Meditation Monday - Incarnation or Redemption
One of the delights of my life at the moment is my podcast Liturgical Rebels. I get to interview fascinating people who constantly stretch my understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to be missional in today’s world.
Since I published my Substack live session on Saturday I have continued to mull over the question “What does it mean to be missional?” It has been a recurring theme of the podcast over the last few months.
Ian Mobsby pointed out that there are two approaches to mission that we need to consider. Redemptive mission which focuses on moral transformation and personal salvation so that people conform to a particular view of faith and righteousness. Incarnational mission emphasizes presence and relationship, revolving around the mystery of a God of love who seeks intimacy, solidarity and healing not just for us but for our whole planet. Alan Roxborough expanded my understanding by talking emphasizing the importance of relationality and community over traditional church practices. Victoria Loorz deepened our understanding even further by delving into the importance of connecting spirituality with nature, the emergence of the Wild Church Network, and the significance of sacred conversations with the natural world. This was also emphasized by James Amadon who talked about the greening of faith and the importance of hope and the need for new paradigms in pastoral leadership to address ecological challenges.
My early days as a Christian focused on the first view, and resulted in me burning out twice. The second time I ended up with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and it took me five years to recover. Now my life revolves around the second.
One of the first questions I asked that resulted in a transformation of my life focus was “How did Jesus spend his life on earth? What kind of rhythm did he establish?” He literally carried the weight of the world on his shoulders yet rarely seemed overwhelmed or stressed out. I decided that he had a well balanced rhythm of work and rest/retreat, community and solitude, feasting and fasting. A very similar rhythm to that of monastics today. And there is no one better than listening to the voice of God and responding to the needs than the monastic orders.
Being a follower of Christ is not about converting people to my way of thinking but about embracing them in the love of God and modeling a way of life that is attractive for them, just as Jesus did. It is our living example that will encourage others to find deeper intimacy with the divine presence even if their understanding of that is totally different from our own.
My frequent question over recent years has become “Where is God present, what is God doing, and how can I join in?” It is so liberating as it takes the load from my shoulders and places it on Jesus. If we believe that the great God of love, who created the universe, is present in all things then we need to start with recognizing that God is already active in every corner of our world, not just in the lives of humans but in every part of creation. All are infused with God’s presence.
I am increasingly convinced that mission begins not with talking but with listening, not with answers but with questions, not with teaching but with learning and not with theology but with relationships. Our desire for intimacy with this loving God can only be accomplished through relationship with people and with the world that God created.
Justice for those at the margins, racial reconciliation, concern for the starving, and those exposed to violence are all issues I care about. In fact the list is so long that it can become overwhelming and if I am not careful I can line myself up for burnout again. However for this period of my life I know that one of the main areas of concern God has asked me to focus on is environmental sustainability and a desire to see all of God’s creation made whole once more.
I love each week to look for positive examples of things that are happening that suggest God is at work changing our world and making all things, including our perspectives, new. Examples like those I shared on Saturday - Copenhill waste to energy project in Copenhagen complete with its ski slope, climbing wall and hiking trails. Then there is the Great Green Wall of Africa - an initiative led by Africans to restore the Sahel region’s ecosystems, combat climate change and reverse desertification. It is an incredibly ambitious project, only 30% complete, but what an inspiration to those of us who realize we need both big and small solutions. Unfortunately as of 2023, the Great Green Wall was reported as "facing the risk of collapse" due to terrorist threats, absence of political leadership, and insufficient funding.
There are so many places where God is saying “get involved”, make a difference, join those who have a dream but need workers to accomplish it and sometimes our biggest problem is that we are not listening.
Prayerfully take time today to consider your own life and use of time. What do you think your missional focus is meant to be? How could you move in the right direction to establish that and move closer to God in the process?
thanks