mission

CLG's Vision - And The Core Values That Get Us There

“Our vision is that we become a thriving community of individuals transformed by the life of Christ and conformed into the image of Christ for our good, God’s glory, and the good of our community as we share the good news of the gospel with the world.”

We have Core Values that guide us as we purse the fulfillment of this vision.

CORE VALUES

Be Real (authenticity): The amazing grace of God draws us into a life of honesty, reflection, transparency, and confession, free of hiddenness and shame before God and others.

This is a call to truth, honesty and transparency with God, ourselves and each other about who we were without Christ, who we are in Christ, and who we can become.

 Look at the witness of Scripture. It is full of stories of those whose lives are broken - Noah, David, Rahab, Gideon, the disciples, the woman at the well, Paul. God thought it was important that everybody else knew their story. Yes, they were deeply flawed. We all are. The beauty of repentance and forgiveness story can only be understood when the story can be see in its entirety.

 If someone says, “Because of Christ, I’m not who I was,” that awesome. But…who were you? The glory and hope of Christ is clearly seen when His work in us is clearly seen, and that happens when all of it is seen. Then it's more than words on paper, or just a good idea. It’s truth that transforms. This is why we try to be transparent from the pulpit, and put you through series like “The Emotionally Healthy Church,” and encourage small groups…

Belong (community): The amazing love of God draws us to participate in a seemingly impossible community, inaugurated by Jesus, where we work toward fully knowing and fully loving each other, a community where we are grounded on biblical instruction, prayer, friendship, and a lifestyle of surrendered worship.

 This has to do with our strengths, weaknesses, gifts, talents, struggles, personalities, preferences, backgrounds, current situations, preferences. This is a call to be part of a community where we are fully known and fully loved.  

To be fully known and fully loved? Can we do it with each other? We are trying. That’s why we stress honesty and repentance with God and others. That’s also why we preach forgiveness and grace and love, because we are going to need that in this kind of community! 

Become (transformation): The amazing power of God empowers us to practice and grow in Christ-like maturity and righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit in the context of authentic community life.

Genuine Kingdom transformation happens through the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.  That begins with salvation and continues as we continuously commit and re-surrender our lives to Christ.  He loves us as we are - and too much to leaves us in our brokenness and sin. The ongoing transformation in our lives is a change of four things: HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH.

  • Our Heart (passions)  - the things we love. We need to understand what God loves and what breaks His heart, study to understand why, and seek to match our heart with God’s.

  • Our Soul (imagination) -  the things that give us a sense of wonder or awe. Is our wonder and curiosity directed toward the right things?

  • Our Mind (intelligence) – that which informs us and how we think about the world. We need to be committed to truth! –

  • Our Strength (actions)  - joyful obedience to Christ, not because we believe our actions save us, but because we are offering our lives as a “living sacrifice” to the only One who deserves our allegiance.

 Be Called (destiny): The amazing goodness of God leads us to discover our unique, God-given potential to effectively serve Him and others as we engage in the Great Co-Mission to expand the Kingdom of God beginning in this community and spreading into the world.

We are called to enter into the rhythms of life together with others as much as we can without compromise, both as friends and as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. This begins in our homes and moves into our church, and then into the community and the world. We volunteer in church, engage in evangelism, meet practical needs, and simply live bold and humble lives as unashamed ambassadors of Jesus.

What happens when this kind of church community exists?

It becomes a place where the wounded, the weak, the guilty, the broken, the overlooked, the shamed, the questioning, the hopeless, can find a biblically transformational home in the presence of God and in the midst of God’s people. It’s what the Old Testament called a City of Refuge, a place for safety and renewal, a place to refresh before traveling once again through a hard and lonely world.

  • What if, in Traverse City, when someone had given up hope, they thought of our church, and our Savior?

  • What if, when someone thought, “No one understands me. No one will take me as I am,” they thought of us, and of our Christ?

  • What if someone who carried the weight of a sin they have never told anyone thought this was the place they could finally find a non-shaming community in which to repent and find the forgiveness of God and the love of others?

  • What if someone thought, “I just want a church where people are real! I want them to be honest about how hard life is and hopeful that pain and evil don’t get the last word!” And they thought of us.

  • What if someone who thinks, “If anyone knows my story, they will reject me,” finds a place here where people will listen, and laugh, and cry, and pray, and walk with them ever closer to Christ?

