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Holistic & Contextual Ministry
From the General Director
This is the fifth Witness in a five-part series that explores Multiply’s Foundational Values.
Incarnational Life
At my oldest brother Rob’s funeral a couple of years ago, I learned a few things about him I never knew. I knew that the people and country of Bangladesh were deep in his heart, and that it was only when he was in that country that he truly felt at home. He served there with his wife, Helen, for many years, started their family there, lived out his faith in Jesus with MCC in community development, and returned many times in the years that followed.
But what I didn’t know is that when he first went as a young, single man, in the early 1970s, he lived on his own in a remote village with the people, while the rest of his team lived in the compound in the big city. This pushed him into deep relationships as he daily needed the help of locals. He learned the language well. So well that one Bengali friend who spoke at his funeral said he talked to Rob a couple of times on the phone before he met him in person. When he finally met him, the first words of surprise out of his mouth were, ‘You’re white!!” Rob sounded just like a Bengali national on the phone.
Rob taught me that incarnational ministry means being up close and personal to the people you are loving and serving. Nowhere do we see this more powerfully than in the incarnation of God—God with us.
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14 NLT). This is the remarkable story of the Gospel, that God humbled himself to come and serve among a particular people, in a particular context, at a particular time in history, with humility and purpose.
As a first century Jew, Jesus was circumcised, learned to speak the local languages, ate ethnic food, and laboured at a socially acceptable trade. He adapted himself to the Jewish temple worship and synagogue teaching practices so that he might, with a quote from Isaiah, herald his ministry on earth. He chose the well-known role of a wandering rabbi, indigenizing his salvation message, and teaching about the kingdom of God with familiar literary devices and culturally relevant parables so that his stories would be understood by those involved in the agriculture and fishing industries of Galilea.
Jesus engaged the whole person, providing hope and freedom for the darkness and sin in their lives, as well as addressing a whole range of mental, physical and social needs that were present.
The Mennonite Brethren have a rich, 150-year history of mission. Birthed out of a move of the Holy Spirit that inspired passion for worship, personal holiness, church renewal and evangelism, MBs have always embraced a holistic mission that is both local and global, seeking to reach not only the lost abroad, but also the diaspora in North and South American colonies, as well as the lukewarm within their own churches.
Each of these mission fields has a very different context, requesting a very different approach. Wherever God sends us, we are called to communicate and live out the Gospel in ways that will be understood. Mission is accomplished through Incarnation - our whole lives engaged in kingdom work together with the whole lives of others.
Matthew 5-7 - Salt and Light - Proximity
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a radical, beautiful invitation into kingdom living. Jesus captures a holistic Gospel addressing the whole person. He teaches about the importance of the condition of our hearts, our understanding of the kingdom, the impact of our actions on relationships, and the power of the words that we say. This is the nature of what life in the kingdom looks like, when empowered by the Spirit. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus teaches with two powerful metaphors that are to be evident in our lives of faith - salt and light.
The application of the metaphor of salt and light are many—I want to focus on proximity. What strikes me about light is that it can be seen from a distance, as Jesus says, like a city on a hill. The good deeds of our lives make a kingdom impact when the truth and grace of Jesus are shining out to the world around us for all to see Jesus through us.
Salt is different. For its effects of flavor, preservation, or transformation of any kind to take place, it must make contact with the food. The saltiness of our lives also requires personal contact and to be embedded deep within cultures and relationships.
Light can be experienced from a distance. Salt must be encountered up close—it’s very personal.
Jesus’ statements about salt and light are both a statement of fact and a prophetic declaration of the ‘now and not yet’ kingdom. He is saying, ‘we are salt and light’.
Not that we might be, but that we already are, and it’s an invitation to become more fully what God has already made us to be.
Holistic and Contextual Ministry
At Multiply, our primary focus is on helping everyday disciples multiply, so that the world may know Jesus. Every church we partner with has a specific global context for disciple-making and church planting, and our goal is to support and serve them in these ministries. This is the work that only the Christian Church can do—helping people become fruitful followers of Christ in their everyday lives. But we also recognize that we are whole beings, and that all effective ministry recognizes not only the spiritual needs, but also those needs that are social, physical, and mental. Our gospel needs to be a holistic kingdom gospel and not a false dichotomy that separates the spiritual from the physical.
