Reflections on God’s Global Urban Mission

Reflections on God’s Global Urban Mission

http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10282

 

Tim Keller in an advance paper prepared for Cape Town 2010 addresses the question  “What is God’s Global Urban Mission?” In this paper he moves from defining biblically what a city is, then addresses the urban mission movement that can be seen in the Bible and finally addresses what urban mission is today. In what follows I will summarize the key points of each section.

 

Biblical Definition of a City

 

In this first section, Keller defines what a city is by stating: “What makes a city is proximity. It brings people and therefore residences, workplaces, and cultural institutions together. It creates street life and marketplaces, bringing about more person-to-person interactions and exchanges in a day than are possible anywhere else.” He derives this biblical definition from the Hebrew word iyr.

 

Urban Mission in the Bible

 

In this section Keller discusses the centrality of Jerusalem from which there is a movement outward. Further he highlights the sending of Jonah out into the world to call a pagan city to repentance. Another stage of this outward movement is reached when Israel is in the Babylonian exile. The question is raised – What is the relationship of believers to such a pagan place? Keller finds this question answered in Jeremiah 29, which “holds out a remarkable outline for a believer’s stance toward the city.” Keller outlines in more detail what this stance towards the city looks like.

 

Keller then raises the question: “Is there any reason to believe that the model for Israel in Babylon should serve as the model for the church?” Keller answers emphatically –YES! He argues, “In exile, Israel no longer existed in the form of a nation-state …. Instead it existed as an international community and counterculture within other nations. This is also now the form of the church, as Peter and James acknowledge when addressing believers as “the dispersion” (James 1:1) and “exiles” (1 Peter 1:1). [….] Peter calls Christians to live in the midst of pagan society in such a way that others see their “good deeds and glorify God” but warns them to expect persecution, nonetheless (1 Peter 2:11-12). [….] Like the Jewish exiles, Christians exiles are to engage in their cities, serving the common good rather than conquering or ignoring them.” Thus the model of Israel in Babylon should serve as the model for the church.

 

Urban Mission Today

 

Keller moves in his paper into a reflection on why the cities are so important to the Christian mission. He argues that the context of the city makes it so important for mission. H states: “World cities (10 million plus) are becoming more and more economically and culturally powerful. Cities are the seats of multinational corporations and international economic, social, and technological networks. The technology/communication revolution means that the culture and values of global cities are now being transmitted around the globe to every tongue, tribe, people and nation.” Another reason for the cities significance for Christian mission has to do with the context of cities. Keller writes, “The millions of newcomers in burgeoning cities have characteristics that make them far more open to the Christian faith than they were before arriving. First, they are more open to new ideas, and to change in general, after being uprooted from traditional settings. Second, they greatly need help and support to face the moral, economic, emotional, and spiritual pressures of city life.” Thus cities provide a frugal place for mission efforts.

 

Keller highlights four characteristics of a church that is contextual and indigenous to a city:

1.)  People in urban ministry are aware of the sharp cultural differences between different racial/ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes.

2.)  People in urban ministry help people in understanding how they can maintain their Christian practice outside the walls of the church while still participating in the world of the arts and theatre, business and finances, scholarship and learning, and government and public policy.

3.)  People in urban ministry need to be able to embrace the city which is full with ironic, edgy, diversity-loving people who have a much higher tolerance for ambiguity and disorder then people from rural settings.

4.)  People in urban ministry need to know how to exegete their neighborhoods and look for ways to strengthen the health of their neighborhoods.

 

Finally Keller describes what God’s global urban mission could look like. Keller believes, that “to change a city with the gospel takes a self-sustaining, naturally growing movement of ministries and networks around a core of new church multiplication.” This is what I believe Redeemer in New York does. He raises the question – What does that look like? His answer to this question is worth reading in its entirety – however here are some highlights. Christians live in the city with a posture of service. They integrate their faith and work. “People use their power, wealth, and influence for the good of others on the margins of society, to advance ministry and to plant new churches.” For Keller, “new churches form the heart of these gospel ecosystems. They provide spiritual oxygen to the communities and networks of Christians who do the heavy lifting over decades, to renew and redeem cities. They are the primary venue for discipleship and the multiplication of believers, as well as the financial engine for all the ministry initiatives.” Keller identifies the gospel movement tipping point as “a church planting project becomes a movement when the ecosystem elements are all in place and most of the churches have the vitality, leaders and mindset to plant another church within five to six years of their own beginnings. Further, there is a city tipping point “that is the moment when the number of gospel-shaped Christians in a city becomes so large that Christians influence on the civic and social life of the city and on the very culture is recognizable and acknowledged.” All these tipping points are reached by God grace.

 

Reflection

 

First, I really appreciated how Tim Keller shows us that the model for Israel in Babylon should also serve as the model for the church. I have never seen anyone make the connection so clear. The paper was worth reading for just this one point.

 

Second, I wonder if all cities that have over 10 million people are equally significant in terms of culture shaping. I know that this is not the focus of the paper, but I wonder what makes some large cities big players and other large cities insignificant? Are there smaller cities that have a similar impact as big cities? These questions seem worth reflecting on.