As our 2022 race comes to an end over the next few days, it is a great time to reflect upon the upcoming race marked out for us by our Commander in Chief, Jesus, in 2023. Since the incarnation is at the heart of Christ’s mission to redeem his people and renew creation, how does the incarnation impact our mission as Christ-following men? That is the question we seek to answer in this episode.
Max Lucado, being the word smith that he is, makes the incarnation come alive. He writes,
"Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable through the womb of a teenager. She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey! This baby had overlooked the universe. These robes keeping him warm were the rags of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen…. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. The omnipotent, in one instant made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.”
“God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother. He came not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty. No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party” (God Came Near).
The first bed for the High King of heaven was not in a palace. It was not even a cradle, but the feeding trough in a filthy stable. Majesty itself visited earth, but there was no royal reception, no cadre of dignitaries, no news camera flashing. The only subjects of this royal king were those with the lowest status on the totem pole—the lowly shepherds. Lucado continues,
“Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched with wonder as the Almighty learned to walk. Children played in the street with him. And had the synagogue leader in Nazareth known who was listening to his sermons…..Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. Perhaps a girl down the street had a crush on him or vice versa. It could be that his knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. His head ached. To think of Jesus in such a light is—well it seems irreverent, doesn’t it?” (Ibid).
This stunning historic event—that we’ve just finished celebrating--has enormous implications for our mission as Jesus’ followers. Here are just a few:
A. The freedom given up by God the Son in the incarnation is unalterable proof of his love for us. Wise marriage counselors point out to young couples that marriage requires the unceasing relinquishing of personal freedoms. You no longer are free to be romantically involved with any other person on the planet. You no longer are free to do what you alone want to do on the weekend, live where you would like to, spend time the way you used to spend it. Love requires giving up your individual freedom to gain the joyful freedom of being loved by another. Love requires giving up your freedom to please your beloved and to care for her needs. “I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I‘ll serve you even though it means sacrifice for me.” That is what the love-bond of marriage is—the denial of my freedom for you. A dear friend who listens to the podcast has, for more than ten years, allowed his life to be radically confined, restricted—because he is called to love a wife who has Alzheimer’s disease. Most of us cherish our freedom—we love the open road. We want autonomy, independence. We hate the straight jacket of constraints upon our freedom. Yet, in love we give that up for our beloved.
The freedom given up by our Lord—the eternal God of the universe—in becoming flesh OUT OF LOVE FOR US is utterly unfathomable. The infinite God imprisoned himself forever in a six-foot human body. Do you remember seeing the cages that prisoners of war have been kept in? Have you visited a dungeon or prison cell that is eight feet by eight feet? Have you ever tried on a straight jacket, or squished into a space so small you can barely breathe? When I was in college, I was wrestling with a 350-pound roommate who got me into a situation where I literally could not move at all. It was one of the most humiliating experiences in my life because my freedom was stripped away at such a deep level. The Word became flesh and tabernacle among us. In love our Lord gave up his freedom FOR US.
"In a most radical way, God has adjusted to us—in his incarnation and atonement. In Jesus Christ he became a limited human being, vulnerable to suffering and death. On the cross he submitted to our condition—as sinners—and died in our place to forgive us. In the most profound way, God has said to us, in Christ, 'I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I’ll serve you though it means a sacrifice for me'" (The Reason for God, by Tim Keller).
Our mission for Christ always begins with, and is motivated by, our call to love the LORD our God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. May contemplating the staggering cost to the infinite God of voluntarily giving up his freedom to forever be housed in a human body set our allegiance to him on fire! May we daily say with Paul, I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 8:38-39).
B. The incarnation exhibits the most powerful form of LEADERSHIP. Our job as the spiritual leaders of our homes is not fulfilled simply by teaching our children God’s truth or reading them the Bible. Leadership is influence. Informing our kids of God’s truth is not enough. We need to win their hearts to embrace God’s truth.
