On Ministry and Revolving Doors: Practical Challenges and Ideas for Ministry in a Mobile Society<\/a>.\u201d He argued that the Book of Acts has never been more directly applicable to the church\u2019s situation before today. As seen in places like Boston, our world is globalized, fragmented, pluralistic, and urbanized. So was the Roman Empire in Jesus\u2019 day, when multi-ethnic, globalized cities dominated the world. By God\u2019s provision, the gospel spread along trade routes connecting Jews and Gentiles alike in these cities.\u201d<\/p>\nAccording to Um, there are benefits to this societal trend (hampered as it in the current economic crisis):<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYet churches must also recognize the realities of urban mobility. Church members working long hours won\u2019t have much time to volunteer. And they will likely flee for the suburbs after they\u2019ve married and started a family. Still, several opportunities have attracted pastors like Um to the city. Fragmented, transient neighborhoods are open to new churches. High-quality professionals demand the best from ministry leaders. And rootless residents appreciate time-tested liturgy in an environment where they can mix with neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hansen suggests that it may be necessary for Christians to forcibly settle themselves down in order to make a difference in major cities:<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cSo we see in the biblical narrative the call to settle in the Promised Land, the curse of exile, and the command to leave everything and spread the gospel around the world. Yet this time of transience is itself transient. Christians long for the day to come when the holy city, the new Jerusalem, will descend from heaven. Then, God will dwell with his people (Rev. 21:1\u20133). That Jerusalem will resemble today\u2019s globalized cities with worshipers representing every tribe, language, people, and nation (Rev. 7:9). But if we never settle in the meantime, we may never invest our time, talents, and treasure into making our communities healthy and beautiful, the kinds of places that give the world a foretaste of this new Jerusalem to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
*****************<\/p>\n
I\u2019m inclined to agree with Hansen, though as a family man, I can say that I well understand the call of the \u2018burbs.\u00a0 Furthermore, I want to be very careful in how I talk about suburban ministry.\u00a0 It can be easy to sneer at it, but in the end, sinners in the \u2018burbs are no different than sinners in the city.\u00a0 Sure, city-dwellers may be more influential culturally, but depraved humanity needs a Savior wherever it resides.<\/p>\n
So I would urge charity in this discussion even as I recognize why people do not stay in the city.\u00a0 It\u2019s easier to raise kids in the suburbs.\u00a0 It is no bad thing, then, to move to the suburbs to do so.\u00a0 After all, raising children is a momentous task, one given us by God.\u00a0 Our primary concern, once we have children, needs to be their spiritual welfare.<\/p>\n
However, if a family can carve out a healthy living situation in the city, I\u2019m all for staying in a city for a long time.\u00a0 Hansen and Um are right: there is opportunity here, opportunity to influence cities in a long-term sense.\u00a0 There is great good to be reaped if our unbelieving neighbors see that we stick with and care for the city.<\/p>\n
Not every Christian, individually or as a family, can do so.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t condemn this, and we should pray for one another wherever we live that the gospel will go forth in power.\u00a0 But we can also recognize that it is good for us to rebel against the rootlessness, the needless restlessness, of our age (David Wells is very good on this point).\u00a0 It is good to plant roots and care for neighbors and share the gospel over months and years and decades.\u00a0 It is good to try to influence the city, knowing that much of what will become social culture flows from it.<\/p>\n
There is an opportunity here, in the same way that there is an opportunity to do missions around the world.\u00a0 We cannot condemn or malign Christians who do not commit to full-term missions, just as we cannot condemn or malign Christians for living outside of the city (in fact, we need them to do so for the sake of gospel witness).\u00a0 However, we can celebrate this opportunity and call others to it, trusting that God will use our feeble efforts for the expansion of His kingdom and the glory of His name.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CT Editor-at-large Collin Hansen contributes a typically thoughtful piece, entitled \u201cMobile No More,\u201d that wrestles with the question of mobility.\u00a0 Hansen wonders out loud in the article how the church should confront this issue, especially when it directly affects how urban churches can carry out ministry in a long-term sense (Photo: Triumphs for Life). He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[849,888,13099,1052,1354,1418,1680,2046,2047,2066,2067,2399,2526,2727,2998],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christianity-today","tag-citylife-presbyterian-church","tag-collin-hansen","tag-david-wells","tag-gentiles","tag-gospel-coalition","tag-jews","tag-ministry-in-a-mobile-age","tag-ministry-in-cities","tag-mobile-ministry","tag-mobile-no-more","tag-promised-land","tag-roman-empire","tag-stephen-um","tag-urban-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\n
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CT Editor-at-large Collin Hansen<\/a> contributes a typically thoughtful piece, entitled \u201cMobile No More,\u201d<\/a> that wrestles with the question of mobility.\u00a0 Hansen wonders out loud in the article how the church should confront this issue, especially when it directly affects how urban churches can carry out ministry in a long-term sense (Photo: Triumphs for Life<\/a>).<\/p>\n