Leadership and the Incarnation: Reflections on Cross-Cultural Marketplace Mission and the Role of the Church

Abstract

The leadership model of Christ’s incarnation provided a framework for this research study on the relationship between the church and cross-cultural marketplace mission workers. The author explored leadership through the lens of Christ’s roles as prophet, priest and ruler, applying this model to his own leadership journey and to the context of cross-cultural marketplace ministry. The research project incorporated the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) 2016 Canadian Evangelical Mission Engagement Study (CEMES) survey, which viewed the idea of professionals and business owners working cross-culturally as missionaries positively. Pastors were asked for more information about their church’s engagement with professionals and business owners interested in cross-cultural mission work. The responses to the survey suggested that pastors viewed this approach positively but not many of their churches had made use of the model. Promoting the model to increase familiarity in the church, ensuring Biblical teaching on a theology of work and vocation, and addressing pastoral concerns about cross-cultural and theological training for cross-cultural marketplace mission were all suggested by the research as possible ways to strengthen churches’ engagement with this approach. Christ’s incarnational example of humility, sacrifice and service suggests a framework for agency and church leadership seeking to explore this marketplace mission context together.