In Dean Flemming’s book, “Recovering the Full Mission of God,” he articulates three interrelated components of mission—being, doing, and telling. He writes that our identity and character must capture the kingdom of God, reflecting our ‘being,’ and that our lives need to give witness to God’s transformative power. The ‘doing’ of our gospel witness must include works of justice, mercy and service, addressing the needs of the marginalized and oppressed. Only then does the verbal proclamation of the Gospel (telling) have rich soil in which to be planted in the lives of people.
Flemming argues that these three aspects are not to be compartmentalized but are integrally connected. He states, “We don’t simply do mission. We are mission. And what we do and say flows out of who we are.”
Throughout this edition of the Witness, you’ll read stories of people living out the Gospel holistically and contextually in many diverse settings. This requires a posture of humility and service, as we encounter the transforming power of Jesus and his kingdom, together. Contextualization does not mean that we compromise the fundamental truths of Scripture, but it does mean letting go of the excess baggage of our personal and cultural preferences.
Bruce Enns
Road 3:16
Ukrainian & Slavic Diaspora in Canada | By Nikki White
Denis and Albina Nikitin are reaching the Slavic diaspora in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the hope of the Gospel. Their ministry is comprehensive, and their empathy springs from first-hand experience at seeing lives turned upside-down.
“I was born and raised in Moscow,” Denis shares. “I saw my atheist parents lose the foundation of their lives when the Soviet Union collapsed. Yet, this was also how their journey to God began. I know personally how a crisis can open our hearts to the Gospel.”
At age eleven, he began attending a Christian church in Russia with his parents. Over the next few years, Denis watched a transformation take place in their lives. “The foundation of their lives was turned upsidedown again, but this time it was by choice—the best of all possible choices!”
I realized that the faith of my ancestors would not save me; I needed to know God—and have him know me—personally.”
His wife Albina, also began her journey with Jesus at age eleven. “Even though my dad was a pastor in Moscow and my grandparents were devoted Christians, I began to wonder: Is it enough? Is it enough for me to just be a good person, not commit big sins, go to church, pray a little? I realized that the faith of my ancestors would not save me; I needed to know God— and have him know me—personally.”
Albina and her husband met while Denis was studying in a Bible School. On graduation Sunday, the small school scheduled a celebration service in a local community hall, which Albina inadvertently ended up attending.
“I was invited by our youth group to a Christian concert,” she recalls, “but they mixed up the dates. When I arrived at the community hall, there was no one there! Then one of the staff told me, ‘The concert was yesterday, but people from your sect are singing upstairs, on the second floor.’” Albina then explained, “Orthodox people in Russia refer to Evangelical Christians as a sect, you know.”
Curious, Albina went upstairs and found herself in the service that Denis was attending. “I think it was God’s providence,” she says with a smile. “There was a spark between us right from the start.”
The spark they experienced was more than just romance; it was a shared passion for mission. The couple was focused on ministry right from the beginning of their marriage, and immigration to Canada simply meant a new frontier for reaching the lost.
“We began pastoring the Slavic Evangelical Church in the west end of Winnipeg in 2019,” Denis says. “The problem was that most of Winnipeg’s 5000 Ukrainian and Russian speakers lived in the northeast corner of the city. So, together with some Ukrainian friends, we started doing outreach events in the apartment buildings in that end of the city. We did ten events throughout the year, with up to sixty people attending each one. People began expressing interest in church, but our Slavic church was over one hour away by bus! Besides this, new immigrants often have to take jobs which require that they work weekends as well as weekdays. Sunday morning church was, for them, impossible.”
In partnership with Eastview Community (MB) Church, they began to envision a fellowship that would meet later on a Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, the leadership team at their Slavic church grew and, in November 2024, Denis felt it was time to resign as pastor of the Slavic Evangelical Church.
