Missional, Incarnation, gospel

Oldman asked me what I meant by a missional incarnation of the gospel. Here's my answer. Most of my life I have grown up in churches that I would label "attractional". By this I mean our goal in life would be to get someone to "come to church" - especially if there was a special speaker or event in which the gospel would be communicated. I would say that 80-90% of all churches operate on this principle. This means that all our energy will be directed to making the Sunday event as great as it can be - tight worship band, stellar preaching, killer power-point, etc. etc.

When I use the term missional, I am referring to a church or christian community that sees itself as on a "mission". So we live lives where we are actively trying to bring Jesus to people through the way we talk and act. This concept of church sees church as people, not an event once a week, or a building in which we enter.

Incarnation recalls the concept of jesus as God "incarnating" himself into a human body. He became human in order to save human beings. When I speak of incarnating the gospel - I mean we live out the gospel in our everyday lives.

there is a lot more that could be said here but i would refer you instead to this site: friend of missional.

That's a good place to start.

Finished Wallis' "God's Politics". It is a prophetic wake-up call to the American church. I think Wallis erred when he went into issues like the death penalty and racism. He gives a chapter to each - which is a bare skimming of such heady topics. I also disagree with him in the area of gay marriage. He is pro - I am not.

The National Post ran an article about different voting blocks in the country. From Harper Conservative to Anti-Harper.

A Harper Conservative likes Tim Hortons, SUV's, Jesus and Don Cherry. He/She does not like anything that is not hockey on the CBC, the gun registry and gay marriage. This person likely lives anywhere in Alberta.

An anti-harper gets all his news and views from the CBC, drinks Starbucks and drives a smart car, a bike or the bus. This person will be pro-gay marriage and against guns. This person likely lives in a metro area like toronto and Vancouver.

Hmmmm - I am fairly conservative - but this is how I would stack up.

I drink Starbucks like I breath air.
I am fairly ambivalent on the gun registry, but most of my friends back in Saskatchewan refused to register their guns.
For the past year and a half our family has not owned a car - didn't really need one and did have a concern about the environment. We just bought an SUV which feels really great, considering the recent presidential commision's report on global warming.
I am personally against gay marriage, but am unsure if a "secular" nation like Canada should make it illegal.
The only thing I watch on CBC is hockey, and sometimes Corner Gas. I can not stand many of the news programs on CBC, except for a few stolen moments of the Hour with George Snuffleupagus.

So, am I Harper Conservative - sort of. Except I would still vote for Cam.