| September 10, 2008 | by Pastor Brian |
| "Escape" is a word that most find relief in. Escape is about leaving behind our problems, worries or unhappy circumstance. I think most Christians initially believed in Jesus to escape something. For most it was probably hell; for others it might've been loneliness, fear or guilt. Escapism is a big drive in human culture. We long to get away from the stresses, the illnesses and the weariness of life and society. We dream of getaway vacations. PS3s and Xboxes offer prime virtual escapes for the mind. Plastic surgery offers an escape from aging or physical discontent. Escape is the natural urge of humanity in a flawed world and nature. But escapism is against God's nature. While we are looking for an escape, God strives for an entrance. While we want to leave the world and its troubles, God wants to enter into it. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is God entering the frailty of humanity with all its problems in order to provide redemption. The Incarnation is one of the fundamental bases for why I church plant. John 1:14 read Jesus became flesh and He lived among us. Church planting is incarnating the body of Christ, God's grace and the gospel in spiritually and socially broken places. It is about entering into a community and becoming part of that community because we love it and desire to see it redeemed, as much as God loved the world and entered into the human community in order to redeem it. My work of church planting is an act of incarnation with a small "i." It is an act of entering into a community and embodying my faith in it. It is journeying with the Lord's prayer: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10). There are too many who look forward to heaven while God looks forward to bringing His kingdom to earth. God is not about escaping; He's about entering. We need more Christians who will love those in the world, incarnate their faith in their community and have the desire to bring God's kingdom into the world with the gospel. God wants people who will cease escaping and start entering. | |