“One month later, we launched a new ministry. We called it Road 3:16.”
The name came from their whimsical observation that so many city streets in Winnipeg had numbers instead of names. “It’s not so common where we come from,” Denis shrugs, “but when we thought about it, we saw that John 3:16 is also a kind of road—the road to salvation through Jesus. That’s how the name ‘Road 3:16’ came to us!”
Their ministry involves a presentation of the Gospel that addresses both spiritual and practical needs. For refugees coming to Canada out of the trauma of war, this offers healing, forgiveness, and hope—in and through the community of God’s people. For immigrants facing the added complexities of integrating into a new culture, it offers tangible support.
“We begin at 4:30, with an English conversation class,” Denis says. “One hour later we have a coffee break—this is such an important thing! It is during this time that we build relationships. New immigrants need someone to listen to them, to know them, to care about them. Even our church services, which follow this break, are kept informal, open for questions and stories. We want people to find a sense of belonging—in Canadian society, in our church community and, ultimately, in Christ.”
From this holistic approach, beautiful fruit is being born, as in the life of a woman named Oxana.
Oxana had been brought to the Slavic Evangelical Church by a couple that had helped her to find a job, but her shift work often made it impossible for her to attend Sunday morning services. The launch of Road 3:16 on
Denis and Albina are serving as missionaries in Winnipeg, in partnership with the MB Conference of Manitoba. Their heart is to reach Ukrainian and Slavic newcomers with the good news of Jesus Christ. Pictured here with their children Karolina and Timothy.
Sunday evenings offered a way for her to continue to be discipled. “It was a long journey for her to come to the Lord,” Denis admits. “She would only come occasionally to our Bible studies, picnics or other events.”
At first, Oxana did not share many details of her life in Ukraine. “It is a very sensitive topic,” Denis admits, “and not easy to speak about. Over time, she shared that her husband was conscripted into the army and died almost at the beginning of the war. It was very hard for her, and especially for her daughter, who was only seven. I remember how tough it was for them both when we celebrated Father’s Day.”
Even through the pain, Denis and Albina could see that God was at work in Oxana’s heart. “In April, a word of repentance touched her deeply,” he relates, “and she finally made the decision to become a follower of Jesus. We were so glad!”
Looking ahead, Road 3:16 anticipates seeing many more Ukrainian immigrants giving their hearts to the Lord. “Please pray for us,” Denis says. “Pray for all those who come to our English class and to the Road 3:16 fellowship. May God touch their hearts and bring them to salvation. May our team of volunteers serve as the hands and feet of Jesus.”
GO
You can reach internationals in your community and around the world through our SOAR and ACTION programs. Train locally and go globally. Find out more at multiply.net/go
This is what God’s Love Looks Like
THAILAND | By Christopher Lane
Every eye must have been on him as he stood in his hometown synagogue, accepted the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and read: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Imagine the response when, after giving the scroll back and taking his seat, he added, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4)
In that brief but very dramatic moment, Jesus declared his purpose for coming. He was on a rescue mission to fulfill God’s promise: sacrificially winning our liberation from sin and death, providing mankind with an invitation to spiritual freedom, as well as physical, emotional, and social relief.
Following Jesus’ example and in accordance with the mandate of Scripture, Multiply seeks to engage in that same holistic style of ministry: sharing the Gospel and addressing the needs of the whole person to facilitate transformation.
When Multiply’s Carmen Owen began sharing Jesus with young women in a juvenile prison in Northern Thailand in 2011, it wasn’t with the idea of establishing a holistic ministry. Following nine years of church planting, she and her husband, Andy, were serving in leadership roles—Andy as Southeast Asia Regional Team Leader, and Carmen as Member Care Facilitator. Together they also facilitated culture and language training for new Multiply missionaries arriving in Thailand. Visiting the prison was simply something she did in her free time—on the side, with the help of a growing ministry team—to share the love of Jesus with young incarcerated women.
But God, in his supernatural creativity and compassion, had something much bigger in mind.
