Whether a decision to be made, a ministry to be designed, or a statement to be interpreted, I always want context. I woke up early yesterday morning to the reality that contextual followers of Jesus is my "message" or "passion." It is the reason for my struggle with any church, ministry or follower of Jesus. It's why Divine design matters to me.
Each person was made and has a story. For me to try to live another person's story is to disregard who God made me to be. To disregard how my story fits the world around me is to disregard "us-ness." Ignoring context is to ignore my story, your story, and the wrapping of all our stories into the grand story of life. We need to learn to listen to the stories of the people in our world. Really listen. Every life situation has a context. Every brokenness and strength has a story around it. The church must learn to be God's life restoring influence within those story lines.
That's what Jesus does. That's what incarnation is.
