The Incarnational Church

The Incarnational Church

            The Incarnational Church refers to a ministry that lays emphasis on the immersion of an individual into the local cultures and after that becoming the culture’s Jesus. In this regard, the Incarnational Church is seen as seeking to dispense itself with the ministry from a distance while also providing a personal and up-close embrace to the ministry by maintaining that God’s love and Christ’s gospel have been embodied and incarnated by the person who ministers (Parker, 2016). In a manner similar to the way Christ adopted human life as he came into the world, the Incarnational Church recommends that humans should adopt the culture to which they minister and subsequently become the Jesus in such cultures. This leads to the conception of the incarnational theology that calls on Christians to represent and adopt the incarnated gospel. The core tenet of the Incarnational Church idea regards the call on Christians to be “living the good news as opposed to preaching the good news” (Whitehouse, 2015)

With regards to the differences between the Incarnational Church and my initial experience of other churches, it can be noted that the members of the Incarnational Church unlike the members of other churches including Anglican and the Roman Catholic tend to be increasingly judgmental and out of touch with other people who do not belong to their faith. This is mainly attributed to the observation that members of the Incarnational Church opt to distance themselves relationally and physically from others and are therefore perceived by members of other churches as portraying the “holier than thou” attitudes (Wells, 2017). This is directly in contrast with the other Christian Churches that call on their followers to embraces other members of faiths and religions that are different from theirs. Thus, while the members of the Incarnational Church profess the belief that God vividly intended that Christians reflect his Son to a world of unbelievers, the other Christian churches believe that Jesus has been portrayed in the bible as immersing and interacting with individuals from different walks of life including the social pariahs and non-believers of his time (Wells, 2017).

Another notable difference between the Incarnational Church and the other churches regards the observation that in the incarnational ministry, there is always an implication that the non-believers must only be reached exclusively on the basis of “come and follow me” (Penaskovic, 2016). However, in other churches, the non-believers are reached as per the scripture in Galatians 5:11, which speaks about the offenses of the cross, which states that Christ died to save the non-believers from sins, an aspect that the Incarnational Church makes attempts at avoid by engaging the culture and calmly showing their faiths (Whitehouse, 2015).

Biblically, one of the individuals considered as having been missional or incarnational is Paul the Apostle. Thus, regardless of his impressive education background, as well as the Roman citizenship and status in the society, being an apostle during the early church, Paul was known to serve the church as opposed to imposing his power and authority.  Paul is considered as being incarnational given the observation that he opted to set aside his apostolic rights with the aim of ascertaining that nothing prevented the reception of the gospel of Christ (Parker, 2016). Paul was immensely compelled by the calling in that he was not only able to preach the gospel but also did it freely and paid for such privileges. Similar to the members of the Incarnational Church, Paul also portrayed servant-hood through his willingness to adapt his lifestyle to those of the individuals and cultures he was making attempts at reaching. As a result of being a slave, Paul communicated his mission strategy’s heart through his willingness to adjust to and accommodate divergent settings. For instance, Paul ate kosher while the gentiles he was reaching out to ate normal foods.

Further, Jesus Christ is also considered as an incarnational leader given the observation that He preached the gospel of forgiveness and love, and also reached out to the non-believers with the aim of bringing them back to God (Reynolds, 2017). Jesus also gave up his life and lifestyle by interacting with sinners so as to reach out to them. A good example regards his reaching out to Zachaeus, the tax collector. Jesus’ message was effectively spread by the disciple and this led to the establishment of Christianity (Reynolds, 2017).

Historically, George Fox, the Quaker Movement founder, has also been regarded as an incarnational leader. Fox being an increasingly radical religious reformer mainly preached against the outer pride and prestige, as well as rituals. He is renowned for having encouraged equality, the use of meditation and scriptures, and the significance of silence amongst believers.

            While every church has its unique identity, the Incarnational Church tends to have a number of attributes that are unique and incomparable to other churches. However, the most unique trait is found in its religious beliefs and foundations. For instance, members of the incarnatnional mission believe that the church’s model is the most appropriate with regards to not only reaching out to non-believers but also building disciples given that it incorporate the example offered by the bible in Christ’s ministry and the post Christian cultures. Still, the members of the Incarnational Church consider the mission dei as the focal point of Christ’s incarnation, and, therefore, hold the conviction that devoid of Jesus gaining entry into the world through adoption of the human flesh, salvation would have never been achieved. Moreover, they also hold the belief that without Christ being crucified and dying on the cross, shalom would have never been restored and the world would have remained in its decay and brokenness. Thus, to the Incarnational Church, the incarnation was mainly about God’s love for the fallen humanity that was displayed through Christ’s entry into the human world and living amongst humans so as to save them.

Amongst the distinct practices of the Incarnational Church is inculturation. Amongst the church members, incarnation is perceived as the good news inculturation model given that the church tends to be born anew in every culture and in a manner that is befitting to the culture (Penaskovic, 2016). Thus, the inculturation assist the church in bringing down the feeling of superiority of the members’ Christianized culture during missionary ministries in cultures that have not embraced Christianity. The inculturation’s starting point may be derived from Jesus’ incarnation into certain cultures. Thus, the approach tends to place Jesus within certain cultural contexts and mirrors his aptitude to effectively pursue his mission as a participant of the culture, acting and teaching in a manner aimed at addressing the dreams and hopes of the members of the cultures.