“That began a journey I never saw in my life trajectory,” Carmen recalls with a laugh. “For many years, we had been fruitfully church planting and some beautiful churches had been planted. That growth meant that our team needed to divide to train more leaders who could make disciples and plant more churches. And yet, it still felt like something was missing in our missiology—new believers needed discipleship training that was also holistic and sustainable.”
Carmen says she and her ministry team witnessed God impacting hundreds of lives. As more and more young women in the prison began responding to the redeeming love and power of the Gospel, dozens of women committed to following Jesus wholeheartedly in baptism. “Many of them were discipled, following Jesus faithfully inside the walls, desiring to see their lives change, desiring to experience something different
when they got out.” But, once they were released, Carmen says, it felt like “throwing them to the wolves” without an established support system.
It quickly became apparent to Carmen that while the girls in the prison were receptive to the gospel during their sentences, they were extremely vulnerable upon release. Many exited the prison as disciples of Christ, but found themselves immediately confronted by an oppressive, toxic environment of poverty, abuse, drugs, and sex trafficking.
“When we realized this was where our believing disciples were going, because it was really the only option for them, we started praying and asking the Lord for an opportunity to do something different. We knew discipleship needed to look different—they needed the opportunity to follow Jesus in a whole new paradigm. That’s when we started a program called Freedom Textiles. We began to train girls inside the prison to sew and invited them into a small business program once released. Little by little, we added other trades.”
Though they could see what God desired for these girls and women—an abundant life as growing disciples of Christ—they didn’t know how to get them there. So, together with missionaries Cynthia Friesen and Sandy Fender, and national partner, Siriwan, they prayed.
“We didn’t have a grand trajectory of business as mission, we didn’t have a business plan. We didn’t have a lot of resources. But we had faith.”
“We didn’t have a grand trajectory of business as mission,” Carmen admits. “We didn’t have a business plan. We didn’t have a lot of resources. But we had faith.”
That led to the birth of Naomi House in 2020—a sewing business and safe haven for at-risk women and marginalized families that serves as a center for discipleship, worship, prayer, and a catalyst for community development and outreach.
“These women, whatever their stories, struggle to get work,” Carmen explains. Naomi House provides them with an income, an identity, and quality of life. “Many have worked in sweatshops. Many have worked in human and drug trafficking. Many have worked the fields where they are unpaid and only receive daily meals.”
In Naomi House, the goals are discipleship, empowerment, and for the women, their families, and their communities to be transformed by the gospel. This ministry provides a wage that will sustain them, allowing them to plant their own gardens and pursue education that can help break the poverty cycle. The Naomi House is also committed to seeing the families of these women reunited and restored, as well as providing education for their children.
“There are many methods and many avenues for building disciples, for reaching the lost, for planting churches. What we’re doing is missional business. The bulk of the leadership is in the hands of our national partners so that they receive advocacy and favor as they work in partnership with social workers, prison officials, and local schools.”
Naomi House now sews for several companies in North America, and also markets their own brand in Thailand and North America.
“Our vision is to see every woman who comes to Naomi House go back to their home village to share the Gospel through their testimony.” Siriwan and her husband, Wichian, continue to disciple Naomi House women and families to follow Jesus, and lead others to follow Him.
Carmen, Siriwan, and their team are amazed and humbled by the impact Naomi House has had. They are so grateful for the mutual partnerships between Naomi House and friends in North America.
Carmen says she has prayed, “‘Lord, thank you for allowing me to see all of this beauty—the beauty of what you’re doing in Thailand and the beauty of the journey from the beginning to where we are now. This is truly what God’s love looks like.”
GIVE
You can be part of what God is doing through this unique and timely ministry. Your financial support for Naomi House will help transform lives and communities in Thailand. multiply.net/naomi-house
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
Matthew 25:37–39
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
~ Jesus Matthew 25:40
With the Help of Innocent
BURUNDI | By Nikki White
“We talk a lot,” Multiply’s international partner Aurélie Hirschler said, speaking of Innocent, a fellow teacher and one of Multiply’s key national leaders in Burundi. “It is not unusual for us to have three-hour meetings–talking and strategizing and praying, not realizing how many hours have passed by!”
