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| "The Bible and City Ministry" January 2004 |
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| CityVoices
newsletter: January 23, 2004 CityVoices readers, We begin the year focusing on the Bible, and all that city ministers have to gain through its truths and teaching regarding the city. Diane Jacobson of Luther Seminary alerts us to much of what the Old and New Testaments have to say that can impact the way we do ministry. We go on to helpful clues about understanding scripture within the urban context. And then we also focus on making better use of the Bible to influence and empower our lives and ministries. Remember to contact CityVoices for the very best in resources for city ministry. “Transforming Power” by Robert Linthicum ($14), “The Expanded Mission of City Center Churches,” by Ray Bakke ($10) and “The Underclass” ($14) by Ken Auletta can all be purchased by calling CityVoices at (773) 477-8163. Also, look through the Bookstore section of the CityVoices website (www.cityvoices.com) for a complete listing of all available resources. God’s grace and peace today, ******************** The City in the Bible: Implications for Urban Ministry (Excerpted from Dr. Diane Jacobson’s article in World and World journal, fall 1994. Dr. Jacobson is Associate Dean of Specialized Ministries and Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota) The City – “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken” (Psalm 87:3)! Well, by some, perhaps, but not by all. In fact, in some circles, the Bible is characterized as anti-city. The city, over against the wilderness of devoted nomads or the rural landscape of faithful peasants, is said by some to be the center of wickedness, the haven of apostasy and self-reliance, the den of social inequity and royal privilege (Jacques Ellul, “The Meaning of the City,” Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1970). The city is scripture’s evil place where sin is rampant; all cities are, in their core, Babylon. On the other hand, glorious things have been spoken of the biblical city. The city is described as the beacon of hope, the place of protection, the home invention and religion, law and royal promise, the place of the written word that birthed and formed our scriptures, new and old and thus made possible God’s ongoing proclamation. All cities, in this scenario, are seen as Jerusalem. To an extent, both these visions of the city are true to scripture, though, in fact, neither extreme cuts to the core. For the city in the Bible is finally a world of start reality that houses a population of simultaneous saints and sinners. In the city, complete with temptation and promise, sin and grace, reality is one’s ever present companion. For though the biblical journey begins in the garden, it moves quickly to the city and remains there, moving back and forth from city to city, until finally one rests in the heavenly garden transformed into a city. The biblical drama, with its unrelentingly human face, is played out largely with city walls. The ambiguity of the biblical portrait of the city is apparent from the start. The first city is established by Cain and is named after his son, Enoch (Gen 4:17). The city, thus, can hardly claim saintly parentage. Its father’s violence is matched and raised by its early descendent, Lamech, so that violence marks the city from the start. But the city also sires the parents of commerce and music and industry, Jabal and Jubal and Tubul-cain. And in the midst of this double-edged progress, “people began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen 4:26) – religion too is given birth…. From the beginning, … the city stands between the extremes of hubris and divine gift, corruption and promise. The portrait of the city in the New Testament is equally ambiguous. The narrative moves from the rural ministry of Jesus that skirts the cities with some degree of intentionality to the ministry of Paul and the growth of the church, in which the gospel is spread throughout the empire from city to city until the final entry into Rome itself. And always, at the center of the image of the city, in Old Testament and New, stands Jerusalem. Biblical Jerusalem Like other principal cities throughout history, Jerusalem looms on the horizon with mythic proportions… Jerusalem – Zion – is the city of God, perfect and holy. But even within the mythic tradition of Zion the reality of the city is present. For in Israel, unlike other Ancient Near Eastern civilizations, the capital city does not drop from heaven nor is it pictured as the navel of the earth, though some such symbolism may have accrued. No, the story of Jerusalem, the capital city, is told within history, replete with political intrigue. Jerusalem, Salem, was a Canaanite city with its own history (Gen 14; Josh 10:1-5). The city was captured by David and, for any number of politically wise reasons, proclaimed to be his capital, David’s city (2 Sam 5:6-10). To Jerusalem David brings the ark (2 Sam 6), and so God comes to dwell in Jerusalem, first in the ark and subsequently in Solomon’s temple. Mythic dimensions are present in the telling, but always through infusion into the concrete reality. Jerusalem remains a flesh and blood city. Like the cities in Genesis and Deuteronomy, Jerusalem