute… I've Got To Put On My Incarnational Face

Living a life of meaningful impact in our neighborhood

…we become incarnational witnesses, people who must use our own lives to “put wheels on the gospel.”— Andrew Root

Putting On My Incarnational Face

The story of Jesus’ birth centers around a key theological idea known as incarnation — “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14, KJV).

Jesus took human form and moved into the neighborhood of humanity in a way that had never been done before. This is what we mean by incarnation.

Jesus was born as a Jew and became a well-known Jewish rabbi. Most of his time, however, was spent outside the Temple. More surprisingly, it was in the direction of the religious leaders that Jesus directed his sharpest criticisms.

The vast majority of Jesus’ ministry was spent out in the streets with people in the places where they lived, worked, and rested. He spent his time telling people that the kingdom of God was near. He was not kidding.

The kingdom was much, much closer than anyone could have imagined!

When teaching undergraduates, I often present what I like to call Missional DNA — those foundational principles that help us to live like Christ in our world, making it possible to effect a meaningful impact on the lives of the people around us.

One element of this Missional DNA is what I call the “Incarnational Face.” My incarnational face is found as I seek to genuinely identify with the people with whom I am trying to connect, live a meaningful life in my neighborhood, and love with Christlike love.

Putting on my incarnational face is not easy when I spend all my time inside church buildings, locked fearfully inside my home, or hiding behind my self-centered goals and ambitions.

Only the love of God, poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit, makes it possible for me to incarnate myself in the lives of the people around me, just as Paul said, “I have become all things…so that some might be saved” (1 Cor 9:19–23, NIV).

Four key elements to this incarnational face — Presence, Proximity, Powerlessness, and Proclamation — will be briefly outlined below.

Presence — showing up

Jesus was God in the flesh; the God who moved into the streets and was found in the neighborhoods where people lived; a man raised by two parents in a particular culture with its particular and unique language, religious system, traditions, superstitions, history, and place on the international stage, as it existed at that time.

He interacted with people from a heavenly perspective but in meaningful and appropriate ways in their location, time, and cultural and religious context. He interacted with them using their language, idioms, and all the quirky features of their unique communication style.

Presence emphasizes the importance of living with people in their world, not ours. In our daily routines of work, family, and rest, we are Christ's ambassadors as people around us watch, observe, and (hopefully) see something different in us.

It can be a daily struggle to resist the pressure to fall in line with the consumeristic expectations of our Western society that value speed, efficiency, and production above the slower processes of being present, paying attention, and creating margins in our schedules for unexpected interruptions.

Proximity — moving closer

Jesus interacted directly with people at every level of society. Being present is essential, but it is far too easy to be in the neighborhood yet disconnected, nearby yet distant.

We must be meaningfully present and connected to the lives of the people in our workplaces, schools, businesses, and playgrounds. Presence has some value by itself — even watching from a distance, people can see something different it us — but presence combined with proximity magnifies our witness exponentially, for good or bad.

Proximity reminds us to be close enough to listen, hear, touch, and feel. Jesus ate with the Pharisees and the tax collectors and talked personally with highly respected citizens and prostitutes, and sinners.

If we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we must also be directly, closely, and actively involved in the lives of the people around us.

Powerlessness — level the playing field

Jesus, according to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). Paul talks frequently of giving up his rights for the sake of others and the gospel (1 Cor. 9:12,15).

Jesus, on the cross, became the ultimate symbol of intentional powerlessness, willingly taking on the sin and shame that was not his.

We must also lay aside conventional forms of power, leadership, structure, hierarchy, authority, and management. “So those who are last now,” taught Jesus, will be first then, and those who are first will be last (Matt. 20:16, NLT), and anyone who wants to be first, must be the very last, and servant of all (Mark 9:35).

Power messes things up. We will not get far when we rely on political influence, military might, legislation, Supreme Court rulings, or even our personal rights and protections to be our witness and testimony to the world. The Jesus way is not the power play.

Jesus came to serve, not be served; to love more than to be loved; to lay down his life rather than to exalt himself. One way we can practice powerlessness is to enter into new relationships as learners, listeners, and seekers of understanding.

I have something, and I know Someone I know will improve their lives better…but I also know their decision cannot be forced, coerced, or manipulated.

If I'm to love them like Christ, I love them before they ever come to know him… kind of like Jesus did me…dying for me while I was still a sinner (Rom 5:8).

Proclamation — meaningful and appropriate communication

An incarnational approach to life requires learning how to communicate effectively and meaningfully in understandable ways.

We cannot simply rely on the standards of traditional “sermonizing” and well-worn evangelistic spiels, complete with illustrations, stories, and language appropriate only for people from a Christian background.

Instead, we need to practice the art of conversation, discussing current events, seeking advice, praying for each other, asking good questions, and using the stories, illustrations, and styles of humor that are understood and appreciated by the people we hope to reach.

This can be difficult, especially for those conditioned to recite, at the earliest possible moment, a premeditated, memorized, persuasive evangelistic speech of some kind.

I have done this myself and have seen the blank stare of disconnect and confusion. Or, worse yet, the disappointed realization I was not as interested in them as I was in the opportunity to “say my piece.”

There can only be an actual decision once there is some true understanding. To communicate in a meaningful and understandable way, we must first know and understand the person in front of us. If we are unwilling to invest ourselves in listening, learning, and understanding people, we will have little meaningful impact on their lives.

Proclamation is a partnership with the Holy Spirit — of this, we must be sure — but this does not give us a license to carelessly say whatever we want and hope that the Holy Spirit will clean up our messes.

It is the Holy Spirit who works in and through us always, but we must make every effort, as much as we are able, to learn how to share the deep wonders of the good news in ways that are meaningful and understandable to those who hear our voices and witness our actions.

Final thought

Living incarnationally means living the humble life of a lifelong learner and creating space and margin for the people crossing our paths daily. Meaningful interaction and times of spiritual transformation cannot be scheduled and will frequently not wait until the Sunday service at your local church.

The Holy Spirit is always working and often moves in and through life's everyday moments — anywhere, anytime, and with anyone.

We must be willing to talk, walk, and allow our lives to intersect with others in rich, meaningful ways. When living on mission — and seeing the people in front of us — becomes part of the rhythm of our everyday lives, we progress in developing our Incarnational Face.

[Today's story is based on an excerpt from Beautiful Grace: The Heart of Transformation]