Incarnational

People at HMCC have heard this term so much in the past couple of years. Leaders are beat over the head with this terminology without allowing for the meaning to settle in and register. I wonder how many of the leaders and, consequently, the members of the church fully understand what it means to be incarnational in ministry. The term, still not officially a word in the dictionary by the way, is veiled in mystery and vagueness that is loosely thrown out by everyone and anyone.

I wonder if there is one concrete definition of the term. Regardless, I've recently begun reading Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz," a book that I kind of pushed aside from reading until now. The prose is surprisingly well-written, and his style engages his audience effectively. In any case, he writes about a story he once heard from someone. I don't remember the exact details of the story, but it dealt with a hostage crisis that lasted a long time. Finally, the U.S. Navy Seals were sent on a covert rescue mission to extract the hostages out. When they got there, the hostages would not budge. The hostages had been subjected to torture and other atrocities which prevented them from trusting these Seals. With time running out and the hostages not responding, one of the Seals took drastic measure to rescue the hostages. He took off his mask and got real close to the hostages, close enough that the hostages would feel their humanity. With that, the hostages slowly warmed up, and soon enough, they were out of their.

To me, this pretty much encapsulates the word, "incarnational." It is to remove any barrier to the people and allow them to see Christ's humanity through your humanity. It is to be close to the people for them to experience Christ through you.