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Week / Readings In Urban Missions /1
/ Cities In Scripture –Theological Foundations –John EdmistonMegacities Ready Or Not – Karen Klein interview of Ray Bakke and Robert Linthicum
2 / Cities In God’s Plan – John Edmiston
The Urbanization of Our World – Monssama & Greenway
3 / Looking At Some Of Africa’s Urban Challenges – Harvie Conn
Evangelizing World Class Cities –Ray Bakke
The City In The Gospels And Acts - John Edmiston
4 / The Epistle of Philemon and Urban Social Justice in The NT Church – John Edmiston
Networks in The NT And In The City – John Edmiston
The City In The Epistles And Revelation - John Edmiston
5 / Sorry, The Frontier Has Moved – Viv Grieg
Telling It On A Mountain –Jane Sutton story on Ben Beltran
6 / The City And Unreached Peoples (parts 1 and 2) – Harvie Conn
7 / Prosperity and Poverty In The Urban Context – John Edmiston
Christian Witness To The Urban Poor -Lausanne
8 / Why Economic Injustice Is Producing Angry People - John Edmiston
The Equal And Opposite Reaction - John Edmiston
9 / Refugees The City and Missions – Harvie Conn
Leddy of Cartolandia – Mark Kramer
10 / Muslim Cities – J.Dudley Woodberry
St. Francis And The Wolf – John Edmiston
11 / A Biblical Perspective On Politics – J.Ed.
Why Ecology is a Christian Issue – Fred Krueger
12 / Globalization, the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching and Hollywood: a Media Literacy Response – Rose Pacatte FSP
The Churches' Role in Media Education and Communication Advocacy - by National Council of Churches (USA)
13 / Cyber-Missions – John Edmiston
Bridging the Digital Divide - Denyse O’Leary
14 / The Fractalling Church – Willam M Easum
Why Denominations Are Being Ignored – John Edmiston
15 / From Problem to Solution Focussed – C. Iveson
Solution-Focussed Thinking In Ministry – John Edmiston
25 Strategies For Urban Ministry – John Edmiston
16 / Evangelism Is Not Working - Mark Greene
Structures for Mission in the Twenty-first Century: A Blueprint (Congress on the World Mission of the Church)
17 / Nehemiah And Faith-Based Organizing - Beth Freese Dammers
Urban Spirituality – Mark Wendorf
18 / Prayer Is Social Action –John Robb
A City Of Praying Neighbors - Alvin Vander Griend
Cities In Scripture - Theological Foundations
by John Edmiston
ARE CITIES VALID TARGETS FOR MINISTRY? ARE THEY A PROPER THEOLOGICAL ENTITY?
When I first heard of 'Urban Ministry" I was very unconvinced. I didn't see "the city" as something that Christians ministered to. It was just an address. It was where the people you ministered to lived or the church you worshipped at was. It was just a collection of individuals and individuals were what missionaries were supposed to minister to - or so I thought. Before we undertake urban ministry we have to answer this question - can we minister "to a city" just as we minister to individuals within the city? Is talking about ministry "to a city" valid? Is a city a proper theological entity that can be addressed just like an angel , a demon or a person can? Should we just be talking about ministry "within a city" instead?
Cities are more than a mere collection of individuals. They have their own dynamics and feel about them just as any group of people such as a football crowd or theatre audience may take on a corporate personality and be described as a whole e.g. "that was an enthusiastic crowd" or "they weren't very responsive today' or "the audience was sullen and hostile". This can apply to a city and its responsiveness to the gospel. Everyone who has preached knows that in some churches there is unusual liberty in preaching the word and a wonderful sense of rapport while others are just plain hard work. Jesus seemed to see cities as theological entities that could be condemned for their hard-hearted unbelief even in the face of His teaching and miracles.
(Matthew 11:20-25 NKJV) Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: {21} "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. {22} "But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. {23} "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. {24} "But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."
As Jesus goes through this list of biblical cities He speaks TO THEM and obviously considers them as valid theological entities that could be addressed. Jesus talks to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum and He talks about Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom and says that the cities themselves, as entities, would be judged on the day of judgement and that the standard of judgement would be how they responded to the light of the gospel. This judgement would be of the same nature as the biblical judgement of Sodom. In other words it would be a corporate punishment for corporate sin. This gives rise to a whole host of theological questions most of which are answered in two of the other chapters in this book, "The Salvation of Whole Groups" and "The Spiritual Character of Cities". However the point as far as this introductory chapter is concerned is that the Bible sees cities as having a definite corporate identity , a definite corporate response to the gospel and a definite corporate accountability. Therefore a city is just as valid a unit for ministry as a person, church, tribal group or nation. The urban worker can be "called to" minister to a city just as much as a pastor can be called to a church or a missionary to an ethnic group or nation.
