Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

I spent part of last Friday night with some friends in a Ventura bar / lounge called HUSH. Hush is owned by a friend of mine, Jared Williams. I met Jared when we were shooting photos for the Sacred Ink website :: Jared is one of the tattooed Christ-Followers featured in Sacred Ink.

Jared and his wife Regina own and operate the Hush Lounge and the adjacent restaurant. Hush is a very classy high end velvet rope variety lounge in Ventura California. Friday night I stopped in at Hush to visit with Jared and ask him about what God was doing in his life and ministry (there’s not a real division between the two for Jared).

Jared is a missional follower of Jesus and his establishment is a great place for him to incarnate into the clove-smoke scented world of well dressed lounge lizards and lizardesses, many of whom don’t yet know Jesus. Hush is also opened monthly as a meeting place for the unique church Jared is a leader in.

Incarnational ministry is not a new idea…

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. - John 1:14

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- Philippians 2:5-8

Incarnational ministry places the place in its place: it makes the location of reaching people secondary to act of loving the people in the location. It’s a joy to see a God-filled young guy like Jared loving and engaging martini-holding Ventura-ites. Most people having martinis don't have the good fortune of being loved in Jesus’ name during the cocktail hour.

Interestingly, Jesus did some cocktail-hour incarnation: check it out in John chapter 2

If the concept of Incarnational / Missional ministry is newer to you, check out this great book:

The Shaping of Things to Come - Michael Frost and Alan Hirsh