So we think Living God is called to be this kind of church, but that’s not where our core values stop. We are meant to go out and make more and better disciples of Christ. So how do we expand the impact of CLG in the world around us?

SEASONAL VISION 2024

I’m not offering a roll-out of new programs and initiatives. We’re not planning a big advertising campaign. Were not hiring new preachers or musicians or office staff or SS teachers or small group leaders. We’re not planning any new additions. There is nothing to roll out this morning that hasn’t been hinted at or done already.  It’s just a reminder that we believe Jesus has placed us in this community as a place of refuge, healing and hope for sake of His Kingdom and for the glory of Christ, and from that community we are called to go and represent Christ and spread the good news of the gospel in word and deed.

Our current seasonal vision focus is Witness (“the good of our community as we share the good news of the gospel with the world.”)

The Bible is clear that that our Christ-oriented love for each other (1 Peter 4:8) and our unity as the body of Christ (Colossians 3:14) is a mark that we are transformed children of God and a witness as Jesus’ ambassadors to the world (Romans 15:6). One of the ways in which this will be ‘lived out’ is when we are a) a light in darkness, declaring and living the transforming truth of Jesus and His Gospel, and b) the salt of the earth, a presence that preserve those things that are Kingdom values in a decaying culture.

This is not a seasonal vision that is intended to stop us from our previous focus, which focused heavily on the first three parts of our core values. When COVID and a divisive election landed heavy on us in 2020,  it didn’t take long to realize we needed to focus on becoming healthy by Kingdom standards as individuals and as a church body. I think that focus has paid off.

We haven’t arrived (!), but I believe that God has graciously and patiently built a depth and maturity in our church family that has borne good fruit.  WE DON’T WANT TO MOVE PAST THAT AS IF WE HAVE NAILED IT. It was a good reminder that sowing faithful obedience, humble lifestyles of worship, and a commitment to learning how to love more like Jesus yields a good harvest.

On our website, under the category “Serve,” we have noted this:

We believe it is crucial that church attenders are involved in the life of their local church body and in the community in which the church is placed. This is God’s design for the flourishing of the church as a body and for individuals in whom acts of service are part of God’s plan for refinement and maturity. Not all are called in the same way and in the same degree, but all are called!

I want to show you ways in which you can be involved in maintaining our foundation while looking to engage purposefully in our focus on witness. But the bottom line is that I encourage all of you, as you are able and as God calls you, to think about what it looks like to actively become a part of something bigger than yourself in this church, in the community, or in the world.

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OPPORTUNITIES IN CHURCH LIFE AT CLG

Kids/Youth/Adult Ministries

1. Nursery/AWANA/Children’s Church (Adam and Amber Metiva; Amy Gordon; Esther Krueger)

·      We need safe and caring people to join the team of nursery workers on Sunday mornings.  You will work one Sunday every 5 or 6 weeks with another team member. 

·      We provide the teaching time on Sunday morning for ages 4 to 12 and need helpers during the first hour and second hour serving snacks and helping with games and crafts. 

·      Awana is Wednesday night and our great need is to have one person listen to a group of 3-4 children recite their Bible verses.  You could choose one Wednesday a month to be your Wednesday and be a great help!  (7:30 to 8:00p.m.).

2.    Youth Group (Corban Shaw; William Krueger; Kristin and Dakota Bolton) Wednesday nights are covered, but there are other ways to be involved, including helping with a Sunday morning class.

3.    Small Groups (Anthony Weber)

4.    Women’s/Men’s Group (no current leaders – talk to Anthony)

 

Sunday Morning Building Team

Greeter/Security/Coffee (Pete Thiel)

·      Greeters: two couples every Sunday to welcome people as they come through the doors and answer questions for any newcomers.

·      Security. Being a watchdog for our children. We have a security team to ensure that our children are safe from any intruders. The more eyes the better.

·      Coffee: making coffee before the service

Sunday Morning Service Team

1.    Audio/Visual (Adam Metiva)

2.    Musicians/singers/worship team (Tom Childs)

3.    Prayer Team (Julie Eickenroth)

4.    Library upkeep

5.    Holiday decorating

SUPPORTED OPPORTUNITIES LOCALLY 

Ministries By Our Congregation

1.    Touching Hearts (Marilyn Dear and Pam Kritcher – see “TC Touching Hearts” on Facebook)

2.    Thomas Judd Care Clinic (Emily Slater)

3.    Prison Ministry (Gary and Pat Hambleton)

4.    Meals (Karen Windorfer)

5.    Helps Ministry (Deacons – contact Adam Metiva)

6.    Building Projects (Pete Thiel) Projects would range anywhere from vacuuming and cleaning to ground's maintenance or construction projects that we may have.