What are these meetings about? The dynamic power of the Gospel to bring transformation through both word and deed and, in this context, through education.
A former FOCUS apprentice, Aurélie has been serving as an educational advisor at the Karubabi Harvest School, a Christian school in Muramvya, Burundi. Since its launch in 2015, the school has a reputation for educational excellence, as well as a reputation for radical inclusivity. The school is open to all ethnic groups in this country, including two who have been historically hostile to one another, and a third which is unanimously treated with outright contempt: the Batwa Pygmy people.
Aurélie was delighted to see how the classroom could be used to promote the Gospel value of reconciliation. Delighted as she was, adapting to her new surroundings and role was not easy.
“When Aurélie began to teach with us,” Innocent shared, “I could see how much she needed to learn and accept about our Burundian culture, social codes, and even our educational system. I was very aware of the strengths and weaknesses of my own culture, so I tried to help her to understand.”
“I did not see my own biases,” Aurelie admitted. “For example, I criticized the teachers, thinking that they were just doing the bare minimum in their classes. May God forgive my quickness to judge! There was so much that I did not see.”
Innocent took time to help Aurélie gain a bigger perspective, explaining that the challenges faced by the teachers were beyond her imagining. Burundi is plagued with floods, famine, disease, and endemic poverty. Teachers do their best to care for the over 500 students, some of whom, as with the Batwa, have to walk great distances to get to school—with or without shoes, lunch or other basic provisions.
“The terrain is rough where the Batwa students live, and there are no roads,” Innocent related. “Teachers come by bus, but fuel is not always available. And here at the school, the power can be cut at any moment. There is no way to know what each day will bring. How can teachers come prepared when they don’t even know if their students will show up?”
“I did not see my own biases… May God forgive my quickness to judge! There was so much that I did not see.”
Aurélie’s partnership with Innocent was invaluable during those difficult months of transition. “At first, I wanted to revolutionize the whole school system!” she laughed. “With the help of Innocent, my attitude changed. Now I just ask God to make me a blessing to the teachers, so that they don’t have to think about giving up.”
Relationship with her fellow educators took time, and required that she prioritize simple friendship. “I had to win the teacher’s friendship before they would listen to anything I had to say. Let’s be honest! I was much more interested in doing tasks than sitting around the table in the teachers’ room, chatting.”
As she leaned into friendship, the other teachers were, at first, cautious. “I was watched all the time,” she remembered with a grimace.
“This is true,” Innocent agreed. “We would comment on everything: the way she dressed, how she talked, who she was interacting with, how much time she spent in the classrooms, how she led her training sessions…”
As unnerving as this was, over time Aurélie simply had to accept that her life was on display, and so she resolved to live it well and model the priorities of the kingdom of God. While education may be a vehicle for incarnating the Gospel, love was the only means—for her fellow educators, as much as for the students.
“I needed to value relationships more,” she admitted. “I had to stop explaining what I thought was best, and just live it out instead. I had to stop trying to find the solution to every problem, the answer to every question. I have had to accept things that I do not understand. This is an ongoing journey!”
When Innocent, who had been the principal of the elementary school, was promoted to the position of principal of the entire school, Aurélie was thrilled. “My closest collaborator, and a most trustworthy man!” she exclaimed. “I was so glad! But also, I knew I needed
to pray for him. He would be in charge of a fragile workplace and exposed to criticism.”
Innocent’s new position had implications for their professional relationship. Still, despite the hierarchical nature of the Burundian culture, the two continued to work together in respectful mutuality.
“As colleagues we do a lot of research together,” Innocent said. “We share ideas and strategize about how we can see those ideas being implemented. And we still spend much time in prayer; in every possible way, we want to see the good news of Jesus come into the lives of Burundians.”
“Please pray for us!” Aurélie concluded. “Pray for creativity and boldness. Pray that we would teach as servants of Jesus. Pray for grace and perseverance for the staff, that more of us would partner together as brothers and sisters in Christ, as friends. May God equip us to abide in him and produce fruit in abundance!”
