entering in…
I am just about to embark on posts regarding the next element of mDNA that we need to consider (the missional-incarnational impulse). I thought we couldn’t go wrong in quoting one of my theological heroes, David Bosch from Transforming Mission. This quotes highlights the intrinsically incarnational nature of the church’s mission.
It should not bother us that [during different epochs] the Christian faith was perceived and experienced in new and different ways. The Christian faith is intrinsically incarnational; therefore unless the church chooses to remain a foreign entity, it will always enter into the context in which it happens to find itself. (David Bosch)
To not allow the incarnation to seep into our imaginations and therefore inform our missionary activities, is a violation of the gospel itself.
Forgotten Ways, The: Reactivating the Missional Church - Alan Hirsch
Forgotten Ways Handbook, The: A Practical Guide for Developing Missional Churches - Alan Hirsch, Darryn Altclass
ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church - Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch
The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church - Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch
The great thing is that when we allow the living water of the incarnation to seep into our imaginations, they begin to swell up like a sponge … and, if we further allow it, the Holy Spirit can squeeze that living water out into our missionary activities….
Here’s to a squishy 2008!
One of my friends is a Pagan-Wiccan who can’t get past ‘the church’ “steeling all it’s beliefs and practices from others”. “The Christian faith [being] intrinsically incarnational” puts a different spin on this. So it should not bother us that during different epochs the Christian faith was shaped in its expression by contact with other belief systems. Seeking to live as Christ did but in a new place and a new time.
Alan
The tradition must change to stay the same!
Ben
Know exactly what you mean there, being friends with a few Pagans myself. Ironic really given how prone to eclecticism some of them are themselves.
Alan,
Due to this post, I bought Transforming Mission by David Bosch today and started reading it. It looks fantastic! I also have The Church and Cultures by Louis Luzbetak from the same series, which has also helped me a lot.
Are there any books in this series you recommend, or any other books in general?
Jeremy, Transforming Mission is a standalone book. It is so significant and has changed the course of conversations for many years now. Its hard to compare it to other standard missiologies. C.Steven Bevan’s Constants in Context is seen to be very important. A Catholic missiologist, but he looks into the dynamics of contextualization.