Being an Incarnational Church

Paul Tillich wrote about having the "Courage to Be." I think the church needs the courage to be itself right now, rather than what it has allowed itself to become. What does this mean?

First, we need to regain our incarnational ministry, which involves our regaining our vocation as "a sent people" (see Exclusion and Embrace by Volf) who go out into the world rather than having an "attractional" view of ministry in which the people of the world are expected to come to the church building for a taste of the Gospel (Hirsch and Frost). The church is incarnational, the Body of Christ on earth, and I feel safe saying that Christ did not hide in a religious building, nor did he call us to do so.

Second, we need what Doug Pagitt calls "spiritual formation beyond the educational model." Or as Polyanyi called it, we need "personal knowledge." The Gospel we present needs to stop being a head thing and become a matter of the heart. As such, the church and its members need to stop focusing mainly on teaching more facts as if that leads to spiritual growth (though learning is still essential), and instead become true community where what is learned is less definable, yet much more obvious in transformed people. Head-knowledge doesn't produce spiritual transformation, but heart-knowledge does. I think this is where wisdom emerges from, as well as real incarnational orthopraxy.

Lastly, we need to become a fully alive people who are awake to the present. We present a pie-in-the-sky Gospel that is a disgrace to all that Jesus teaches, does, says, and is. If all that he cared about was people going to heaven, why did he teach the sermon on the mount, or spend thirty years on earth before dying, or send the Holy Spirit...? Jesus cares about our lives here on earth, not just after we die. This means becoming aware of our present world and becoming change-agents beyond simply asking people to say the prayer. The church is a missional, revolutionary force by nature, and it would be shameful if she didn't regain this calling.

That's the three ideas that came off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any thoughts, and I will try to imagine more as I continue pondering incarnational orthopraxy.

Peace,
Matt