Live Into The Place

Over the last year or so I have been returning every once in a while to something that Hugh Halter said at Exponential in 2013. He was talking about sharing our faith and being in the world. His concept was simple:

Incarnation --> Reputation --> Conversation --> Confrontation --> Transformation

That's pretty straightforward stuff. Over the next few posts I am going to unpack each of these concepts. Today, we'll look at incarnation.

Incarnation in the missional context is that act of "living into" a place. You show up and be at a place. In the late 90s and early 00s there was a move for local congregations to "do incarnational evangelism". In other words, serve their community. Incarnation in the sense that we're talking about is not that at all.

What we want to do is actually inhabit or do life in a place. In Ypsilanti a few of us are living into B-24's Coffee and the Corner Brewery. We actively choose to go to these places. They become extensions of our homes. The regulars become like family. We are a community.

This is what happens when you begin to practice incarnation in a place. You become part of it and when you become part of a place you get to help shape the community and life of the place.

Where are you "living into"? Leave your response in the comments.

I'll leave you with these words from Eugene Peterson's rendering of John 1 -

Every person entering Life

he brings into Light.

He was in the world,

the world was there through him,

and yet the world didn’t even notice.

He came to his own people,

but they didn’t want him.

But whoever did want him,

who believed he was who he claimed

and would do what he said,

He made to be their true selves,

their child-of-God selves.

These are the God-begotten,

not blood-begotten,

not flesh-begotten,

not sex-begotten.

The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into the neighborhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

the one-of-a-kind glory,

like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

true from start to finish.