Moving Back Into Our Cities
Cities create and impact culture. It's been that way for thousands of years. The largest groups of humans are often (and understandably) the most influential segments of society and any nation/empire.
This is a result of collective momentum as well as the product of the leadership of states and countries often being centered in (or creating) cities.
For a variety of reasons, cities have an exponential impact on the world.
And if we want to transform our world, it has to begin with our cities.
Now this has long been true for the United States, but the power of cities has significantly increased because:
- More people, globally, are living in urban areas over rural areas for the first time in human history. (This change occurred in 2009.)
- Technology has made the world flat again, reversing the work of Christopher Columbus in 1492. We can communicate and travel quicker than ever before.
And as we delve deeper into the 21st century, we are seeing cities give rise to megaregions - "urban economies which transcend city limits." (Check out this interactive map on megaregions in the USA.) Cities are enveloping entire regions in our country as their influence is growing.
With this increasing power that cities are wielding in the world, the Good News of Jesus Christ is needed in our urban centers now more than ever.
If we are going to unleash the love of Jesus Christ throughout the world and transform our cultures, we need to get more involved in our cities.
The call of Jesus to make disciples of all nations will require us to go into the worst neighborhoods of the cities, and the best. The rich communities and the impoverished ones. The gentrified and the dilapidated.
And as we transform our cities for Jesus, the world will follow.
It's time for the Church to retake cities for Christ, and leverage their influence to bless the world.
Our cities, when equipped with the love of Jesus, can change the world.
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
So what are you doing to impact the city you live in or live near?
Are you involved in an inner-city ministry or do you participate in civic/business groups throughout the city? Do you spend time in local politics or neighborhood meetings?
The world is moving to our cities and our cities are molding our world.
It is time for the Church to move back into our cities.
It's time for each of us to move back into our cities.
