For many decades during the 20th Century, evangelical whites were emptying out of the cities. This movement of population, most commonly called ‘white flight,’ had the net effect of pushing major American cities into decline. Philadelphia, St. Louis, Baltimore all suffered financially… and spiritually. However, with a renewed vision that the Church should be an institution of transformation, many evangelicals are heading back into the major cities. This is wonderful.
But lots of people live in the suburbs and in the country, too. While the Christian scriptures speak of an eventual Garden-City, I hardly think most of the major cities around the world qualify as what God had in mind. There are many fascinating cultural and architectural achievements in the cities: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Louvre in Paris, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur. But there is unbelievable squalor and filth as people are piled on top of each other not to mention the hideousness of urban blight (the “ruins” of Detroit come to mind). “This speaks to the need of transformation and renewal in the cities.” Yes, but not to the ethical superiority of ministry in the city over against other places.Perhaps my brain has been addled by reading too many Agrarians and too much Tolkien (his love of the pastoral life comes through in his affectionate description of the Shire and his condemnation of characters like Saruman who has a ‘mind of metal’). Perhaps I am still too close to my immigrant roots that pass on to me a desire for personal freedom and more open places. But perhaps, God’s vision of the Garden-City is something more… humane… than modern urban life.
If people are called to the City, go and you have my prayers. There are very real sacrifices one has to make to do this kind of work. But there is plenty of transformation needed in the angst ridden suburbs and in poverty stricken rural areas. In the last century many people in churches said: “if you are serious about ministry, you would go on the missions field and to Africa.” Let’s not make ‘the City’ the new ‘Africa.’
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Can I just say how much I agree with you? Why is it that a ministry choice has to be presented as the inherently holy option? A key principle of Calvin's writing was that we all have a role - we all are to minister where we are planted. One of the reasons I teach Ladies Bible Study is that I meet so many IN the church who don't know the Word, who are almost as lost as those in the deepest urban settings.....but don't know it. S. Fikse
Daryl,
Glad to see you're posting with a vengeance. Just hope I can keep pace with at least the reading of your thoughts and insights.
I want to provide a quick rebuttal to the primary thrust of your posting, and then share some Scripture references that i have found helpful. First, while I don't know whether God loves the SUBURBS as such, I am confident he has great love for the PEOPLE of the suburbs, and desires just as much that they would come to faith in him as those elsewhere.
However, many Christians in recent years have found themselves in the midst of a growing dis-content for the serenity and homogeneity traditionally offered by the suburbs, and are being drawn more and more into the creative messes found at the center of the largest American cities. Their faith has led them there. Their intellect, passion, and sense of exploration has compelled them to go there. At this same time some of us are questioning the widespread use of the Homogeneous Unit Principle (HUP, http://www.wheaton.edu/intr/Moreau/courses/545/notes/HUP.PDF) and wondering if many churches have been getting it wrong by eschewing diversity in favor of focusing on congregations where all the members "look, talk, and act like themselves" due to the belief that "men understand the gospel better when expounded by their own kind of people". My experience with suburbs in 6 different states (including Michigan where I've toured the glorious Ruins) has allowed me to witness first-hand the enclaves that we (even we Christians) build around ourselves to seek shelter from those that are different than we are. Perhaps it's even possible that this innate mindset has been a root cause for the creation of the 10,000 disparate Protestant denominations that now exist around the globe -- Sadly, at last count, I tallied 11 different defined denominations just within Presbyterianism (PCA, PCUSA, OPC, RPCNA, ARPC, CPC, BPC, EPC, PRC, APC, RPCUS).
