“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

John 1:14-16

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Philippians 2:5-8

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 2:14-17

The incarnation is one of the most stunning facts of the Christian faith, perhaps second only to the crucifixion. To think that God would become flesh and dwell among humanity, embracing the squalor, struggle, and sharp sting of human life is beyond comprehension. Yet, the scriptures are clear, Jesus – the second person of the trinity – became “like his brothers in every respect” and was born of a virgin and lived a human life. That truth is central to the Christian faith and the Gospel message.

The fact that God chose path of incarnation, particularly incarnation in the form of an infant who would go through the whole of human experience in life rather than dropping in fully grown or merely taking on humanity as a disguise, has massive implications for what we believe about God’s character and how we think about any ministry that we do.

The incarnation is not only a crucial piece of the Gospel message. It is also a crucial touchstone for the method of Christian ministry. If God chose the path of incarnation as the means of reaching a lost world, we ought to learn from it as well. After all, we are to “walk as Jesus walked,” (1 John 2:6), and Jesus himself said to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21).

Missiologist Alan Hirsch puts it this way,

“the Incarnation is an absolutely fundamental doctrine, not just as an irreducible part of the Christian confession, but also as a theological prism through which we view our entire missional task in the world.”

Hirsch, Alan. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church (p. 54)

Much has been written, both for and against, the term “incarnational ministry.” In a (relatively) short format like this is not the place to delve into the breadth of theological argument on both sides. For now, suffice it to say that I personally believe the term is both biblical and helpful. That said, there are at least seven shifts we must make in our ministry, life, and leadership if we are to take seriously the implications of the incarnation for our methods.

Six Shifts

1. From come to go

“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.”

Phil. 2:5-7

God didn’t insist that we succeed at keeping the law and work our way up to him. He came down to us, taking on a form that we could relate to. And not only did Jesus come to earth and take on a human form so that, as the Hebrews passage at the start of this article notes, he could be like his brothers in all respects, he also intentionally moved about the Judean countryside rather than setting up shop in one place and making people come to him (though come to him they did, even as he moved about!).

While this is much-rehearsed in missional circles, it bears repeating. We need to set aside the expectation that people come to us to be ministered to and instead shift to going to them. This means that rather than training your people to invite others to your ministry events, you instead train them to go and bring the Gospel to the places those people already are.

2. From general to contextual

“And the crowds said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:11

To quote at length from Hirsch once again,

“The coming of God among us was not just a momentary theophany, but constituted an actually “dwelling” among us (John 1:14). In the light of such dwelling, place – geography itself – took on a sacred meaning: He became known as Jesus of Nazareth…to be theologically true to the meaning of the humanity of Jesus, we have to recognize that Jesus was who he was, not only because he was God, but because he was formed through his real engagement with his social milieu.”

Shaping of Things to Come, p. 55

If God intentionally placed Jesus in Nazareth, in the midst of a unique culture at a unique time, we can know that God takes seriously place, time, and culture. This means that we must take seriously the context in which God has placed us and our ministry. The practical implications of this are manifold. To mention a few:

• We can’t simply copy-paste from another ministry across the country.
• We must become familiar with the culture we’re in and the people we’re ministering to – knowing their stories, longings, needs, priorities, etc.
• People should know us as from a place. Settle in. Become known in your city, neighborhood, etc.

3. From “do this” first to “be with” first

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4

One of the most glorious realities of the incarnation is that it clearly shows that God’s heart is to be with his people, and for us to be with him. We see this thread throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation. God’s core desire is not for a temple where people offer sacrifices and have worship services, but for a people who relate to him. Hence Jesus takes on humanity in order to become a “merciful and faithful high priest” (Hebrews 2) who can relate to humanity and restore the relationship that was broken by sin through his own payment for sin.

God’s goal was what is stated in Revelations 21; “they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God,” not that humanity do the right rituals, host the right worship services, or give the right sacrifices. Yet most ministries operate primarily as a series of events, offering a list of things for people to do to get closer to God.

In our leadership, we must shift from “do this” (come to this event, do this Bible study, do this evangelism practice) to an eagerness to simply be with the people we are ministering to. Note well, this “simply be” does not by any means set aside the communication of truth. It does, however, acknowledge that truth communication and growth happen most effectively in the context of relationships. This requires setting aside the pride of productivity, the false feeling of success when we pull off the big event, and the lie that if we’ve preached a theologically sound sermon we’ve done our job.

After all, the job that Jesus entrusted to his followers was to make disciples and teach them to obey all that he had commanded. Teaching someone to obey requires being with them to guide them into that obedience.

4. From professional to passionate

When Jesus took on human form he stepped out of a world of perfection and into a world of brokenness and imperfection. We need to stop trying to make our ministries into places of perfection and instead let the passion Christ demonstrated take its proper, often messy, place.

Excellence or quality is often a value of many churches. We want to glorify God by doing what we do well, having great worship music, solid sermons, clean buildings, and the like. However, this excellence often this puts real ministry out of the reach of real people.

We must leave space for mistakes and messes. Jesus doesn’t insist that his followers get everything right and excellent the first time they do ministry. He simply wants them to try, repent of failure and unbelief, and then try again in faith. Let go of professionalism. Replace it with a passion for Jesus.

5. From quick to slow

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Luke 2:52

Jesus spent 30 years embedding himself into the culture and learning the modes of thought of the people he ministered to. God could have dropped in as a fully mature human, but instead, he chooses to take the slow process of growth. What a strange thought – that God would have to grow – but that is the choice that he made when he took on human flesh in Christ.

Too often we come in thinking that we have the answers. We come in swinging when instead wisdom would say we need to slow down. Step back. Observe and learn. Let growth happen at its natural pace rather than attempting to artificially speed things up.

Both in our lives and our ministry, we need to shift from expecting things to be quick to trusting the process of growth that God has ordained to be the norm. Learn to stay with a topic or truth for an extended period of time until it takes root. If you’re discipling someone, be ready for a journey of years rather than weeks. If you’re dealing with a deep issue in your own soul, stop looking for the quick fix and settle in to the slow and powerful growth of grace as you do the real work.

6. From wide to deep

Jesus chose to take on flesh and limit himself to a specific location. He could have appeared in a dozen places at once or at least taken on the power to teleport, right? But he didn’t. This meant that his ministry was required to go deep. It wasn’t possible for him to go wide, particularly since there wasn’t social media or television or even printing presses to communicate his message across the world in a moment or even a few months.

You, like the incarnate Jesus, can only be present (in carne – in flesh) with a few people. You don’t have the physical or mental capacity for more. Sociology has found that the average person can only sustain about 120 acquaintances, and far fewer deep relationships. Rather than settling for the less-effective push to go wide and get your content on the web or be preaching to 500 people each week, spend more time investing deeply in the place and the relationships God has put you in. Be a river, not a flood. You focus deep, God will take care of the wide.

Six shifts for incarnational ministry. Depending on the structure of your ministry, your personal wiring, and the cultural context you’re in, some of those shifts will be harder (or easier) than others. They key thing is for us to learn from Jesus, in both his message and his method, and follow his leading. Incarnational ministry isn’t, as some have said, about “being Jesus” to people. That’s Jesus’ job. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. But it is equally true that the Word, still in flesh, is now seated in the heavens at the right hand of the Father and has sent his Spirit to abide in those who he has called, appointing us as “ambassadors of reconciliation,” and “royal priests” who will bear witness in both word and deed to who He is. Let’s be conscious of that and, like Jesus, practice listening to the Father’s leading and being present with the people he has put around us. In the flesh. Incarnationally.