Doing Theology From BelowSample

Love with Skin

The model for doing theology from below is the Incarnation – mystery of Word made flesh, or if you like, love with skin. Jesus comes to show us how to embody flesh to become human, fully human. As it turns out, this is a lot harder than it sounds.

"And Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This is incredibly good news. We love the Word part, but the Flesh part is a huge obstacle for most of us, one that we spend an enormous amount of energy trying to avoid – we avoid our flesh. We deny it, suppress it, reject it, judge it, condemn it, and hate it. We project our shame and hatred onto others and hate ourselves there, in them, but let’s be clear what we are hating is ourselves. Jesus comes to undo this by occupying flesh without shame or hatred. God becomes love with skin.

When Jesus invites us to follow him, he invites us to occupy our own skin, without shame. He offers not an escape from our humanity, but a way into our humanity. It’s a counterintuitive journey. The deeper into our humanity we go, the closer we come to the threshold of the divine.

There’s a great scene in the novel, Beloved, by Toni Morrison. In it, the elderly grandmother named Baby Suggs’ delivers a sermon in the clearing. It’s a beautiful example of what it means to teach and preach from below, and celebrate our humanity that God so dearly loves.

Baby Suggs was born into slavery, and gave birth to nine children. All of her children in the novel are presumed dead, except one, who helped her escape to Ohio where she is now the grandmother of the community, the one with the great big heart, the un-churched preacher of a community of former slaves trying to live free. Morrison writes that slave life had busted her legs, back, head, eyes, hands, kidneys, womb, and tongue. She had nothing left to make a living with except her heart.

In one scene, she speaks to her community of former slaves. Morrison writes:

"Accepting no title of honor before her name, but allowing a small caress after it, she became an unchurched preacher, one who visited pulpits and opened her great heart to those who could use it...Uncalled, unrobed, unanointed, she let her great heart beat in their presence."

She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it."

The Word made flesh is love made visible. Love without skin is no love at all. Reflect on what it means for us to see grace made visible.