is adopted by God into the promise, and through adoption is transformed into Zion…. In the Gospels, the lure of Jerusalem sounds like the call of a siren, beckoning Jesus to his inevitable death. In that death, the sin of Jerusalem finds its fullest expression. Yet that very sin is gathered up with all such sins by Christ’s death on the cross, and Jerusalem is transformed in the process. The disciples return rejoicing to Jerusalem to wait and pray (Luke 24:52), and in Acts the word goes forth from Zion. Jerusalem then becomes a different sort of beacon, as the heavenly city of time (Rev 21:1-22:5). In the end, Jerusalem stands over against Babylon, heavenly city of promise over against the earthly city of corruption…. So where does this biblical picture of the city leave those of us who live and breathe and have our being in such places? Are we left to think of the earthly city only as Babylon? We are often tempted to dwell prophet-like on the sins of the city. Conservative or liberal, we all know that sin, individual and corporate, exists here aplenty – social, economic, political, and religious. Surely, at times, we are called upon to name these sins and call for repentance in the name of the Lord. Or, in our more compassionate moments, we lament with Jeremiah: How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! Or weep with Jesus over our beloved city gone awry (Luke 19:41). But even in these modes of Lamentation and naming sin, we are, perhaps, in for some surprises. For as the Lord tells through Jeremiah, even in Babylon we are to “build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” We are to marry and have children and “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:4-7). We might discover, as did the prophet Jonah, that those we thought were godless might recognize the presence of the Lord more readily than we ourselves, and those whose sins we deemed unforgivable might repent and embrace God’s grace despite our own preference for divine condemnation over divine compassion. We are in partnership with our cities; the cities are our realities, and the gospel calls to something more than condemnation…. The city defined by gospel vision is a place of creativity in its industry and in its arts, the heir of Enoch’s progeny. Without the work of the hands, the city languishes; without Jubal’s lyre, vision fails, and the city cannot grow and change. The city defined by gospel vision is a place of hospitality and divine refuge, the opposite of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the light of the vision, we issue open invitation to the one who is other, the alien and stranger; we open our homes and churches because we were once strangers in Egypt or in Jerusalem…. The city defined by gospel vision is a place of law, justice, and equality, where vision transforms both us and the stranger into neighbors. The city defined by gospel vision is a place of cooperative community. Our community is a motley collection of strangers gathered around a common table, not a community defined by preordained structures and preexistent ties. Finally, the defined by gospel vision is a place of worship in which we proclaim God’s presence and Christ’s reign: Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; From the Old Jerusalem to the New Jerusalem, this vision of the city as the center of worship and proclamation remains center of worship and proclamation remains central. Adopted by God, defined by hope, transformed by promise, the city flourishes only as a gift of god, who enables its continued life through forgiveness, grace, and presence. Without the reality of God’s past fulfillment of promise and the hope for the future, and without the reality of God’s continuing presence, claiming and living within the positive vision is impossible. With the vision incarnate within our communities, we respond through worship, with confession and adoration – our lamentation transformed into celebration. In the words of Psalm 126: When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those
who dream. Copyright©1994 Word & World. Abridgement used with permission. Understanding What the Scriptures Say About the Cities Most of us as urban ministers have a fairly strong background in biblical studies. We have studied the original languages, the history and culture of the Bible so we can use all these as tools to interpret what the Scriptures have to say about matters of faith. While there is a wealth of detail on cities and urban ministry models
in the Scripture (the word "city" occurs more than 1,250 times),
we may not find it meaningful. Without formal training in urban studies
it is difficult to put what the Scriptures are saying about cities into
some kind of cognitive framework. It will also be useful to develop a
personal library of books and articles on urban studies to stimulate our
thinking on cities. This background will sharpen our ability to recognize