Despite the dubious conditions surrounding their development and rapid growth (see white flight) I can't cast moral imprecations on the modern advent of the suburbs, or the still more modern exurbs. However many look to the examples of Jesus and Paul and understand their calling to go to where the people are, to where the centers of culture and learning are located, to where the politicians pass just and unjust laws, and to where the seats of power are typically found. The energy and diversity of the modern U.S. city coupled with the opportunity for urban ministry in a context of an economically displaced immigrant-heavy minority sometimes just looks too enticing for us to pass up. On top of this, the city serves as force multiplier on the work you accomplish, allowing you to quickly reach a larger set of people in a more real way through the existance of true communities, where neighbors pass each other to catch the train, participate in the local parades, and are able to walk to the nearest Gospel driven church (rather than driving to the next town over) because that's where their neighbors are, even if they don't match my HUP denominational particularities.
So, is it BETTER then to ask for competent, Spirit-filled ministry workers to focus exclusively on the urban setting, to the detriment of those in the various 'burbs? Certainly not! But is there a raw and open need in the city not yet being met by church leaders? Yes! Is there a palpable lack of those with the courage and commitment to live among the poor and needy (as Jesus did) in order to pray for them and heal their afflictions? Yes. Do i pray that God will raise up more starting this week? I do.
That being said, I agree that we must follow each one the calling that God has placed on our hearts to serve and love and preach. The following two passages speak to how we should carry the gospel with us wherever we go (cityside or countryside), and that each of us is held accountable for providing those in whom God's Spirit is working with a crisp, accessible and intentional depiction of his love.
Acts 8:4, 25
Jeremiah 29:7
Wow! Where do I begin in interacting with the last comment?
Your point is well taken... God loves the *people* of the suburbs. The same is true of the city or rural areas. 'God Loves the Suburbs Too' had a nice ring to it and I felt sure it would catch people's attention.
As for the 'growing discontent w/'burbs/ move back to city for diversity'... I have watched this phenomena for some time. The suburbs are not quite so homogeneous as some make them out to be and city neighborhoods are not quite so diverse as portrayed. My father crew up in an urban area outside of NYC, but the vast majority of people he knew were all from southeast European immigrant families (mostly Hungarian). The church he went to was the John Calvin Magyar (Hungarian) Reformed Church. The ethnic communities when they come to American often huddle together for security and a sense of comfort. There is a reason there is a 'Little Italy' in NYC and 'The Hill' (Italian community) in St. Louis, and a Chinatown in Los Angeles. Lots of people who are not Italian or Chinese visit these communities, but they don't live there, either. This is not to suggest that 'homogeneity' is just the way it is, but to point out that it is not simply a phenomena of the surburbs. Also, I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey and I had friends who were East Indian, Chinese, Philipino, Greek and African-American. Even in White Republican territory like Lexington County, SC (where I currently live), some of my closest friends were from South America. However, the 'burbs have a way of leeching out all the character of our ethnic backgrounds.
Lots of folks have made hay out of the 'strategic' importance of the cities. I am a 'strategy' kind of guy too. Paul did go to major cities (Rome, Corinth). But John the Baptist did his ministry in the desert. There is no escaping the gravitational force of cities and so to abandon them as many churches did in the last century was short-sighted. But we can play the 'strategy' card too much and replace the leading of God for the wisdom of men.
I would say this about the ministry needs in the 'burbs... and I will blog about this soon: we need Gospel centered churches that will expose the idolatry of comfort and upper-middle-class living. Too many of our suburban churches like their attendance and the money flowing in to their coffers too much to actually challenge their people to trust Jesus. We are self-congratulatory and complacent as churches, while our people rot away from the inside out.
It takes one kind of courage and sacrifice to live in the hustle and bustle of the city along with its security issues. It takes another kind to look at your people and say with love, 'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for you to get into heaven.'
Thanks for the thoughtful response!
There is an interesting book called The Big Sort, by Bill Bishop, that discusses the way that Americans have been carefully sorting themselves (ourselves) into homogenous communities, both culturally and ideologically, for the past half century or so. It has a good chapter on the effects of the homogenous unit principle (or something like it) which looks specifically at how Rick Warren used it to start his church. It's worth a look.
I will look it up. I am not a big fan of the HUP as a driving force in reaching people. One has to recognize the cultural trend and interact with it, but not bow to it.
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