Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Why urban?

The ministry of Vision Nehemiah is committed to empowering the urban church for global impact.

The urban centers of the world have been the greatest places of influence throughout history and especially in today’s day and age as large cities are both magnets and magnifiers. Magnets in that people are drawn to the cities and magnifiers in that the cities influence the world. While only 8% lived in urban centers in 1900, today over 50% live in urban centers[1] and thus should command the attention of the Church today. Even people that don’t live in urban centers are influenced by urban culture. The early church seemed to realize this fact and focused on urban centers such as Philippi, Ephesus, Colossae, Rome, and Antioch. By being missional in the cities, they knew the message would travel throughout the world. In Chicago, there are 629,000 foreign born people living in 77 different neighborhoods. There are neighborhoods made up of Italian, Greek, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Chinese and dozens of other people groups.

Jesus commanded us to “go and make disciples of all nations” and He has simplified this command by bringing the nations to our own backyards. Thus, if we are serious about reaching the world, the cities are a great place to begin with. Isaiah 52:7 is a verse that is quoted often about “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” Yet the following verses are just as beautiful. Verse 9 follows with how the city of Jerusalem is redeemed and verse 10 reveals the result being “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” When God accomplishes a work in the city, the rest of the world can’t help but recognize it. Its impact reaches the ends of the earth.

[1]Ray Bakke, A Theology As Big As The City (Downer's Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 12.