Incarnational Evangelism Part 1

Here is what I mean when I talk about incarnational evangelism. The incarnation refers to the time that God left heaven took on flesh and came to dwell with fallen humanity in Jesus Christ. God became one of us. As the Message Bible says, "God came to dwell in the neighborhood." God was among us identifying with us, teaching us, healing us and loving us.

In speaking about incarnational evangelism I am talking about evangelism that is significantly different in method than attractional evangelism. In incarnational evangelism the church does not say we are here "y'all come now", it brings the church and is the church to people in the world. In incarnational evangelism followers of Jesus leave the four walls of the church to bring good news into their families, workplaces, schools, and other activities. The direction of incarnational evangelism is always outward and is modeled in the lives of followers of Jesus.

Incarnational evangelism is also more personal. It is not 10,000 piece postcard mailers but conversations over coffee, servant evangelism projects, or events that usually happen inside the church happening outside the community. Incarnational evangelism relies heavily on relationships as a way to help people come to experience the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

We have a saying at New Season: "We need to get the hell out of the church. Both literally and figuratively." There is almost nothing that can be done inside the four walls of the church that can't be better done outside the four walls of the church.