Incarnational Evangelism Part 5

One of the ways incarnational evangelism is carried out is through mission projects. When followers of Jesus go to rebuild homes, rake leaves for the elderly or serve a meal at the homeless shelter they are engaging in incarnational evangelism. They are getting outside the four walls of the church to share Christ's love.

These acts of incarnational evangelism should always be coupled with explaining to those the church is in ministry with about who Jesus is, what he has done and how much he loves those who are being ministered with.

If the church is not going to share Christ in word as well as action then what it does in terms of action is nothing more than social service. Social service is not bad per se, but the church is more than a social service agency. The church is the body of Christ. While social service agencies do things to be nice and for the human good the church's motives for service go beyond merely being do-gooders. The church serves because it has first been served in Christ and is now responding to that love of Christ by serving others. The church, when it serves, is not only offering niceness but also the power of the greatest gift and story ever known to humankind- that of Jesus. When the church serves it does so in the name of and for the sake of Christ. When the church serves it seeks to reveal the Kingdom of God in a real way. Otherwise, the church is just one more social action agency.

So, in the end, acts of service like those mentioned above our ways to be involved in incarnational evangelism. But the church must understand how it is so.