Over the years there has been a steady debate about the level at which Christians can be legitimately involved in the culture without corrupting themselves. While the description of ‘culture” often becomes limited to a focus on the arts, it is imperative that we understand that culture in essence reflects our lifestyle; our day to day interactions and our responses to such. I do believe that it is time we in the church stop running from the world in fear with our tails between our legs because we think the big bad world might infect us with its sin. We don’t seem to have much confidence in the light that we are. Try lighting a match in a dark room, no matter how small the flame, it will penetrate and alter the darkness; not the other way around.

Traditionally, especially in conservative evangelical circles, we have interpreted “Love not the world …’as abandonment of the world and its culture which was viewed as inherently evil. While the point has been made that culture isn’t inherently evil, some aspects of it will be because mankind is fallen and since culture is a reflection of who we are, it will mirror in some respects our “fallen-ness”. Clothing, music, art etc become volatile because man infects them with his sin. At the same time, man as made in the image and likeness of God, is also capable of reflecting so much that is positive. That is why as Christians we are called to invade and not abandon culture; if we dwell as transformed people, in the midst of the culture, yet without sin, then we are capable of presenting an alternative of which Christ is the essence. When people are transformed by the power of Christ, then the negative aspects of culture become transformed as well.

If we take our cue from Jesus, the very stories and parables he used, and his day-to-day interaction with the Jewish people, demonstrate that he was quite comfortable inhabiting the culture; even as he showed the scribes/pharisees and sinners at large, a more excellent way.This would have lent authenticity to His message and He is God Himself! Christ refused to imbibe the hypocrisy of the religious elite (which was an aspect of the religious culture of His day)instead He redefined the sabbath and the entire law by showing that He came to fulfill it. Nothing explains this better, than the concept of incarnation; the word becoming flesh and dwelling among men; God entering the culture of man, to redeem man. Need we say more?

While I do agree wholeheartedly with the premise of a missional paradigm, as with any movement we must be aware that too far east is most definitely west. While God is calling us into relationship with our communities and while we as the church have always been called to live the Gospel there must be no compromise with sin. If we take note of Jesus’ encounters with people and if the missional paradigm proports to follow the path of Jesus then even as we embrace others we must do it as Jesus did. In all of Jesus’ interactions with sinners His message was usually “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”; this was always clear. God does not expect us to grow comfortable with sin so that we can reach others; Jesus is clear on showing others what a life of righteousness is; He never tows the middle. At the end of the day, the goal of a missional way of life must not be to make people so comfortable with sin that coming to church is a breeze. The holiness of Christ challenged those with whom He came into contact to turn from sin, so even as He hung out with publicans and sinners it was never from a stance of participating in their falleness. This is not something to make light of; the walk of the cross is a walk of holiness and righteousness. Yes we did go extreme with the stance of legalism in expecting us all to look the same and sound the same once we were Christians; but the definition of Christian/church must not change. We are the ecclesia or called out ones, called to be salt and light. We can only be this if our lifestyle is different as a result of our own personal transformation by the power of Jesus Christ. At the same time we must rid ourselves of the “Christian club mentality” if we hope to reach the lost. I would hate to see the concept of missional become degenerated to a point where there seems to be a complete absence of standards and where people think that anything goes. Mind you, from my readings of Michael Frost and my watching of a number of videos I do not believe that this is the true definition of missional but ultimately as people get hooked on a new word and on a movement there is always the possibility of it being watered down and evolving into something that it was never meant to be. This is why it is necessary to keep the dialogue gong but to also lace it with prayer and a careful study of the scriptures. I do agree with the stance of a need for balance.

I’m absolutely amazed to find that there’s a book called “ReJesus”. Only recently at our local fellowship in Barbados “Break Free”, we did a study over a few Sundays entitled “Jesus Revisited”. The premise for these study sessions was to bring us into a closer awareness of who Jesus really is and was (in terms of his walking the earth over 2,000 years ago). Through our many years of ministry and involvement in Church life we have seen that who Jesus is has often been relegated to the back-burner of the life of the church. Many Christian are caught up with the fads of titles and movements; with worship “correctness”; doctrinal distinctives; theological arguments and even with Old Testament symbolism and liturgical practice while failing to focus on the bed-rock of Christianity and of the Christian Church; Jesus Christ Himself. In our study sessions, those in attendance basically agreed that their perceptions of Jesus were based on popular artistic imagery and on “traditional religious perceptions” of “gentle Jesus meek and mild”;( who wouldn’t harm a fly). Our revisioning of Jesus through the word of God causes many of us to see Him again as the radical social warrior which He was AND IS; someone who went against the grain of society and was not afraid to question and challenge the status-quo. What excited us most was our realization that Jesus didn’t shun sinners for fear of contamination; he interacted with the most unlikely of associates in the most questionable of places and what motivated Him most was the realization that he was carrying out His father’s mission; it was never ever about His image; It was and is entirely about His unconditional love for lost humanity. We too are called to continue God’s mission in the world in the Spirit of radical personal and social transformationism; we need a fresh new look at Jesus through the fresh lens of His word to understand how exactly we must follow suit. It calls for us to descend from the pulpits and meet people where life is happening. This is exactly what Jesus did; it is the essence of missional living.

We’ve just come through the very harried and exciting Christmas season; a time when Christians for sure should reflect on the single event that altered history for all time; God’s entrance into the human sphere and into human experience in the form of a man; the putting aside of His majesty, glory and royalty to become one of us and doing it without an attitude or superiority complex (some of us cannot even muster being an Elder/Pastor without an attitude). Christ (the Word of God as seen in Genesis) became flesh so that He could live among men; He incarnated Himself as a human being so that He could reach us and show us how possible it is to live righteously before God. It’s an awesome reminder to the Church during this season and beyond about what God expects of us. We must be an incarnational community of people;patterning ourselves after the model of Jesus; becoming flesh or “real”; exposing ourselves; our weaknesses; our failings so that the transforming power of Christ may be more effectively evidenced in us. We are not superior to the world; we are humbly transformed by the wonderful grace of God and our lives must be open books which tell others that basically if He took me and is still taking me (albeit kicking and screaming) out of my mess; then surely He can do it for you. Let’s inhabit the earth and be a part of the world Christ came to save, even though spiritually we’re not of it (we live by different rules; march to the beat of a different drummer) but we must be present if we’re going to transform humanity through the power of Christ; it won’t happe magically from the sidelines of heaven, (nor from the comfort and beauty of varnished pews and stained glass windows). Let’s step into the places where ordinary people walk; let’s live in their spaces and share their experiences (without sin!?)Let’s be energized and motivated to not just focus on Christ’s incarnation at this time of the year; but let us Live it; really; INSIDE OUT! The peole who live among us are waiting.