There is something extremely powerful about Jesus entering our world that turns our hearts to him. As Lucado says,
“The tongue that called forth the dead was a human one. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the woman wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears…oh, don’t miss the tears…came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness.” So, people came to him. My how they came to him! They came at night; they touched him as he walked down the street; they followed him around the sea; they invited him into their homes and placed their children at his feet. Why? Because he refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He was touchable, approachable, reachable. There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near to him” (Ibid).
The reason I feel so strongly about the power of incarnational leadership is that I experienced it in my own life. When a guy named, John Hartsock started Young Life at my high school, going to club at kid’s houses, hanging out with friends, laughing at goofy skits, and hearing a few Bible stories would have been great, while it lasted. Some fun memories of high school. But I could not dismiss those messages so lightly—not only because God’s Spirit was working, but because John had won my heart by coming into MY high school world. That world was everything to me, especially my senior year when I happened to be president of the student government. But there was John coming to my high school football and basketball games asking about my SGA activities. No church leader had ever come into MY world. Through incarnational ministry, John won my heart, won me to Gods truth proclaimed at club, and won me to a fuller commitment to Jesus. As a Young Life leader, myself, while attending Penn State, I used to constantly say, “Young Life is not about club on Wednesday night—it is contact work, being at the school for after school practices, and attending games, musicals, and concerts.”
Last week, I mentioned Wayne Alderson who was the Vice President of Operations at Pitron Steel during a time of hostility in his company between labor and management. Putting his Christian faith to work, Alderson realized that as the top manager on the foundry floor he needed to be much more intentional about treating the labors with the dignity that the image-bearers of God deserved. I mentioned several ways he implemented this strategy but saved one for this week. Here’s the story of this incident (Stronger than Steel, by R. C. Sproul).
One day, Alderson stopped to watch a chipper. Chippers had one of the hardest jobs in the plant. It was dirty, filthy work, demanding brute strength and endurance. The chipper’s tool was a large hammer, like a jack hammer, weighing about thirty pounds, which he used to chip away defects from the large steel castings. Some of the castings weighed up to three hundred thousand pounds and were the size of a small house. Wayne stopped and shouted up at the man, “Hey Tony, what are you doing?”
Stifling a curt reply, the man looked at the boss and said simply, “Chipping.”
“It looks like hard work.”
With a weary glance the Chipper said, “It is.”
Alderson said, “Let me have a crack at it.”
With that, Wayne removed his suit coat, rolled up his sleeves, and climbed onto the casting. He asked for the hammer. As the chipper watched in disbelief, Wayne began furiously working with the hammer. His stamina lasted all of three minutes. Sweating profusely and gasping for breath, he said to the chipper, “How much money do they pay you to do this job?”
The chipper told him, and Wayne breathed a heavy sigh. Shaking his hand, he said, “This is tough work. You earn every cent the company pays you.”
Within five minutes every man on the floor had heard about the episode. Alderson, by his gesture, had dignified the least respected task in the plant. It was like the surgeon emptying a bed pan or a banker cleaning the bank’s restroom.
This was just one of the many practices I mentioned last week that won the hearts of labor to trust management and thereby end an 84-day strike. Winning the hearts of our kids through the principle of incarnation is especially important as they reach their teen years, when their adolescent task is to push away from their parents. Always being interested in your child’s world communicates that he or she matters to you. In a collection of stories written by Christians that look back at what their Christian parents did right, Jan Comanda points to this relentless interest of her father and mother in how their day went:
“As little kids we fought to sit on Dad’s knee while he and Mom drank their coffee, talking about what had happened that day. Coffee-conversation was the first order of business when Dad came home from work as a carpenter. This tradition was continued when, as grade-school children we spent our first moments at home talking with Mom. In high school that become for some of us a coffee time lasting almost until supper” (What They Did Right, by Virginia Hearn).
The second incarnational principle that impacts our mission is that getting into the world of our kids amplifies our influence in our kid’s lives.
