"Invest and Invite" is a catchy little phrase and the basis of our growth strategy at NewChurch LIVE.  Restated, it means we must "invest" in relationships and then "invite" if and when appropriate. These words though carry with them greater gravity then just a prescriptive catch phrase that informs marketing.

Parker Palmer, a Christian Quaker, wrote the following words about his own spiritual development. "I had embraced a form of Christian faith devoted less to the experience of God than to abstractions about God, a fact that now baffles me; how did so many disembodied concepts emerge from a tradition whose central commitment was to the Word become flesh?"  Christianity without the investment in others clearly is a disembodied concept, uncoupled from the incarnational core of  our faith.

As we approach Christmas, I am struck by how much the story of Jesus' birth is designed to draw us in.  The main characters - Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, the Wisemen - were inspired by angels, faced fears, were asked to travel.  The only individual who did none of these things was Herod, and, well, he does not come out so well in this story.  The point is that all were asked to "invest" in different ways.  When our goals are clear, when trust is present, when we see the star, we move more easily though the fears that surround us will no doubt accompany us on the trip.

Maybe that is the "risk" of investment.  We need to allow the call of Christmas, of Jesus, to actually unsettle us.  That "unsettling" should call us to candidly look at where we are investing our lives.  Are we close to each other?  Are we reaching out?  Are we willing to travel?  Are we willing to look up and see the star, to see the angels, that will call us home?  Can we come to see God incarnate as more than a disembodied concept but as the Other?

No fear, no movement.  No joy, no movement.  No risk, no growth.  Be mindful of this blessed promise, "The Lord is present with you the moment you start to love the neighbor." (Heavenly Secrets)