7.    Operation Christmas Child (Amy Gordon)

8.    The Church Newsletter (Katie Schlomer)

9.    The Church Directory (Marji Shev)

 

Ministries From Within Our Congregation

1.    Freedom Farm (Julie Eickenroth – freedomfarmgt.com)

2.    Affirm Ministries (Susan Hoekstra – susanhoekstra.com)

3.    Peace Ranch (Jackie Kaschel – peaceranchtc.com)

4.    His House (Patrick Hill – His House at NMC on Facebook)

 

Ministries in the Community That We Support

1.    Single MOMM (singlemomm.org)

2.    Thrive Medical Clinic (thrivemedicalclinic.org)

3.    Goodwill Inn (goodwillnmi.org)

 

SUPPORTED MISSIONS/MISSIONARIES OVERSEAS (Esther Krueger)

1.    VidaNet (vidamissions.com)

2.    Esperanza (Esperanza1513 on Facebook)

3.    The Sanchez family (borderlandsinternational.org)

 

Harmony #36: Sending Out the Twelve (Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1, 5-15; 11:1; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6)

 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.[1]

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.[2]  Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” Jesus called his twelve disciples[3] and gave them authority over unclean spirits so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness.

Jesus sent out these twelve two by two[4] to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near and to heal the sick.[5]He instructed them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town.[6] Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Take nothing[7] for the journey except a staff,[8] and put on sandals. Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts[9] – no bread, no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff,[10] for the worker deserves his provisions.

“Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave the area.[11]As you enter the house, give it greetings. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.[12]

And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust off your feet[13] as a testimony against them. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town![14]

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their towns. Then the disciples departed and went throughout the villages, proclaiming the good news and preaching that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed sick people everywhere with oil and healed them.

A few comments on some dynamics at work here.

  • The disciples would do the things that Jesus had been doing to prove their power and message were from him. They were given Christ-like credentials to confirm their message.

  • They were to stay in the first house that welcomed them —no rejecting poor accommodations or working toward getting to a nicer place. The value of their host and their relationship with their host was more important than the comfort of their bed. 

  • They were not to pressure those who refused to be hospitable to them or their message, but were to shake off the dust from their feet (hospitable hosts would have cleaned their feet for them) and move on.[15]

  • This was not to be a means to accumulate wealth. Jerome (347-420) wrote, “Spiritual gifts are defiled if connected with rewards.” He was very concerned that it would look like “they were preaching not for the sake of humanity’s salvation but for the sake of their own financial gain.”[16] They had received their blessings without cost and were to pay it forward on the same basis.[17] Neither the miracles of the Kingdom nor the good news of the free gift of grace in the Kingdom were intended to make one wealthy by earthly standards.

 

This passage could be mined pretty deeply. There is a lot of treasure here below the surface. I am going to offer six points to ponder in hopes that at least one will challenge or encourage you.

1. The transformative reality that “the kingdom is near” needs to take root here before we take it there.  Jesus wasn’t telling them to only go the Jewish people because he disliked the Gentiles and Samaritans. He had already spoken to the woman at the well  in Samaria (who brought the whole village to see him), so the Kingdom tree was growing in Samaria. He had been healing Gentiles (we read last week that an entire household was converted), and the former demoniac was telling people about Jesus in the largely Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee, so it’s not as if the Gentiles had been ignored.

I suspect he steered the 12 toward the Jewish people for two reasons.

First, the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” are his children, his family. His sheep are wandering around like sheep without a Shepherd because they don’t know who the shepherd is. The Father loves his children, and he begins with them. He has not given up on them. His ministry will not end with his family, but it will begin with His family.

I’ll just note: if God has given you the gifts and talents to do ministry for the Kingdom on his behalf, begin with your family. It probably won’t end there, but it should start there. Trust me, as one for whom it took a long time for this to sink in. This is important.

Second, I wonder if it has something to do with the development of truth and character in those who will spread the message before they spread the message. There was some work that needed to be done so the ambassadors could represent the King well. For example, his disciples will soon ask him to call down fire on a Samaritan town.[18] Yeah, you might not want to send those guys to the Samaritans just yet. They might have known the message of Jesus, but they didn’t understand the heart of Jesus.