such references in Scripture. Original context. In Scripture, we need to understand the original context before we can apply Scripture to the present. If we do not understand the context within which Scripture was written we misinterpret Scripture. To understand original context, we need to spend a lot of time looking at sources other than the Bible itself. This means gaining access to good atlases and histories as well as biographies and other stories of that time. We should enter the world of the writers of the Bible to get the full meaning of their words. Personal context. The context of our upbringing and personal experience always plays an important (though perhaps unconscious) role in our understanding and interpretation of Scripture. For example, people who have never been in prison may find it more difficult to relate to some of Paul's prison writings. On the other hand, it is also possible that immersion in a context may cause us to loose sensitivity over time. Those who have grown up in large cities may overlook the suffering that occurs daily. We need to carefully understand the things that have formed our world view and determine, for better or worse, our response to the world around us. Ministry context. Our ministries can help us to understand Scripture and its relevance for the city by providing a group or communal approach to Scripture. One way to achieve this is through community Bible studies, where all can gain from the collective wisdom of the group and contribute to a better understanding of any passage of Scripture. Often asking a simple question like..."What is God doing in your life?" leads a group of people to reveal the contemporary realities of their circumstances. Community context. Our understanding of Scripture, our personal history and our communal appreciation of ministry must also interact with the immediate physical setting and its attendant socioeconomic elements. In the context of our community we learn the history of its people, the struggles and issues that concern them, what resources are available for ministry and which larger trends are confronting the community. The activity of God is not isolated from concrete reality and our ministry is not isolated from people who live in a real place. Our ability to understand Scripture is affected by the biases that we bring to it. This is especially pertinent when we consider the biblical teaching on cities. If we are convinced that God loves the cities, our ears will be opened so that we can hear what the Scriptures say about cities. We will also begin to actively read the Scriptures with the intent and expectation of learning more about cities. Our appreciation for cities will be enhanced further by the realization that even though the Bible opens in a garden, it actually concludes in a city. In between, God's people are seen many times in cities, such as Nineveh, Jerusalem, Corinth, Rome, Ephesus, and the list goes on. It is also interesting to note that cities as they exist today are already beginning to reflect the holy city in Revelation where many nations will be gathered and praising God together Found at: http://www.telchar.com/telchar/theocity.htm ******************** Letting the Bible Make Sense for City Ministry By Roger Johnson, Editor -- CityVoices In all likelihood, you too receive thick catalogues from a company trying to sell you Bibles, Bible commentaries, Bible study aids, sermon planners, and more guilt than necessary for not being as much a Bible scholar as other pastors. The catalogues come more frequently, the collections of scripture commentaries loom larger, the discount prices look more attractive, and time to spend reading everything is in shorter supply. Who are all these scholar-pastors out there, and how do they ever find
time to be such experts in everything Biblical? Isn’t it good enough
that you’ve taken the time to figure out the needs of your community
and preach sermons that fit the needs of your congregation? City ministry has been critiqued as occupying oneself too much with the things of this world, to the neglect of the things that God has to offer this world. Like most “heavy-handed” generalizations, there is a kernel of truth around which the falsehood has grown. As we minister to complex human needs in our communities (economic, social, spiritual, medical, relational, etc.), the temptation to bypass God’s truths as revealed in scripture becomes an easy one. Without being spiritually bludgeoned by the “Bible commentary-a-day” people, how can we stay biblically alive in the cities where God has placed us? A few suggestions – I’ll start with the oldest. Read the scriptures regularly, on a daily basis. While many plans (we’ve all seen and recommended them) do exist, invent the routine that works well for you. I’m not, and never will be, an early riser (and hence, not very spiritual, I guess.) I wake up (slowly!), shower, enjoy my breakfast, and then enjoy reading longer sections of the Bible (often 10-12 chapters of the great Old Testament stories and prophecies). This helps enrich and focus my day. So much else does nearly the opposite. Pick your time of day, pick your plan (or invent one!). Just stick with it, months at a time. Try using a different version (newer or older) each time you tackle the Old and New Testaments. While you no doubt have your favorites, the wide perspective on scripture provided by 10, 15, or even 20 different versions is invaluable. Open yourself up to as many versions as possible. (Variations aside, it’s all scripture, it’s all God’s truth.) You may even want to practice your Spanish, French or Chinese with particular language translations. Read the Bible together with someone else: your husband