Defining Incarnation...

Incarnation… Personification… Embodiment… Manifestation… Living form… Materialization… God became flesh for what? Steve at E~mergent Kiwi is working on a deconstruction of incarnation, working on a definition of incarnation. As for any other word robbed of its meaning by spin meddling it needs a closer look.

Steve pertinently places it in the same buzz category as mission and missional as terms that are bounded about in order to maintain an edgy ecclesiastical persona. So I ask Incarnation… Personification… Embodiment… Manifestation… Living form… Materialization…God became flesh for what?

Is it solely a case of meeting people on their terms? Is it solely a euphemism for chasing down relevance? Is it solely about alt.worship? Is it solely about being church in pubs? Is it solely about the perceived more accessible brands of church? Something in the emerging definition of incarnation could be missing if we are not careful.

I look at Brownfield Estate where a good proportion of our church live; I think of the stabbing; the shooting several months back; some of the non-designer people that are our family. I think of the fragmentation of society, communities and families and I wonder about incarnation.

God became flesh for what? To demonstrate the Kingdom of God; to live out the values of the kingdom; to embody grace, love, mercy; to express true hope, true freedom, true wholeness, umm Salvation – anything less just wouldn’t be incarnation!

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