GIVE
Partner with Innocent, Aurélie, and the many other Multiply partners who are sharing the Gospel in Burundi. Your gift will help these disciples make disciples who make disciples. multiply.net/burundi
Who We Are A Conversation with a Multiply Leader
“What is God’s calling for us? What does this look like? How do we work that out?”
David (alias) and I were on a video call, separated by thousands of miles, discussing Multiply’s value of holistic and contextual ministry.
David is the director of Multiply’s global training, responsible for developing and implementing the Mission Leadership Training (MLT) curriculum that is being used around the world. He has served for many years in a restricted region.
“Holistic and contextual are two different but related dimensions of mission”
“Holistic and contextual are two different but related dimensions of mission,” David observes. “One of the tensions we face is that Mennonite Brethren have historically carried both a very strong evangelistic, church planting DNA, and at the same time, sought to be holistic in addressing the needs of people.”
To illustrate this, he describes how the early Mennonite Brethren mission workers in India preached the Gospel in villages and also established many schools and hospitals. This was all part of what it meant to go and serve on Christian mission.
“The challenge of holistic ministry is to get beyond the bipolar tension of proclaiming/evangelism and doing/serving,” David explains. “In the West, we tend to perceive these two dimensions of mission on a continuum between two poles and we keep trying to figure out how these two poles relate—should they be balanced, should one be prioritized…?”
David suggests that we need an entirely different picture—rather than perceiving our witness as a continuum between two poles, we could envision our witness as a circle. The circle has three “pie pieces”: what we say (evangelism), what we do (service), and an additional dimension—who we are (our life and testimony). All three are essential for effective and biblical ministry. And as a circle, the starting point can be anywhere. However, our witness must include all three.
W HAT WESAY
WHATWE DO
WHO WE ARE
David highlights how the early church spread the Word while also caring for needs and bearing witness with their lives through relationships. “Holistic mission involves all three dimensions. We must be engaged fully as witnesses to Jesus,” David says.
This dovetails well with the practice of contextual ministry—adapting the message of the Gospel across cultures in order for the good news of Jesus to be heard and understood.
“Contextualization,” David reflects, “is the question of how we enter into another context in order to witness to the Gospel. Jesus’ incarnation is the model.” He draws out four key points from John 1.
First, the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14). “At its heart, ‘flesh’ refers to our humanness and weakness—the capacity to suffer. Jesus came and identified with our weakness. He knows what it means to be human. Part of contextualization is not just what we say, but it’s identifying with people.”
David is convinced that, ironically, it is through our weaknesses rather than our strengths that we will be able to connect with others and point them to Jesus. “How is God going to use us? Primarily through our weaknesses.”
The second important truth is that Jesus “lived among us” (John 1:14). This should be our example of how to share the Gospel. “We need to become part of the neighborhood, actually living among people. It’s not from a distance.”
This drives Multiply’s long-term, cross-cultural mission strategy: learning language and culture, coming in and being part of a community.
Third, Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“This is critical for contextualization,” David says. “There’s no condemnation. Jesus offers grace but he also offers the truth.”
David notes that Christians tend to lean in one direction or the other. Jesus needs to be the guiding focus. “We’re not simply accommodating to culture, but we come in as learners and with lots of grace that frames how we interact. The Gospel is also a call for repentance and transformation—this requires speaking truth.”
The last point David shares is that Jesus came to “explain the Father” (John 1:18). He reveals, reflects, and illustrates who God really is. “Contextualization is not simply trying to bring peace and be part of a community. It must point to the Father and his invitation to be reconciled with him.”
This is how and why Christ came into the world. We need to follow his example.
As we prepare to conclude our video call, David adds, “There’s another dimension. Friendship is the bridge across cultures in a way that nothing else can be. When Jesus says, ‘I no longer treat you as servants, but you are now my friends,’ (John 15:14-15) that opens up a way of relating that goes beyond duty.” David offers Paul as another example, listing a few of his many friends in ministry: Pricilla and Aquilla, Timothy, Titus, Luke...
