Some implications of Emmanuel

One puzzling and stunning concept that is central to Christmas is that of the incarnation (God becoming human). Emmanuel is "God is with us". In Jesus God identifies with our humanity, our hopes and joys, our struggles and suffering, our sin and brokenness, our frailty, ...

What does this mean for living as a follower of Jesus? It means we must identify with others in all their complexity, diversity, brokenness, and need.

I find particularly challenging the example of Servants to Asia's Urban Poor. The first of their 5 ministry principles is Incarnation.

We intentionally live with the urban poor, learning from them, building genuine relationships, participating in their lives and struggles, learning their language and their culture, and working out how Jesus’ love can best be shown in their context.