“
…for I have many in this city who are my people.”
(God speaking to Paul upon his ministry in the city of Corinth – Acts 18:10)“
Human History will ever more emphatically become urban history.”
John Grimond, as interviewed by The Economist [London], June 2007.
How the World Went to Town
Human history did not begin in the metropolis. The ancient peoples’ lives were dominated by the need for food, most of which was found in the isolated rural areas. Only about 11,000 years ago did man begin to form what we would consider a village. Small communities gathered for the purposes of protection in larger numbers or geographic advantage provided by rivers or hills located near food sources. They also came together in community for spiritual purposes and joint worship. From this humble point on man’s maturation and expansion would forever be linked with the city.
Over the past six millennia, the urbanization of man has progressed in ways unparalleled by any prior human history. The modern era has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people living in urban areas, from only 3% of the world’s population in 1800 to the early 21st century numbers exceeding 50%.[1] The Economist of London, a leading world news organization that conducts several important studies each year, published in May 2007 the findings that by year’s end over half the world’s population would be found in urban areas. This has since become reality. Over half the people on the planet now live in cities. “Wisely or not,” the reports authors write, “Homo sapiens have become Homo urbanus.”
Cities in the 21st Century
People still come to the modern city for the base reasons they did all those millennia ago: trade, camaraderie, education, medicine, and even worship. With modern advances, from medicines allowing folks to live longer than ever before to the intricate highway systems decreasing the distance between any desire, these quintessential requisites for an attraction to the metropolis have been further diversified in their demand and fulfillment. The small-town youth who leaves for the big city in search of their dreams only to have them dashed by the reality of citified hardship is a favorite among writers and a telling archetype in its own right and popularity.
Cities supply more jobs, forcing many to leave rural homes to find employment and livelihood in the city. All major political decisions take place in cities. Nearly all of the cultural norms and beliefs have their genesis the city, be it political activism or the latest fashion trends. An interesting observation on cities in this young century centers on the fact that many who move to the city, though they are surrounded by people, hardly know anyone or are known themselves. Sought or not, the city provides an incredibly effective anonymity. You can get away with almost anything.
The past 50-year period of increasing city-dwellers “consists mostly of poor people migrating in unprecedented numbers…It is thus largely a phenomenon of poor and middle-income countires,”[2] according to The Economist’s report. Because of this some of the greatest poverty on the planet is found in cities, as are increased crime rates and family hardships or abuse. On the other hand, “the rich world has put most of its urbanisation [sic] behind it”[3] because the cultural elite completely dominate and control the urban landscape.
21st Century cities are still places of great corporate worship, albeit, worship of the culture and not of God. Albert Mohler writes, “When belief in God recedes, belief in culture takes its place, especially among elites. Secularism creates an opportunity for art and other cultural forms to claim transcendence, and the elites celebrate and venerate art in almost sacramental terms.”[4]
A Biblical View of the City
Cities mentioned in the Bible are rarely viewed in favorable light. This is often due to the presence of sin run rampant in these places and the majority of the citizens’ heart being far from the things of God. Sodom may be our first example of a city gripped in the vices of the world, where abominations such as rape and sodomy are seen as everyday occurrences and accepted as the norm. Even Jerusalem in the time of Christ was so sinful and far from seeking the heart of God that Jesus Himself wept over the city and it’s sin. Other biblical cities for which the biblical authors were concerned or called to judge: Ninevah, Tyre, Sidon, Babylon, Gomorrah, Corinth, and Rome.
The Bible observes that as sinful people gather to live an enclosed area they very often give themselves over to passions and lust of the world rather than to the things of God. When one considers the biblical and current illustrations of the city, we see there is reason from church history and our own experience to be wary of embracing the city as a place of deliverance, when instead it may be viewed as a vehicle for accelerated damnation.
Yet God still has a heart for the peoples of the cities. Jonah may be our first biblical model of the metropolitan missionary. Called to go to Nineveh, a city filled with pagans, Jonah was to preach the truth of God to its fallen inhabitants. This reveals God has a heart not just for the people of the countryside or those communities already centered around His Word, but on those great metroplexes of old in which there also dwelled many who were not yet of His sheep pen (John 10:16). Paul’s last major place of witness on his second missionary journey took place in the city of Corinth, where God confirmed to Paul in a vision that the preaching of Christ would have success because there were already people of God in the city and many more who would come to God through Paul’s ministry (Acts 18:9-10).
The Great Commission Includes Cities
Christ did not intend His disciples of any age to neglect the urban centers of the world when He issued the Great Commission. In fact, if you look at the model of Christ’s ministry, He often went into the places where people gathered (the temple, etc) to open the Scriptures and teach from them. Paul and other apostles followed this model in their own ministries. Just as what happens in cities dictates the direction of culture and society, so to does the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the cities serve to increase the number of true worshippers serving the one living God.
Rising to the Challenge of the Cities
In his article, “The Challege of the Cities,” Roger S. Greenway defines several challenges faced by those who would pursue urban mission.The first being that of the extreme poverty often found in cities that calls the missionary to consider proclaiming “the gospel of God’s love and [demonstrating] the Gospel in a practical way.”
There is also racial, ethnic and cultural diversity to consider, so the urban missionary may have to adapt quickly to any number of cultural differences or religious pluralism. While some missionaries may wish to give attention to one group, they must be prepared to reply to others who have no religion or whose felt needs are unlike those of their preferred people group within the city.
Greenway also reports that there is a shortage of workers in the city because “many missionaries are so disturbed by the noise and traffic in cities, the pollution, social problems, crime and crowded housing, that they prefer to work in rural areas.” Also, there is a major practical issue of the higher cost of living and survival in the city.[5]
These matters must be considered prayerfully by any who would minister in the city. As with any kind of evangelism, we begin to reach the cities by providing the need of every human heart: salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. While not discounting outlying and unreached villages far away, there is an urgent need in the next quarter-century to target the ever-increasing cities for Christ. The cities should send the missionary heart soaring because these metropolitan areas represent the world in microcosm. In some cases hundreds of cultures, nationalities, and religions can be found within blocks of each other. With this in mind, the church as a whole must give great attention to the urban areas if we are to continue impacting a seemingly shrinking world with the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ. For as the cities go, so goes the rest of the world.----------------------------
[1] Staff. “The World Goes to Town,” The Economist [London], 3 May 2007.
[2] Staff. The World Goes to Town.
[3] Staff. The World Goes to Town.
[4] Mohler, R. Albert. “The Great Challenge of the Cities – ‘The World Goes to Town.’” 4 June, 2007. http://albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=954
[5] Greenway, Robert S. “The Challenge of the Cities,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 553-558. Paternoster, 1999.