or wife, your associate pastor, or get to know a neighbor pastor for this expressed purpose. One-on-one reading will most likely lead to some healthy questions and answers – iron sharpening iron. Focus on the longer sweeps of scripture. Too often we’ve micro-managed the Bible in our verse-by-verse analysis, and we’ve missed the whole bigger picture of God continually loving his people through the worst and best of times. These grand epics of God’s love are not only inspirational, they’re extremely practical as we seek to pastor God’s people in the real cities of our day. Contact: Roger Johnson, Editor – CityVoices, 1242 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois 60613, ph: (773) 477-8163, roger@cityvoices.com ******************** Great Reading! “Rekindling the Mainline: New Life through New Churches,” by Stephen C. Compton, The Alban Institute, 2003. While Steve Compton isn’t necessarily speaking to the plight or promise of urban churches, he knows what it’s going to take to get historically dead church bodies moving once again. Well-armed with statistics and stories, he make a strong case for denominational investment in starting new churches, rather than merely propping up old ministries with expensive grants for buildings, programs and salaries. Drawing primarily from his work in congregational development with North Carolina’s United Methodist churches, Compton arrives at fresh and practical ideas for both mainline and evangelical churches, ideas that translate to local church outreach as well. Contact The Alban Institute at (800) 486-1318, or go to www.alban.org. “Starting a Nonprofit at Your Church,” by Joy Skjegstad, The Alban Institute, 2002. While the 501(c)(3) strategy is well known in urban church circles, Joy Skjegstad’s book addresses many of the very basic questions and issues. Why start a nonprofit corporation? When is a congregation ready to start a nonprofit? What about the legal matters? What role should a governing board have in the nonprofit’s operation? Skjegstad speaks with the experience of her work at Park Avenue Foundation, the Faith Communities Project, and Sanctuary Covenant Church – all in Minneapolis. She provides us with an extremely practical book that will help many city churches get over the hurdles of starting one (or more) nonprofit corporations to work alongside the congregation and enhance urban outreach. Again, contact The Alban Institute at (800) 486-1318, or go to www.alban.org. ******************** Coming Events: Crowns of Beauty III -- Planting Urban Churches February 12-13, 2004, Van Nuys, California. The third annual urban church planting conference hosted by World Impact at The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California promises to provide more great resources for city pastors and city missionaries everywhere. Once again, World Impact’s key resource people (Keith Phillips, Don David, Terry Cornett, Al Ewert) will bring their wisdom and experience together with speakers such as John Perkins, Jack Hayford, Jesse Miranda, Scott Bauer and Phil Alessi to focus on the subject of planting churches cross-culturally among poor and disenfranchised urban peoples. Register online at: http://www.worldimpactla.org/cob/ or call World Impact at (323) 735-1137. Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor Conference February 10-12, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia. Progressive and relevant, this conference will engage you in and others in honest dialogue around real church issues, while pushing you beyond the comfort zone. Foci include: homiletics and stewardship, church growth and management, justice and community mobilization. Conveners include: Rev. Dr. Charles Adams, Bishop Charles Blake, Rev. Dr. James Forbes and Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Register online at: http://www.sdpconference.info/. The Future of the Church in a Globalized World April 1-3, 2004, Charlottesville, Virginia. This conference will explore
what contemporary missions scholars and Christian church historians have
reported: that the center of Christianity has shifted from the global
North—North American and Europe—to the global South—Asia,
Latin America, and Africa. How will this impact the church in the global
North? Plenary speakers include: Plenary Speakers include: D.G. Hart (Intercollegiate
Studies Institute), Philip Jenkins (Pennsylvania State University), Lamin
Sanneh (Yale University) and Andrew Walls (University of Edinburgh). ******************** Thanks for Reading CityVoices! Take all you’ve read to heart, and make the Bible an essential tool in your urban ministry library. Next month CityVoices focuses on health ministries conducted by city churches, as well as the challenge ahead for all urban Christians who take their community’s health and welfare seriously. Remember to contact CityVoices for the very best in resources for city ministry. “Transforming Power” by Robert Linthicum ($14), “The Expanded Mission of City Center Churches,” by Ray Bakke ($10) and “The Underclass” ($14) by Ken Auletta can all be purchased by calling CityVoices at (773) 477-8163. Also, look through the Bookstore section of the CityVoices website (www.cityvoices.com) for a complete listing of all available resources. Thank You! |
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