THE CORPORATE PERSONALITY
Cities have corporate personalities Paris has one personality, New York another, Sydney a third, Beijing a fourth. These personalities are visible to those who minister to them as a whole or even to perceptive tourists but often become invisible to the actual inhabitants who are immersed in their daily lives. This corporate personality is the living context of urban ministry. Not only do cities have a feel or a personality they also have a spiritual character. Even a cursory reading of the prophets brings the conviction that cities have a spiritual character about them. Jerusalem is both the eternal city and the place where the gospel and God are most decisively rejected. Tyre is the place of wicked trade doomed to be utterly flattened by Alexander the Great and made a place where fishermen spread their nets. Babylon "the great" represents worldliness and sheer exultant hubris. This leads it to become a howling wasteland. Pergamum is the seat of Satan's throne. Bethel is the place where Jacob's ladder is and where angels ascend and descend. Rome is the harlot city that persecutes the saints but paradoxically is also where the gospel finally rests and prospers. Nineveh represents unwitting paganism simply heedless of God where 120,000 people " do not know their right hand from their left". It is mankind left utterly to itself and its own instincts. Sodom represents a city living in abundance and completely given to all forms of wickedness especially sexual perversion and slavery. It is the archetype of a city judged by God as is its companion city Gomorrah. The article "The Spiritual Character of Cities" goes into this in depth, sufficient to say that becoming aware of the city, its life, its networks, and its key people and institutions is absolutely essential to effective urban ministry.
THE ORIGINS AND KEY ASPECTS OF URBAN LIFE IN GENESIS
Genesis is always a good place to start when examining a ministry issue so we will look at all the significant verses on cities in Genesis, omitting parallel verses etc.
Life In The First City
The following twelve verses in Genesis 4:12-24 describe life in the first city, founded by Cain and called Enoch.
People Become Alienated From Rural Life
(Genesis 4:12-24 NKJV) "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth." {13} And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! {14} "Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." {15} And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
The Population Grows, A City Is Built And Named
{16} Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. {17} And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son; Enoch.
New Social Configurations Are Adopted
{18} To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. {19} Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
The Community Innovates There Is Specialization Of Labor and The Development of Technology.
{20} And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. {21} His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. {22} And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
Crime Develops Among The Powerful And Arrogant
{23} Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me. {24} If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
Comment
1. Cities come about as a result of population growth "she conceived - he built".
2. Cities are "built" they are human artifacts.
3. The city is not rural. In this case the first city was built by people who could not participate in rural life because for Cain the Lord had said "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth." To this days most cities reflect this sense of alienation from the land.
4. There is an urban-rural tension characterised by different types of people and different modes of living. The first city dwellers were Cain's descendants while the line of Seth seems to have remained rural. Too much can be extrapolated into this theologically. However certain stereotypes of urban and rural life seem to be almost constant across cultures. Like all stereotypes they need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Urban / RuralCain / Seth
Alienation from the land / Close to the land
Away from the presence of God / "then men called on the name of the Lord"
Trade / Barter
Centre of music and culture, new ideas e.g. Jubal-Cain / Traditional, follows prior generations.
Centre of technology e.g Tubal-Cain / Peaceful, bucolic
Specialized labor "every craftsman.." / Mostly generalists - do everything on the farm.
Always awake, clock time, rhythms of business and political life. / Seasonal rhythms, governed by day and night, rhythms of crops and seasons.
New social arrangements often based around the desires of the powerful community members. / Traditional patriarchal family life.
Lawlessness and crime / In stereotype at least,country folk are honest.
5. Cities are a way that non-rural people can avoid being "wanderers and vagabonds upon the earth.."
6. Cities are named - reflecting the perception that they are a living things in some way. Often, as here, they are named after people. In this case the naming process seems to reflect a desire for continuity and stability to counter Cain's alienation.
7. Community life in the city allows specialization of labour.
8. This in turn allows the development of craftsmanship and technology.
9. It also helps promote the arts and music.
10. Powerful people start ruling city life as Lamech did taking two wives and engaging in murder of a weaker, younger man. Crime develops among the powerful and arrogant.
Cities Result From Human Expansion, Entrepreneurs and Empire Building
Nimrod was an empire builder and an entrepreneur. The cities he founded became the centers of the Babylonian, Akkadian, and Assyrian empires respectively.
(Genesis 10:8-14 NKJV) Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. {9} He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD." {10} And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. {11} From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, {12} and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
11. Powerful people and companies build cities as part of their desire to expand their territory.
12. These people often have a predatory nature "a might hunter (predator) before the Lord".
13. The cities build by them can take on their expansionist and predatory nature as it is the spirit and purpose behind their foundation.
14. They then in turn expand and found their own empires. The classic example of this is Rome founded (according to legend) by the mighty legendary Greek warrior Aeneas and his descendants Romulus and Remus who were reared by wolves. Rome of course took on this predatory and expansionist nature in the consequent Roman Empire.