Missional Embodiment

[featured_image]This concept of missional embodiment is not new. For nearly two thousand years, followers of Jesus Christ have been practicing it.

At a core level, every follower of Jesus is called to practice missional embodiment. In Matthew 4, as Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to follow Him, there is an expectation that as they follow Jesus they will not simply learn from His teaching, but that they will also begin to embody His teaching. They won’t only declare the message, they will also demonstrate the message.

Missional embodiment requires both knowing Jesus and doing what He says.

You can see it when a follower of Jesus actually becomes the hands, feet and voice of Jesus. It’s not a temporary practice, but a change in priorities and habits of one’s life.

It’s a radical shift from the self-focused lives that many people embrace to living out the teachings and practices of Jesus.

Missional – assuming the posture of a missionary, sent by Jesus with the message of the cross in community to those in the cultures around them.

Embodiment – to live out the very teaching and practices of Jesus in tangible ways.

This is truly what Christians are to pursue – aligning their lives with Jesus’ mission and tangibly and practically “being Jesus” to others.

You cannot literally become Jesus Christ, but you can serve and bless others like Jesus. You can love like Jesus. You can be like Jesus in such a way that people start seeing Jesus in you.

Missional Embodiment is being Jesus to everyone everywhere.

It’s not easy. It requires sacrificing your self.

But it’s worth it.