Incarnational

The kids were invited last week to come to a friend's house to swim. It was a hot day, and they were thrilled for the opportunity. I gladly supported the event, even though I sat this one out and just watched. Our older three kids are capable of swimming solo, or at least with the help of a noodle in the deep end. Madison was the one who would need a buddy.

Frank took all the safety precautions -- got her in a life preserver, and put a rope across to divide the shallow end from the deep. Pam came along and sat by Maddie at the step, and they talked and played for a bit. Before long, Pam went and got her suit so she could help Maddie in the water.

I had no idea the full extent at the time, but what unfolded before me was a beautiful picture of tenderness. I began to embrace the idea of coming alongside someone. We need each other. At various stages and seasons of our life, we may be the one who is in an unfamiliar place and afraid and in need, or we may be the one who has walked it before and can help someone else.

In Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz, it says, "There is this lie floating around that says I am supposed to be able to do life alone, without any help, without stopping to worship something bigger than myself. I need someone to put awe inside me; I need to come second to someone who has everything figured out."

I've come into a spacious place this year. A place where the more I get to know of my own complexities, I realize the bigger God is. I am learning to rest in not having closure on everything, not understanding all of the answers, and living with ambiguity. God Himself has everything figured out. He didn't make us to live this life alone. We are to be about the work of incarnational ministry -- God in the flesh -- God in you ministering to me, God in me reaching out to you.

What occurred to me with Pam and Maddie was so simple, but so foundational to us as Christians if we want to be a part of this incarnational, relational connection to other human beings. Pam was able to help Maddie because she had been in the water before. Perhaps at one time she had to face her own fears of the water, or learn how to swim. But in her own growth and experiences, she was better equipped to reach out and help another.

I guess I wonder if believers today are really willing to go to deep places. Not just reading a book or taking a Bible Study, but open to being changed and stretched far beneath the surface of appearances. Are we willing to ask hard questions that we don't have answers for? Are we willing to search our own heart and get to the root of our unrest? Are we willing to own up to our personal fears, doubts, and pain? Because if I were Maddie, I wouldn't want to be getting in the water with someone who has never been there themselves. If I am going to go deep in my walk with Christ and really live the thing, I want to find someone else who is willing to go deep too. If I am suffering, I want to know someone who has endured a seasaon of suffering and has come through stronger and better for having been through it.

"The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there." (Henri Nouwen, Wounded Healer)

The gift God has for us, the way He created us for, is shared life. Coming alongside. Not alone. This doesn't come through surface relationships. We can't know more of ourselves or more of each other by keeping at a distance. Shared life comes as we are willing to get to know what is in ourselves and then intentionally connecting with others. The more we know of ourselves, the more we will grow in intimacy with each other. God in us and between us and surrounding us -- He is in the midst of it all -- teaching us, growing us, healing us -- primarily and foundationally in the context of relationships with one another. God intends for us to be connected.

I heard a sermon that ministered to me as it spoke about being very present and available to each other. "We are called to be a priesthood -- a priest mediates the divine. We need someone to join us. We need someone to walk with us. A divine reminder that we are not alone. God has not abandoned us. God is with us. God is here." (Brad Gray)

As we allow ourselves to be fully engaged in who we are, and are willing to connect into meaningful relationships with others, we open ourselves up to more of God too. We see Him in each other. We hold His hand or feel His embrace through each other. He teaches us as we come alongside and share and dialogue together. But even in this divine beauty, there is enormous risk. Are we willing to open ourselves up to be known or seen? Are we willing to be vulnerable and risk being hurt? Are we willing to sacrifice what it takes to be available to another?

Jesus was and is incarnational. "The God that Jesus points us to is not a god who stands at a distance." (Rob Bell) Let the body of Christ rise up and come near.