There is a lesson here :) It is important that we not neglect our spiritual formation as we build the reach and impact of the Kingdom. We don’t have to be perfect, obviously. We can a mess, in fact, as God is working to heal all the many ways we are broken. But we need to understand the heart of God for people, and we need to be committed to the ongoing serious discipleship that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, increases our likeness to Jesus. If we are planning to head out and beg God to call down fire on those who are lost, we aren't ready. When we see them as lost and confused sheep who need to meet the Shepherd, we are.

 

2. The crowds were like sheep without a shepherd, a ripe harvest with no one gathering. Is that how we view the lost or wandering crowds around us? It’s worth noting that it’s likely at least some of these people eventually clamored for Jesus’ crucifixion. Perhaps being able to view even hostile enemies this way is how, Jesus, while on the cross,  could say, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”

When we see news coverage of THAT group marching for THAT issue, how do we see them?  Do we see sheep without a shepherd? When we walk downtown during Cherry Festival, do we see a field ripe for harvest, needing to have someone who an ambassador for Jesus enter into their lives with the good news of salvation? And what does your response motivate you to do: retreat in fear, lash out in anger, take an eye for eye, get a hostile bumper sticker that’s sure to trigger somebody? Or are we moved to prayerfully seek them out to share the message - and show with our lives-  that the good news that the Kingdom of heaven is here?

 

3. What does it look like to live prophetically? “Biblical prophets had to live simply in times of widespread apostasy, not dependent on decadent society (1Kings 17:4 – 6; 18:13; 2Kings 4:38; 5:15 – 16,26; 6:1).”[19]

Do we live in times of widespread apostasy (followers of Jesus falling away from the faith)? Yes, at a record pace for the United States. Is our culture decadent?  Almost 50 years ago, Francis Schaeffer argued vigorously that it is, and I don’t know of anyone who disagreed then or now.

We often talk about speaking prophetically, which 80+ percent of the time in the Bible meant proclaiming God’s word and plan boldly in what called forthtelling as opposed to foretelling about future events (that’s the other percentage points).

We talk about speaking prophetically in both of those ways (as we should), but we don’t so often talk about living prophetically. Why? It’s a lot easier to say some words than it is to change a lifestyle.

I wonder what it looks like for us to live prophetically? I’m not sure where to go with this: maybe… it’s this?  Or that? These are just ideas. I’m spitballing. There is something important here, and I feel like I’m nibbling at the edges. Maybe in Message+ we can get to the core. These are things I thought of this week.

  • We refuse to support the destructive nature of greedy consumerism by reigning in our consumption and from our savings, practicing generosity.

  • In an age of indulgence - often at the expense others - we practice self-restraint so that we are better able to serve others.

  • We refuse to live in luxury when those around us live in squalor. Where is that line? I have no idea. But it’s somewhere.

  • We fight the culture’s objectification and exploitation of people sexually and financially by determining to honor the intrinsic value of people with our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

  • We refuse to go about our daily life as if everything is okay when it’s not okay. We commit to holy disturbances in the rhythm of our lives to spread the Kingdom.

I’m sure there’ more here. I hope this inspires us to think about it.

 

4. It is just as important to receive hospitality as to give it. In Jesus’ time, people honored others by showing hospitality. But it works both ways. Hosts were honored when people received their generosity, as simple as it may be. Imagine if a disciple had stayed one night at a house and the next day said, “Hey that was really nice, but I’m going to THAT house.” (Points toward the mansion up the block). Imagine how the poorer host would feel. I love that Jesus’ instructions required his disciples to appreciate people rather than the things that they had.

Also, there is something very, very important about receiving hospitality that affirms the value of the person giving. From a reddit post:

"I heard my mother asking our neighbor for some salt. I asked her why she was asking them as we had salt at home. She replied: 'It's because they're always asking us for things; they're poor. So I thought I'd ask something small from them so as not to burden them but at the same time make them feel as if we need them too.'"

 

5. The messenger of the Kingdom are purposeful, but not pushy. Notice that the disciples did not hound, berate, yell, march, picket, boycott those who were inhospitable to them or their ideas. They tried, and then moved on to those who were hospitable. I suspect, given enough time, they would have tried again or at least encouraged others to give it a shot. It’s not that they didn’t care. But they had a message of good seeds that needed to be sown in good soil, and there was only so much time.

