Living as an incarnational expression cannot be done alone.  If we as the church TRULY ARE (not just symbolically, but tangibly) the body of Christ in this world, then as a COMMUNITY we are called to live incarnationally.  As this will inevitably bring great glory to God, living this way also produces several inherent problems.

First, much like any kind of group work, it’s tough to get over the lethargy of an unintentional community.  People who are at rest, tend to stay at rest.  Leaders of faith communities will be charged by God with the responsibility of speaking to the dry bones, and encouraged by God to speak prophetically about what THIS portion of Christ’s Body could like in THIS context at THIS point in history.  Brainstorming, dream casting and carving out opportunities to grow into a more missional incarnation will be essential for every group of God’s called-out ones.

Plan a time to get together and draw up any number of wild, hair-brained ideas.  Nothing is discarded at first, and everyone has something to contribute, because everyone who has accepted the Lordship of Christ has his Spirit living inside him or her.  View this as a “holy experiment” and set a specific, time-bound goal (like experiencing a full day of Sabbath together for six weeks, or choosing to meet and worship at a local coffee house for the remainder of a semester).  Find opportunities throughout the experiment’s time period to reflect on the incarnational praxis.  Afterward, do an group discussion and evaluation.  What sorts of things did we learn?  What things would we do better, or not do next time?  How can we tell others (who know Christ, and who don’t) about our experience together?

A second problem arises when we see the “incarnation” as a “lowering of self”.  It is at this point that the great analogy of the incarnation begins to break down.  We, unlike Jesus, are not descending from our heavenly culture to the dirty, sinful culture of the “other”.  We are learning to traverse cultural and parallel chasms, not descend holy mountain tops.  We are just as marred by sin as anyone else, (even though our minds tell us differently).  Most of the time, this can be done by allowing people opportunities to share their hearts honestly with people of the new culture.  Hate and prejudice comes through fear, and fear comes through ignorance.  Breaking down walls of separation through friendship (done in community) is essential for incarnational living.

Holy experiments are essential to incarnational living.  And going into those experiments with a humble mindset will allow the community to enter a culture as Jesus would: as a humble learner.

I’m writing a paper this semester on my grandfather, Cecil Willis for Adv. Restoration History. He was an editor for a Church of Christ journal entitled Truth Magazine. He made quite a splash among the most conservative branches of the fellowship…preached all over the country, wrote a book, and most importantly for this blog post, did a lot of research into family history.

Recently, my father sent me the pages out of the Trinity County (Texas) history book. My grandfather wrote about 10 pages worth on my family history, writing not just names of my ancestors, but actual stories of their lives. I now have with me, a detailed narrative of my own family line going back almost 450 years! It is amazing to see the issues that my family members cared about, fought for, died for. Their faithful devotion to their family is compelling, and their stories as I read them began to weave mysteriously into my own. I am not walking this journey alone.

Did you know that my googleplex-great-grand father Joseph Willis was the first man to preach the Gospel of Christ West of the Mississippi River?!?! They called him, the “Apostle of the Opalousas”!  (What would happen if someone were called “Apostle to the _____” today?)
One last little tidbit - this has been particuarly huge for me today, and I’m still in the process of unpacking it.  I now know the meaning of my complete name:
Mark - Brave, Strong

Gregory - Watchful, watchman

Willis - Son of resolution

A name claims you. You inherit your name, and your story, from your family. Right now I’m working out the name I have been given, and committing to live deeply by it. Resolved, brave, and watchful…a balance of commitment, courage, and caution.

I won’t be the first in my family to take on the Gospel of Christ - Shoot - I’m not even the first guy in my ancestry to have a blog! (what you do think those old CoC journals were back in the day?)

I go out as a man carrying the torch that has been lit for centuries. I hold it high, resolved to carry it bravely into new places, adding a new chapter to the story. Not just the Willis story, but THE STORY. What’s your family history?  How are we affected by it?

