Dear Theophilus Archive: April 2001

Christians and the City

Did you know:

• that less than 2% of those who call themselves "Evangelical Christians" in the U.S. live in cities?
• of the 200+ Korean Presbyterian Churches in the Greater Philadelphia area, only 15 are located within the city limits?
• Christianity is the only religion in the world that began in a garden (see Genesis 2:8) and ends in a city (see Rev. 21:2)?
• that heaven is a city?

There is a growing awareness among evangelical church leaders and seminaries that cities are the keys to the nation.

Consider what cities represent. They are the centers of entertainment, culture, commerce, wealth, education and new ideas. People want to live in cities. Let's qualify that. Young people want to live in cities. Things happen in cities. A city is ALIVE. It's the center of the action. If you have any ambition, if you want to "make a name for yourself," then you must go to a city. A prime example here in the east coast is New York City. As Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church once said: "People don't come to New York to live. They come here to make it." And why is heaven called a city? I am not certain, but Pastor Rich Craven from Church of the Savior, gave as good an explanation as any: a city, as the social, economic, intellectual, and cultural center - with its complex web of relationships and interdependence - somehow glorifies God in a way that a suburban town/mall cannot.

Have you ever had this thought: why is it when we want to mediate and contemplate on spiritual matters and on the things of God, we think we need to be in some park, surrounded by trees, and mountains, and the forest animals? Have you ever thought of seeking God in downtown Phildelphia, right smack in the middle of busy traffic, surrounded by sky-scrapers? Why do we have this perception that we can only meet God when we are surrounded by "nature"? Does this idea come from Scripture?

This may surprise you. The Bible is actually an urban book. It's hard for us to appreciate that the world of Abraham, Moses, Daniel and Jesus was an urban world. Our perceptions of that time is colored by what we (in the West) know of Europe during the Dark Ages. As Robert Linthicum writes in City of God, City of Satan, "When we read the Bible, we are thinking 'country' instead of 'city'. The world in which the Bible was written was dominated by cities, and their world was probably more urban than any civilization before it or any after it for the next fifteen hundred years."

Linthicum continues. "By 2000 B.E.C. Abraham's city of Ur numbered 250,000. Ancient Nineveh was so large that it took three days to cross it on foot (Jonah 3:3). Babylon at the time of Nebuchadnezzar was an amazing city with eleven miles of walls and a water and irrigation system not equaled again until the end of the nineteenth century. In New Testament times, Ephesus had street lighting along its famed Arcadius Street, of which Ammianus wrote: 'The brilliancy of the lamps at night often equaled the light of day.' Antioch had sixteen miles of colonnaded streets....the Rome of Paul's day numbered more than one million people." Archaeological excavations suggest that the population density in the cities of 2000 B.C. may have been as much as 128,000 per square mile; in comparison, today's Calcutta and Shanghai, with densities of more than 70,000 per square mile, are regarded as extremes of overcrowding.

Closer to home, New York City today has a population density of roughly 23,000+ people per square mile (1999 Census). Rome at its height in the 3rd century A.D. covered almost four square miles and had at least 800,000 inhabitants, which works out to a population density of 200,000+ people per square mile. Rome was extremely crowded but it was a small price to pay if one wanted to be at the center of the world. Furthermore, life in Ancient Rome was as urban as that of any modern city in the twenty first century: sewer lines, running water, rush hour traffic jams, a welfare system, building regulations, corrupt contractors and lawyers, multi-story houses and a society very unequal in the distribution of wealth - Rome had it all.

Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Corinth, Susa, Persepolis, Babylon, Neneveh, Thebes, Memphis - these primary cities embodied power and influence, dominating the culture, art, religion, politics, economics, education, and social systems of their day.

Then, as is now, it is the cities that influence the surrounding areas, and not the other way around. Urban slang, rap-music, "the baggy look," etc. have infiltrated mainstream America and have taken over the suburban malls and high schools. In other words, where the cities go, the suburbs, and indeed the nation, is sure to follow. As Scott Greer in his book The Emerging City writes: "Today, four fifths of Americans live in urbanized areas and the rest are subject to the cultural dominance of it's media and taste."