There’s something here about discerning the moment. Of all the points, this might be the one that most obviously requires a sensitivity to whether the Holy Spirit is pushing you toward or pulling you from someone. The best explanation I have in my life is that there have been times when I’ve been talking to both Christians and non-Christians and it was clear they had heart soil ready for truth about all kinds of things, from who Jesus is to how to love others well or be honest about themselves…you name it, they were ready to have truth planted in their hearts.

In other conversations I’ve had, it became clear after a while that they were only in this to show me how smart they were, or to try to humiliate me, or to defend themselves from any and all attempts to help them see themselves as God and others saw them.

I don’t have a template or a scientific explanation about how you know the difference, but when you know, you know.

I don’t believe for a minute God was done with those villages when the disciples moved on. The Holy Spirit, the Hound of Heaven, will pursue them through someone else. When we feel nudged to move on, remember that just because we aren’t the messenger doesn’t mean there will be no messenger. I suspect God will send other people into their lives who will be far more effective than you or I ever would have been.

 

6. I wonder what signs are ‘credentials’ in our culture? What things would lay out our credentials as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God? For the disciples it was those specifically miraculous things, many of which directly pointed back to Old Testament prophecy concerning what the awaited Messiah would do. In many times and places throughout history, that kind of miraculous work has been like planting a flag in the ground and saying, “This is Kingdom territory,” and everybody got it.  

In increasingly secular cultures, where all miracles are explained away as unknown science, I wonder if the signs and wonders are sometimes something different. It’s not like God can’t be creative with how He displays His power and goodness to the world.

  • In the book of Acts, miracles were the primary credentials. That continues today in many parts of the world, especially in countries where the supernatural world clashes very publically.

  • In the first few centuries of the early church, miracles didn’t stop, but it was their love for everybody that awed the Gentiles more than anything else.

  • Throughout history, faithful martyrdom has caught the attention of those far from Jesus.

  • In the Middle Ages (when things went well) it was hospitable communities and the preservation of schools and libraries that shone like a city on a hill.

  • In the Great Awakenings, it was repentant, transformed individuals, who often led the charge to address social issues (poverty, racism, alcoholism, orphans).

  • In the Asuza revivals, it was the gifts of the Holy Spirit being used in power and love for the building of the church.

  • The 2000s began with a proliferation of apologetics, philosophical, historical and theological arguments in defense of the faith that for many skeptics removed the hurdle of feeling like faith was not for the intellectual or scientific.

  • Now, I think the most powerful credentials in the United States is increasingly returning to 1) the testimony of transformed lives, and 2) the witness of church communities characterized by embodied truth, love and grace displayed in the family, church and broader community. As has often been noted, people don’t care what we know until they know that we care.

 None of these are never not important. What is important is “understanding the times,” and entering into what God is doing at a particular time in a particular place for a particular people.

 

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[1] Ezekiel 34:5

[2] “The state of things suggested two pictures to His mind: a neglected flock of sheep, and a harvest going to waste for lack of reapers. Both imply, not only a pitiful plight of the people, but a blameworthy neglect of duty on the part of their religious guides—the shepherds by profession without the shepherd heart, the spiritual husbandmen without an eye for the whitening fields and skill to handle the sickle.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

[3] “The Twelve were evidently not together all the time (some had homes and families).”

(ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[4] “[This] satisfies the requirement of two or three witnesses and provides them a measure of protection.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[5] “[This] is not appointment to a permanent office but commissioning for an immediate task.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[6] Jesus had already been to Samaria. Also, “That Jesus felt it necessary to mention the Samaritans at all presupposes John 4. The disciples, happy in the exercise of their ability to perform miracles, might have been tempted to evangelize the Samaritans when they remembered Jesus' success there. Judging by Lk 9:52-56, however, the Twelve were still tempermentally ill-equipped to minister to Samaritans.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

[7] He will send out others where the instructions are different (Luke 22). Don’t think of the specifics as a timeless command. The specifics are for this group of people, at this time.

[8] “According to Mark 6:8, the disciples were allowed to take a staff. Here in Luke’s account, Jesus is probably not prohibiting a staff altogether but prohibiting taking an extra one, as Luke 10:4 prohibits extra sandals.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[9] “Biblical prophets had to live simply in times of widespread apostasy not dependent on decadent society (cf., e.g., 3:1,4; 1Ki 17:4 – 6; 18:13; 2Ki 4:38; 5:15 – 16,26; 6:1).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[10] Remember how John the Baptist was likely an Essene, or at least heavily influenced by the Essene community? “When Essenes (members of a strict Jewish sect) traveled, they traveled light, depending on hospitality from other Essenes.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) Then, consider how all of Jesus disciples either followed John or were influenced by him. In other words, these instructions would not have felt unusual.