Read with me these lyrics from Sara Groves, admittedly one of my favorite muscians out there:

From, You Are the Sun

You are the sun shining down on everyone
Light of the world giving light to everything I see
Beauty so brilliant I can hardly take it in
And everywhere you are is warmth and light

And I am the moon with no light of my own
Still you have made me to shine
And as I glow in this cold dark night
I know I can’t be a light unless I turn my face to you

Without you I’m a cold dark stone…

When I think about these words, I think first about the spiritual community I am a part of.  Our simple church can focus on reflecting a lot of things: the world around us, the traditional church (”Honey, I shrunk the CHURCH!”), or even ourselves (the fact that we are “radical” or “alternative”).

God puts things in nature for us to pay attention to.  When I hear the words from this song, I am reminded that the only thing a community can center itself on that brings true, redemptive life is our Lord, Jesus Christ.  All too often groups/denominations/social agencies begin with a clear reflection of Christ all over them, but soon it becomes not enough for them, and they begin looking elsewhere.  Churches and denominations find solace in legalism and routine, models and strategy.  Social agencies fall to the other side of the fence, losing Christ among the bustle of changing society and improving neighborhoods.

What might a truly redemptive community look like?  One that gives everything it has to Christ, and then waits to see what might come out of it?  A family that is so devoted to reflecting the brilliant light of Christ that everything they do spreads light in the darkness?

I’ll be honest, its not as easy to focus on Christ as it sounds.  Staring at the sun is not always fun.  It usually ends up burning a hole in the back of your eyes.  What might happen to our spiritual family if all we did was focus on the revolutionary Christ?  We’re about to find out…

*One simple step in this process has been reading through the materials put up on RUrevolutionary.com.  This is a site that is devoted to taking the focus off church, and putting it back on the subversive Christ, who overturned a whole country, empire, and the whole world!  There are some sweet ebooks we are studying together, and asking ourselves what it means for us today.  I’ll keep you all up to date on what we discover!

“So what’s going on with your blog?”  Some have been asking me as of late.  While it is still a work in progress, Curtis, Trina and I are working to recast this blogsite into an honest-to-goodness, true-blue website!

In hopes of raising awareness of what Trina and I are currently up to, and planning to do up in Chicago, she and I have been thinking (scheming may be a more appropriate word!) about how we might go about telling as many people as possible about our dream.

What is our dream anyway?  Well, while we’re still getting the kinks worked out, its simply this: We desperately want to see people changed for Jesus - and we want to see these transformed lives in dynamic connection to each other, and in close reach of those who have not yet come into relationship with our Lord, all throughout the great city of Chicago.  An entire metropolitan area of over 3 million people…that’s a dream that will take nothing short of an act from God.  And that’s exactly what we’re praying for.
We don’t want to be the center of some kind of spiritual food chain or church planting movement.  I don’t even want to think of things in terms of planting churches.  Can I just be faithful with what and who the Lord has given me, and be happy to see him let it grow?

We don’t want to pass out tracts.  We’re not going to Chicago to preach the same message heard 1,000 times over.  In fact, there may be little to no preaching done at all (much to the chagrin of my homiletics professors!)  Truly, we want our lives to be laid out on the altar for everyone to see - we will NOT live for our own sake, but for Christ’s mission.  Helping the poor, enabling the disabled, fighting for justice…I could spend a lifetime doing just that.

So…the website…this is a platform for us to stand on.  This is our pulpit.  It is a place to cast the vision.  It is a place to plead for the souls of Chicago, and for every North American. I know there are others already looking for radical, alternative ways to follow Christ’s “Way”.  I want to find them.  I want to learn from them, and I want to show them what I see God already doing  right across this nation.  This is the kind of thing that gives me goosebumps!

This isn’t about getting funds, though there will be a place on our site to support the work Trina and I will be doing.  We want to intentionally share our vision with anyone who stumbles across our little corner of the web.  More than anything, we beg that you lift us up to God for protection and support.  This is kind of a new step for us.  Please be patient; we’re going to put this site through a couple of face lifts.  Let us know what you think!