Such phrases as “Incarnational Ministry” or “Incarnational Evangelism” sound biblical and can appear motivational…but are they? Sure such phrases are past their prime and the Christian church has moved on to “Gospel-centered…” this or that. It is always necessary to rightly understand the incarnation and its application to Christian life and ministry. The subject of this post is how the incarnation relates to evangelism.

One of the greatest challenges of evangelism is establishing a connection with the other person that can lead to speaking the Gospel. We can connect but often in ways that dont lead to Gospel-sharing. We can share the Gospel directly, but not having connected to make it momentous.

The incarnation encourages us – for the image of God provided a point-of-contact between God and man, can it not connect man-to-man? What fills the life with value and meaning? Where do they exercise dominion? What is glory to them? We can respond with our own answers and experiences but also bridge to the Good News of ultimate provision for the image of God.

The incarnation convicts us – because God sent His Son to suffer and die, to be rejected among men. Too often our point of contacts we try to win a hearing and appear cool and connected, rather than to lay down our lives for the glory of God. Points of contact will not be cool or cause us to fit in and be accepted, but rather having made contact we must be willing to suffer.

With this being said, lets go forth in the stength of the incarnate Savior and bring the message of salvation to the lost and dying – all the while believing it ourselves.