[11] “Rather than moving from house to house, perhaps in a quest for better housing, the apostles were to establish their ministry headquarters in one home. (ESV Global Study Bible) “They would rely on hospitality, but staying in one house limited the time they spent in any one place.” (ESV Reformation Study Bible) “The disciples should receive hospitality graciously. Hospitality was important as well as necessary in days of difficult travel conditions and poor accommodations at inns. The disciples were not to move about from house to house, a practice that might gain them more support but would insult their hosts.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[12] “The conventional Jewish greeting was shalom, “May it be well with you.” This was a blessing, i.e., an implicit prayer to God.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[13] “Proper hospitality included offering water for guests to wash their feet; here the travelers’ feet remain conspicuously unwashed. Jewish people sometimes shook profane dust from their feet when entering a more holy place (Ex 3:5) [or] leaving pagan territory to enter the Holy Land.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[14] Note that this is not a judgment on Gentiles. This is a referendum on God’s people, those who have the Law and are not practicing hospitality. The prophets said that one of the prominent sins of Sodom was inhospitality (Ezekiel 16:49). The people of Sodom were (in a sense) Gentiles who didn’t know any better. What they did was bad, but God’s people knew better. It’s worse.

[15] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[16] As found in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Matthew 1-13

[17] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[18] Luke 9

[19] NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

Make Incarnation Your Model

 A little girl, frightened by a storm, had trouble with her parents’ reminder that God was with her.  “I know that God is here, but I need someone in the room who has some skin!” This is, of course, the claim of Christianity. God showed up in skin.

“The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) 

“Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

 So let’s talk today about incarnation; that is, “giving skin” to the presence of God in a way that carries on the legacy of Christ’s perfect embodiment.  This is why we are here, right? We are icons, image bearers, representatives, temples, the “body” of Christ.[1]  THIS IS WHO WE ARE. And because we are all that, we honor the Incarnate One who came to our world by living as an “incarnate church,”[2] a community humbly following the way of Jesus in everyday life so that we are “someone in the room who has skin” in the midst of life’s storms.  

We won’t do it perfectly; we can’t do it without the Holy Spirit empowering us. But…it’s our calling. It’s what we are made for. What follows can apply, I think to pretty much any situation: your family, friends, coworkers, fellow church members, those to whom we are trying to witness. 

 

GO

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2: 5-8)

God didn't wait for us to come to Him. He came to us.  We have a Great Commission: we have to go to where others are instead of wait for them to come to us. We often think of ‘going’ in a cross-cultural context. When we go to places not Traverse City, we eat new food, learn new languages, and celebrate with the different neighborhood customs (sometimes we do that right here in TC).  We live in that community in that context. Barring some sense in which we are asked to participate in something sinful, we are there to enter into their world, and that’s good and proper. 

We show people we care by engaging with and caring about them in their world as much as we can without compromise. This happens everywhere: from oversees to our homes, our church, our community.  It’s a universal principle.   

  • Want to talk to little kids effectively? Kneel when you speak.

  • Want to show your spouse you care? Plan a date he or she wants.  

  • Want to connect with your kids? Play music they like too while you are driving; play Hi Ho Cherrio for hours; build a fort out of a box.

  • Want to connect with someone who loves to fish, hike, or build stuff? Be ready to fish, hike or build stuff.

  • Want to have a good relationship with someone with a different religious or political worldview? Take the time to get to know their ‘mental community.’ 

 Enter their world.  It’s a relationship-building principle that not only honors others, but paves the way for a) genuine friendship and b) the message of the gospel. Once you go, the next step is to know, and this starts by listening.

 

LISTEN THOROUGHLY

One of the best ways to get to know people is to listen to them – their story, hopes, dreams, fears, even opinions.  Listening is a way of saying, “It’s not all about me. I want to know about you. I want to see who you are. You matter.”  This does not always come easily. Try this checklist:

1)   I make a great effort to understand other people’s experiences.

2)   When people are angry, I can listen without reflecting their anger. 

3)   People freely share with me because they know I listen well.

4)   I learn from nonverbal cues, body language, and tone of voice. 

