Incarnational Christians - March 12
In today's Scripture Reading from Luke 4-5 we see an excellent example of what it means to be an "Incarnational Christian" in the account of Jesus calling Levi the tax collector to be His disciple.
But what does it mean to be an "Incarnational Christian"? Hmm... Maybe we should start by breaking the word "incarnational" into parts.
First of all, "in-" comes from the Latin "in", which in English means... well... "in"! But "-carnational" comes from the Latin word "carnatus" which means "to make flesh". So to be an "Incarnational Christian" means to be a Christian "in the flesh". A Christian in-person... among people... out and about in the world. Much like our Lord Jesus, even though He was the Almighty God and Creator of all things, came "in the flesh" to be among us - His people that He created!
But Jesus didn't just come to be among some of the people that He created! He didn't discriminate! He came to be "in the flesh" among some of the worst "sinners" of His day too. And that's what made the Pharisees and the teachers of the law so angry with Jesus in Luke 5:30 when they asked, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" But Jesus knew that it was precisely these "sinners" who needed to know that God loved them enough to come "in the flesh" for them, and that's why He replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."
Jesus knew that these "sick" and lost "sinners" could never find Him on their own! He knew that they would never know about His love for them unless He approached them and was the one who did the "incarnating". Which raises the question... are we doing that as Jesus' disciples? Are we leaving our comfort zones to go and find the lost and the "sick" people around us to tell them about a God who came "in the flesh" for them? Or are we simply hoping against hope that they're going to somehow want to come and find us to learn about Jesus on their own? Is that realistic?
Be "incarnate" in someone's life... someone who doesn't know about Jesus. Jesus loved people enough to do it. And He wants us to love them that much too.