We tend to think that the thing to be is 'upwardly mobile'. We want to better ourselves - to move up in the world. We aspire to better things all round - and the world of advertising tells us about all the things we need and just how much they will improve things for us.
But if we look to Jesus as a model - and where else should we look - we discover a very different story. As Brian McLaren says: "We're trained by the ladder of success to think it's for climbing, not descending. But God's mobility is opposite to our own." He adds: "When Jesus comes of age, he doesn't climb a mountain and live above the fray in a contemplative cave or commune. No, after a brief period in the wilderness .. he moves continually down into the mess of human history." (Naked Spirituality, Hodder & Stoughton, 2010, p. 255). The incarnation is fundamental to our Christian understanding - and that is nothing more and nothing less than that God came - down - to earth to be amongst us. The task of ministry - of the church - is to be amongst those who need us. Let's get down to it!
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