5)   I am able to show sympathy and empathy.

6)   I ask for clarification about how words are used and what emotion I am sensing rather than filling in the blanks. 

7)   I don’t wait impatiently to make my point or have my turn.

8)   I can file stuff away to think or learn more about rather than feeling like I have to address it right now.

9)   I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than read the worst possibilities into what I don’t understand. 

10) I don’t speak when I should be listening. [3]

Listening well is a key starting point in incarnation. We listen to understand and value the image of God in other people. They have worth simply as people.  

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” – David Augsburger

 Now… it might be that what you hear is appalling. It might be obnoxious. It might lead you to mutter, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” It might just break your heart. Keep in mind that the LISTENING is not the same as:

  • Approving

  • Enabling

  • Applauding

  • Excusing 

Listening is an act of knowing.  And from that knowing, we respond. 

SPEAK CAREFULLY 

Once you have listened, there are some ways to respond that, once again, a) honor the image bearer, b) hopefully build relationship, and c) build a relationship on the foundations of gospel.[4] 

Reflect: “I think I hear you saying…” This is a call to accuracy and clarity.  It stops us from assuming, from reading between the lines, from filtering what someone ways so we hear what we wanted to hear.  We can hear even the hardest things without getting upset if our first goal is to reflect: “I think I hear you saying that…”

1.       “… my faith is foolish, and Christianity is hogwash.”

2.       “…I am aloof and stand-offish when I interact with people.”

3.       “…Christians hate the sin and the sinner.”

4.       “…bacon is not tasty.”[5]

 Validate:  I mean this like validating a parking lot ticket: you give a stamp that proves you were present with that person. This can happen in a number of ways. ‘I hear you… I think I understand… Based on what you have said, I can understand why you feel that way... It sounds like you have been through a lot.”  Validating for someone that they have been heard is not the same as approving or agreeing with everything they have told you. It’s simply an acknowledgment that they have been heard, you have attempted to understand, and maybe even that their response makes sense in that circumstance/ time/place – which is still different from applauding it.  “Considering your experiences…”

1.       “…I can see why it would be easy to think that about Christianity.”

2.       “… I can see why I appear that way at times.”

3.       “… No wonder you feel like it’s not possible to separate sin from the sinner.”

4.       “… your taste buds appear to have been terribly compromised.”

 Explore: “I have some follow up questions.”

1.     “What do you think about Jesus himself? What is it you find compelling about the life you have chosen?  Are you telling me this because you just want me to know, or you want me to engage with you?

2.     “What specifically can I do to make sure I don’t come across that way?”

3.     “When you read about Jesus, does he seem to balance these things, or does he seem hateful too? Do you think I hate sinners?  

4.     “Did a pig bite you at one time? Were you frightened by Porky Pig?”

 Engage:

No matter what approach is needed, our desire for those around ought to be that every conversation is characterized by speaking and learning God’s truth, and displaying God’s grace through our words and actions.   

  1.  “I think there is another way of looking at faith that is more accurate and healthy than the picture you were given.”

  2.  “I appreciate you giving me your honest assessment. I will see if I can get some feedback from others as well.” 

  3. “I have found that people love me even when they don’t love everything about me. That’s what Jesus did for me. I try to pass that on.”

  4. “Have you tried bacon with bacon? Because they go together well.”

 The journey might look different in each relationship, but the goal is the same.  We are praying for the wisdom to be as humble as we should be,[6] bold as we need to be, as kind as we can be for the sake of moving together further and higher into the Kingdom of God. 

What we are praying for is the ability to MATCH OUR MISSION TO THE MOMENT. When I was coaching, I learned that different people respond to different kinds of motivation (shocking insight, I know). Some players flourished when I encouraged them out of failure (big hug during a time out); others flourished when I got in their face (big hug after the game). 

With God’s help, knowing  others will help us to know when to do and say what. Parents, you know how it is with kids. They are different. One kid didn’t respond until you were all up in their business; the other one melted down when you looked a little but unhappy. The longer we know our spouse, the better (hopefully) we get at when to do and say what. There is an art to matching our engagement to the person. 

This is one reason we are focusing right now as a church on creating ways to just spend time together, from small groups to affinity groups to potlucks.  If we are present and invested in people in the moment, we build a track record of knowledge and experience that God uses to prepare us for the deep moments of relationship. 