C.The incarnation provides wisdom for DISCIPLINING our children. Entering into our child’s world when she is about to face painful discipline is especially important to keep the discipline from embittering her . Paul warns the fathers in Colossae, Do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged (3:21). Loving discipline requires two component parts that may appear contradictory but are not. The first is firm, consistent punishment for wrong behavior. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (Prov 13:24). The second is compassion. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him (Ps 103:13). If compassion for our child causes us to repeatedly give in to the child allowing her to escape the consequences of her irresponsible behavior we will turn her into a self-centered monster, crippled for life, because she thinks the world revolves around her. But, if we firmly discipline without compassion for the pain that our discipline brings to her, we will have created a wounded spirit, that may lead to rebellion. Here is an example from Boundaries with Kids of how to get this right.
“No, Kathy, you can’t go to the movies today. You have to do your chores first.”
“That’s not fair! Marcia’s going. I hate your stupid rules.”
“I know. It’s frustrating when you don’t get to the movies again.”
“But I want to go today. You don’t even care!”
“I know you are frustrated and angry. It’s tough to have to work before you have fun. I feel that way too.”
“I hat living here! I don’t ever get to do anything.”
“I know. It’s hard to miss the movies when you really want to go.”
“Well, if you know so much about how I feel, then let me go.”
“I know you want to. It’s tough. But, no.”
“But if I miss this one, there won’t be another sneak preview this summer.”
“That’s sad. It’s a long time to wait. I can see why you hate missing it so much.”
The third incarnational principle that affects how we accomplish our mission is that successful discipline keeps the limit—consequences—in place but empathizes with the pain of the one receiving the punishment.
D. The fourth way that the principle of incarnation impacts our mission is that kingdom expansion is accomplished through EMPTYING OURSELVES. The kingdom expands not by military might and imposing moral values from above as Islam does with Sharia Law. In contrast, the Christian story is of a God who comes down from the heights of absolute being and glory into time and space, down into humanity, down further into cellular phases of life to become a human embryo. Paul views the great “emptying of God” as the model for kingdom disciples.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:3-11).
In Philippians 2 Paul exhorts us to have the same “mind” the Jesus had, who left his privileges and comforts and deeply involved himself in the human condition. B. B. Warfield explains Jesus as our model. “He was led by his love for others into the world, to forget himself in the needs of others…Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and people: it means absorption in them. It means forgetfulness of self in others.” True humility does not think less of oneself but thinks of oneself less. We repeatedly see the same incarnational truth revealed. Just as Jesus’ act of descending to experience every kind of human pain wins our heart, Wayne Alderson won the heart of the chipper and other laborers, and parents need to win the hearts of their teens, incarnational living wins the hearts of the lost around us. In Ministries of Mercy, Tim Keller writes,
“The unbeliever is not necessarily moved by seeing Christians serving the theological and psychological needs of others. They cannot understand the action because they do not feel the need themselves. But unbelievers do feel physical needs. When they see Christians feeding the hungry, comforting the suffering, supporting the financially and physically weak, unbelievers see our service. Through this, hearts can be softened to Christ. This is not just a ‘modern’ theory of communication. The incarnation is the model for it” (Ibid).
Paul identifies two major paths to EMPTYING OURSELVES:
- Get rid of the desire for other’s respect: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Give God your right to respect, your desire to be well-thought of.
- Get rid of self-preoccupation. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Tell God every detail of your needs and watch Jehovah Jireh provide. Then focus on others’ needs.
Just in case we doubt whether emptying ourselves will actually be worth it, Paul points to Jesus our model. Because he emptied himself, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
In short, the challenge of the incarnation to our 2023 mission is to empty ourselves just as Jesus did.
For Further Prayerful Thought
- Comment on the principle that when you love someone you must give up many of your freedoms. How might this thought enrich your understanding of the incarnation?
- What are some of the feelings that you think might accompany being in a eight by eight jail cell for life? Are there other metaphors you can think of to describe the eternal God imprisoning Himself in physical body forever?
- Why do you think incarnational leadership turns the followers’ hearts to the leaders?
- Biblical discipline is keeping a balance of consistent firmness and sympathetic understanding. Which side of this balance do you tend to land on?
- How can you move into 2023 more determined to empty yourself and thus show Christ to others?
