Incarnational ministry

Entering into the life or context of those to whom we minister.

Bertil Wiklander, Th.D., is president of the Trans-European Division, St. AI bans, Hertsfordshire, England.

Jesus said: "'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it'" (Luke 11:28, NIV). Nearly two thousand years later, our dream is still to see this promise fulfilled in the lives of all people.

Obviously, nobody will hear the Word of God unless someone proclaims it. So, we pro claim it. Through campaigns, meetings, Bible studies, small groups, personal visits, worship services, books, magazines, tracts, Bible correspondence courses, camp meetings, youth and family ministries, audio and video ministries, Web sites, to name a few venues.

The proclamation is not an end in itself. Since our primary concern is with people and the blessing that God's living Word may bring them, the fact that so many still have not heard the Word and received its blessing gives us concern. The reason for our concern is not just a wish to present better baptismal numbers; the reason is that Christ's love compels us, leaving in us a compassion for those who have not heard the good news of the gospel.

Finding the lost is simply not a matter of method or technique, but one of attitude. It is the attitude of the shepherd, the caretaker of the flock, who, driven by love for the sheep, goes after them until they are found. Too often, pastors see themselves as pastors only for the saved, and they forget they are also pastors for the lost.

Finding the lost is a two-phased action: first, to go after the lost where they are; second, to help them find the lost things within them, their lost faith in God, their lost hope for the future and an eternity with God, and their lost love for God and their fellow humans.

Our mission is an exodus—an exodus from church buildings, where we may prefer to sit, and a going out to where the lost are. It is an exodus from our own concepts, thoughts, and language. Our mission is not just a matter of proclaiming the Word in people's physical hearing; it is helping them to under stand that which is lost within them—their faith, hope, and love.

Communication and contexualization

For its mission to be successful, the church needs to ensure that it communicates success fully. Successful communication makes Jesus convincingly known, so that people are led to hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit, so that they want to worship Him (cf. Matt. 28:18-20; 1 Cor. 14:24f.; Rom. 10:14-17).

But how does communication work? Any model of communication has three basic components: sender, message, receiver. We have paid more attention to the sender and the message than we have to the receiver. We have emphasized the message—the Word of God, the Bible, the truth, our beliefs and theology. We have been strongly aware of the Sender—of God and His Spirit, and our calling as the people of God.

Providing adequate information is not a guarantee of successful communication. The question is whether or not the message is relevant and transparent to the receiver? In other words, is the message contexualized enough to meet the needs of the receiver?

Contextualization involves valuing other people more than ourselves, more than our cherished methods or equipment, regardless of their sophistication or financial value. As we encounter the lost, it is what they need that matters, not what I need or what gives me pleasure. This people-oriented task can be successfully performed only in Christ.

Christ's spirit, love, and humility are the church's most important resources. Church leaders must show God's people these resources, "[using] whatever gift [we have] received to serve others . . . administering God's grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10).

In the parable of the soils (Matt. 13), Jesus explains that finding the lost involves finding the good soil for the seed of the Word. Our task, there fore, is to find or prepare that good soil in every person's heart.

Jesus says that the good soil represents individuals '"who hear the word and understand it'" (Matt. 13:23). Paul discovered that lost people must "understand the Word" to be that which restores to them the blessings that they are seeking. To help people understand, he used anything that worked, including radically adjusting himself to those he sought to reach. He said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor. 9:22).

Anything to save people! No method or technique is holy. These are simply tools that are chosen or discarded depending on their effectiveness in reaching lost people.

Paul's incarnational ministry aimed at saving the lost—even at the cost of changing his methods to meet people where they were and help them understand. This is what Jesus refers to when He says we must leave the 99 sheep and go after the lost one.

A biblical illustration

Paul presents a fascinating illustration of Christian contextualization. Generally, the apostle went to the synagogue and used the Scriptures and the Jewish tradition to proclaim Christ. The method worked quite well, particularly with Hellenistic Jews, whose internal conceptual world that enabled them to "hear and understand" the Word. But not so the learned Greeks at the meeting of the Areopagus! (Acts 17:16-33).

In approaching them, Paul faced a dilemma typical to all missionaries. How would these Greeks understand the Word of God? By culture, they were as distant from the gospel as any one could be. They had no Old Testament, no Jewish tradition, no eschatology, no expectation for Messiah, and no belief in the resurrection. Paul's approach to them was quite different. Although his main purpose was to preach Christ, it was not until he established a common ground between himself and his audience that he spoke about God's revelation through Christ. First, he builds a relationship with them, developing trust and common ground.

If people don't trust us, they will not hear us. Paul began by appreciating what they had: '"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious ..." (Acts 17:22). He then referred to their mode of worship. He spoke of an idol with an altar inscription, "to an unknown god." At this point there was not a word of criticism or judgment against idolatry. But then Paul moved from the Athenian polytheism to the nature of the true God. He spoke on their terms. To be heard and understood, He came down from his own superior insight to operate at the level of those to whom he was speaking.

Nobody would accuse Paul of supporting idolatry, even though he referred to altars and inscriptions on idols without condemnation and quoted from their own poetry. He did all this, using the conceptual world of his audience. No matter how sacrilegious this might have felt to them, he argued on their own turf to make them hear, understand, and obey the Word of God.

In doing this, Paul accomplished two objectives. First, the wording of the proclamation was in harmony with the conceptual world of the hearers, enabling them to hear and understand. The wording established a common ground, it provided the soil in which the Word of God could be sown. Second, the purpose of the proclamation was in harmony with his confession. The arguments he presented led to a proclamation of the risen Jesus (Acts 17:31). The result was mixed: some scoffed, some spoke of hearing him another day, and a few believed and joined him. The task of communication was completed. The Holy Spirit turned the apostle's words into an avenue of conviction.

Coming down to where the people are is the attitude of Christ. Jesus "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God some thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Phil. 2:6, 7).

Christ's humility made God one of us. What will make God one with lost people and with us is Christ's humility in us. That must be the spiritual basis for any attempt at contextualization in Christian mission.

An incarnational ministry

The Motilones in Latin-America frightened many. They were considered as cruel thieves and killers. Someone who had met them once said: "We found them extremely hostile, although we gave them presents and tried to be kind to them."

One day Bruce Olson, a missionary, arrived. No white man had ever gotten to know the Motilones before, except for selfish motives and at a distance. During his first five years with these people Olson did nothing but live among them, on their terms. He learned their language and acquired their culture. He became a Motilone. He gained their trust, and they gradually learned to see him as one of them. Only when that had happened, were they able to learn what he had to share with them.

Many of the Motilones became Christians, and Olson's opinion of them was something never heard before: "Having got to know them, I began to admire their honesty, faithfulness in marriage, truthfulness, social organization, and mutual care. I felt they had one of the most perfect communities I have ever seen."

To do real missions means to ensure that we understand the people to whom we have been sent. It means to be with them. That, in turn, involves practicing the spirit of Christ in our churches. It means actually demonstrating this love in outreach efforts, in churches that think, speak, and do the work of seeking the lost.

In Christ, God has broken down all barriers between people. The question we need to ask as we continue our mission is: Do we have the spirit of Christ? Do we love the lost enough to break down all the barriers between us and them, seeing them as truly one with us?


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Bertil Wiklander, Th.D., is president of the Trans-European Division, St. AI bans, Hertsfordshire, England.

November 2001

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