The Holy Spirit inspires, of course; many of you have shared stories of this in Message+ over the years. God gives inspiration.  Here’s a both/and: the Holy Spirit also leads us into wisdom through practical experience and relationship.

All relationships are built in a context of experiences and people.  If we have taken the time to know the person, the place, the background, the culture, then as Christ moves us and the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom, we can most effectively match our messages (through word and deed) to moments. 

This helps us more fully model the incarnational love of Christ to our family, our church, our city. Because Christ entered our world, we enter into the world of others without compromise to represent Christ with care and confidence so the glory of His redemption is clear. 

I want to close with the broader context of the verses I quoted earlier from Philippians 2. You will see that the example of Jesus’ incarnation is situated right in the middle of a discussion on what modeling incarnation looks like in the church.  Since modeling incarnation was our focus this morning, it seems like a fitting close.

Philippians 2 If you find any comfort from being in the Anointed, if His love brings you some encouragement, if you experience true companionship with the Spirit, if His tenderness and mercy fill your heart; then, brothers and sisters, 2 here is one thing that would complete my joy:

Come together as one in mind and spirit and purpose, sharing in the same love. 3 Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace true humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. 4 Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first.5 In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts. Remember:

6 Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; 7 But He poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new; a servant in form and a man indeed.
The very likeness of humanity, 8 He humbled Himself, obedient to death — a merciless death on the cross! 9 So God raised Him up to the highest place and gave Him the name above all. 10 So when His name is called, every knee will bow, in heaven, on earth, and below. 11 And every tongue will confess  “Jesus, the Anointed One, is Lord,”  to the glory of God our Father!

 12 So now, my beloved, obey as you have always done, not only when I am with you, but even more so when I can’t be. Continue to work out your salvation, with great fear and trembling.

  •  labor; work it down to the end point, bring it to its right conclusion[7]’

  • Carry to completion what is begun,”[8] or “carry into effect.”[9]

  • “Watchful, loving, reverent consistency, for his Lord’s sake.”[10]

  •  "Salvation" is "worked in" (Php 2:13; Eph 1:11) believers by the Spirit, who enables them through faith to be justified once for all; but it needs, as a progressive work, to be "worked out" by obedience, through the help of the same Spirit, unto perfection (2Pe 1:5-8).[11]

13 God is energizing you so that you will desire and do what always pleases Him.

14 Do all things without complaining or bickering with each other, 15 so you will be found innocent and blameless; you are God’s children called to live without a single stain on your reputations among this perverted and crooked generation. Shine like stars across the land. 16 Cling to the word of life so that on the day of judgment when the Anointed One returns I may have reason to rejoice, because it will be plain that I didn’t turn from His mission nor did I work in vain.


_______________________________________________________________________

[1] 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 3-4; Colossians 1

[2] “We are the body,” Paul says. We are a new and ongoing kind of incarnation – clearly different from Jesus (anyone here divine?) but nonetheless participatory in the representation of God on God’s behalf.

1)    [3] Why would we talk too much? Maybe…. 

·       Love? Because we love them, there is soooo much truth they need to hear. There are times, however, when great intentions can have misplaced application.

·       Nervousness?  We control the conversation or change to a more comfortable topic because we don’t want tension inside us or between us to escalate. (This can feel like peacemaking, when it’s peacekeeping). 

·       Narcissism?  We genuinely think anything we have to say is of utmost importance; “My speaking is a much better use of our time! Have you not heard my thoughts!!!”

·       Lack of Faith? Maybe there are times the Holy Spirit wants us to be quiet even though something is begging to be said. Do we trust that God can do work even if we don’t get all the words out in the timing we think we should?

[4]  I am assuming a conversation in which it is not overwhelmingly clear there is something terrible going on, btw. There is a time and place for OT prophet-style unleashing; Jesus himself had some blunt things to say in public to those who were ‘making disciples of hell.’[4]  That involves people Proverbs would call “Fools”. Those are not my focus today. We can talk about that more in Message+ if you wish.

[5] These are all reflections I have offered at some point. Even the bacon one.

[6] An honest look inside shows us that we are more broken than we feared, but God is more powerful than we imagined.  As we understand brokenness and then grace, we know who we are and it illuminates the goodness of God.  Grace, compassion, truth and humility flow from us as we desire for others to see Christ as we have seen him. 

[7] HELPS Word Studies

[8] Ellicott’s Commentary For English Readers

[9] Expositor’s Greek Testament

[10] Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges

[11] Jameison-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary