Incarnational Life

Being incarnational is not something that we do first and foremost - it is who we are. I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer but Christ who lives within me (Gal 2:20). What we do should then follow who we are. When we are dead to self and Christ is alive in us - we will look like Him - being transformed from glory to glory (II Cor. 3:18). Our lives should then, look more and more like His. And evangelism and ministry are not programs, they are a way of living. They are the natural outworking of Christ who lives within us. That is in part what the incarnational life is all about. Below is a portion of a blog from Timothy Cowin - well worth the read.

Incarnational Ministry: The Way of Jesus
The gospels tell us that Christ Jesus was a “friend of sinners,” (Matthew 11.19). He associated with tax collectors, prostitutes, the diseased, and the down and outers of society. The religious leaders despised him for it and called him a glutton and a winebibber, because he attended the parties of the sinners, (Luke 7.33-35). Socializing with these kinds of people ruined Christ’s testimony before the religious leaders of His day. The missional church is also often misunderstood and maligned as it attempts to reach out to people in the same manner of our Lord.

This raises several questions for New City Church: How would Jesus manifest Himself in our city? Who would Jesus minister to? Where would Jesus be? When we answer those questions honestly, then we have to say - THAT is what New City should look like, who we should minister to, where we should be. Anything short of that fails to be Christ in our culture, our city.