Cities are also open to new ideas. Cities force people of different backgrounds and cultures to interact with each other. The city people, more than small town folks, are constantly exposed to "otherness" and the unfamiliar. The larger the city, the more complex its social structure, the more diverse its population (especially in relation to the surrounding towns), and the more cosmopolitan and progressive its people. Ancient cities were surrounded by a ring of suburbs. As a norm, these outer homes usually contained the poorest citizens, and the rich lived in the vibrant city center. In general, rural folks in the surrounding countryside were less exposed to cultures and ideas, and were more homogeneous and conservative.

The early church knew this. That is why the early missionaries, like the Apostle Paul, went to cities. Christianity was so NEW, that only the people of the cities were open to its REVOLUTIONARY ideas. The gospel flourished in cities. By the end of the third century, approximately 97% of all Christians lived in cities. And once these urban centers of civilization, such as Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Athens and Rome were converted, the Gospel spread to the surrounding countryside.

On a side note, Keller observes that this is in direct contrast to the situation in postmodern America. In the United States, the suburbs consist of the affluent and the middle class, that were built around the cities in the 1950s and '60s. Furthermore, the majority of Christians live in the homogeneous and conservative suburbs, viewing cities, not as opportunities for the gospel to thrive, but as spiritually difficult places where people lose their faith in God.

In the world at large, statistics show that more and more people of South America, Asia and Africa flock to cities. And this trend is accelerating. In 1800, less than 3 percent of the world's population was living in cities of 20,000 or more; this had increased to about 25 percent by the mid-1960s and to about 40 percent by 1980. It is estimated that, by this measure, about half the world's population will be urban in the year 2001. This fact has not been over-looked by missions organizations: understanding the dynamics of urban ministry is almost a prerequisite in reaching the lost in the 10/40 window.

Cities, then and now, have complex problems. Urban decay, crime, bad schools, high taxes and the list goes on and on. For these very good reasons, Christians have been following the rest of postmodern America by moving out of cities in a mass exodus to Suburbia. Who's left in the inner cities? Only the poor. God knows this and so the Bible wisely says "The poor are shunned even by their neighbors but the rich have many friends" (Proverbs 14:20). The neighbors, who have the means, run away because the poor are poor; the poor are poor, not only because they are materially poor, but because they have no neighbors. As Keller notes in his sermon "Blessed are the poor", "The poor have nothing the world values and so they are thrown away and forgotten."

The Bible says the problems of this world are not due to location. The problem is in us: sin. We are living in delusion if we think that we can protect ourselves by moving away from cities. No matter how hard we try, we cannot run away from ourselves. For evidence, look at the recent headlines of shootings in quiet suburban schools, neighborhoods and churches.

The Bible also says that we are "the salt of the earth." In ancient times, salt had the very important function of being a preservative. It was almost never used just for flavor because it was too valuable. The affluent could afford the luxury of food that actually tasted good; but for the average person, getting one meal per day was a luxury and so most used salt to preserve food (like meats for example). If we are called to be the salt of the earth, then we should be like salt and preserve. If there is brokenness and decay, as in an inner city neighborhood, we should be there and be salt in that community. Sadly, most Christians move out of such neighborhoods as soon as it is financially feasible and avoid these very places at all costs.

Should every suburban Christian "take up the cross" and move back into cities? No, not everyone is called to live in cities. But consider why you live where you are living. If you live in a quiet cul-de-sac, do you do so out of safety and luxury? The purpose of this essay is not to give anyone a guilt trip, but the obvious must be stated. Did Jesus live according to safety and luxury? Did Jesus avoid places of brokenness and shame? No, Jesus actually sought them out.

What does "WWJD" mean to you? When we pray or say phrases like "Transform me into your likeness," or "I want to be more like you," what do we mean exactly? As it is recorded in Luke 9:58, our Lord Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son Of Man has no place to lay his head." Indeed, as the gospels record the final week of his life, we see Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, eating his last meal in a rented room, and having his one robe stripped off right before he is crucified. The fact of the matter is, Jesus himself was poor. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." 2 Cor 8:9.

As Christians, we must realize that the Gospel shines brightest in people and in places where there is the MOST brokenness and shame. The solution to the sins of this world is not moving to the suburbs; it is the Gospel. In other words, if you can live in a city, then you should. If you are being called to live in a city, then be obedient and be the salt in that community. In the end, you will come to realize that we need the poor. They show us who we once were: lost, broken, and orphaned, before we were adopted into the family of God and made coheirs with Christ. Praise God!