“How are you engaging with people?” David concludes. “Seeing others as friends builds relationships. Out of that our whole lives are a witness to Jesus.”
David’s insights are a reminder of the complex, challenging, yet essential focus of Multiply’s ministry. The questions he poses also provide us with an opportunity to prayerfully consider our personal interactions with the world: What is God’s calling for me? What does that look like? How do I work that out? How am I engaging with people? How is God going to use me?
How is God going to use you?
“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’” (John 20:21).
PRAY
Ask God to give you opportunities to engage with people, build new friendships, and point others to Jesus. multiply.net/pray
One of Us
By Christopher Lane
What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus Tryin’ to make His way home?
- Joan Osborne, One of Us
When Joan Osborne sang the musically catchy, lyrically provocative hit, One of Us, back in 1995, it caused quite a stir–especially among evangelicals. Some labeled it “misinformed,” others branded it “heresy.” Osborne was called names and even received death threats. That she had the audacity to describe God as a “slob” and invite listeners to imagine him being among us enraged many Christians.
I wasn’t one of them. While some of the lines in the song are theologically murky, I appreciated Osborne’s honesty in asking raw questions that many in our culture continue to ask. The main ones being: Where is God in this messy, tragic, and often painful world? Has he abandoned us?
When interviewed, Osborne responded to concerns by saying, “To me, it seemed like something that a little child would come up and tug you on the sleeve and ask... and I thought it was very beautiful.”
I also appreciated the song because, as a follower of Jesus, I knew the answers to Osborn’s questions. God hasn’t abandoned us. He is present in our world. And, best of all, we don’t have to wonder what if. God DID become one of us. He chose to leave his throne in glory, humbly clothing himself in frail humanity.
In the familiar opening of John’s gospel, the apostle puts it this way: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14, NIV).
Christ came to us, walked with us, experienced our joys, our sorrows, our temptations, and ultimately, as the only sinless God/Man, conquered sin and death.
We refer to this grand, sacrificial act as the “incarnation” (literally, “taking on flesh”). C.S. Lewis called it the miracle of Christianity, noting, “[Christians] say God became Man... If that happened, it was the central event in the history of the earth” (Miracles, 1947).
Rather than simply observe or even advise from a distance, Christ came to us, walked with us, experienced our joys, our sorrows, our temptations, and ultimately, as the only sinless God/Man, conquered sin and death. By developing relationships with a small group of people, living with them, and dying for them (and us), he radically altered the course of mankind’s destiny.
Shockingly, Jesus expects us to do the same. While we cannot attain to his sinless status, we are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him, imitating and demonstrating his incarnational ministry (Matthew 16:24).
As missiologists will tell you, incarnational ministry can be tricky. It involves personal interaction (deep relationships) and cultural immersion (deep understanding), which are always difficult. It takes a heavy investment of time, an enormous amount of energy, and, most of all, Holy Spirit-empowered love.
Multiply’s Jeremy and Adrienne Penner, who serve in SE Asia, provide us with a description of what this can look like: “Someone enters into a community with a heart for Jesus to move there. Maybe it’s their own neighborhood, maybe they move to the next province,
or maybe they move to the other side of the world. They enter into that place incarnationally, like Jesus when He stepped down into our story. Intentionally becoming a local, becoming known, becoming a person of peace and trust and good news. They become a catalyst–like a hot coal being placed into a new pot.”
That sounds like a lot of work. It sounds inconvenient. It sounds exhausting. But Jesus never promised us an easy life. In fact, he promised: “Whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). He has invited us to spend ourselves and our very lives in reaching those he came to save.
What if God was one of us?
The what if is no longer a mystery. It’s now a because of—because he was one of us, because Jesus came and lived among us, because he died and rose again for us— we can be forgiven and know God.
That’s Good News! And we have the tremendous privilege and opportunity to incarnationally share that news with the world.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
PRAY
How is God challenging you to reach your family, community, and city? Ask him to use you to be the hands and feet of Jesus, proclaiming and demonstrating the Good News to a dying world.
