Why We Love the City (pt. 2)

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There’s a pattern that has caught our attention:

1. In 1900, only 14% of the world's population was urban (i.e. living in big cities).
2. In 2008, more than 50% of the world's population was urban.
3. By 2030, roughly 60% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas (according to the Population Reference Bureau).
4. By 2050, 67.2% of the world's population will be urban, 85.9% in developed regions (according to the United Nations, Population Division).

We love the City because that's where so many people are and it's where more and more people will be.

Do you see it? The world’s population is flocking to the City. Cities are getting bigger and bigger. And the trend is not changing anytime soon. However, since cities are sometimes caricatured as being dirty, crowded, unsafe and full of evil, many people try to avoid living in large cities if they can help it. The only problem is: God cares about cities. God loves cities because they are jam-packed full of people whom He created in His image (Gen. 1:26-27). See our previous blog post on the City. As Tim Keller has said so well, “In cities you have more image of God per square inch than anywhere else on Earth."

The story of Jonah gives us a glimpse into God’s heart of compassion for the City.

Jonah warned the people of the great city Ninevah that God’s judgment was soon coming upon them because of their wickedness. They surprisingly listened to the prophet and sincerely repented. So God relented of bringing disaster on the city. But instead of being glad about this, Jonah became angry. He wanted God to pour out His wrath and judgment on one of Israel’s most bitter enemies. Jonah was angry precisely because God is gracious, loving, and merciful in nature (Jonah 4:2). Well, at least he was honest. But what's even more striking is how the story ends:

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." And the Lord said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Ninevah, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:5-11).

The story of Jonah ends abruptly – and the tension is left unresolved. Will Jonah (and the rest of God’s people) repent and align with God’s heart of compassion? The next question follows: are we aligned with God’s heart of compassion for this broken world?

One of the most strategic ways for us to join in God’s redemptive work in the world is to live as devoted followers of Jesus in the City.

1. The City is like a generator. It converts our creative potential into productivity like nowhere else. God is the Creator. Because we were created to represent God on the Earth (i.e. “made in God’s image”), we are creative beings. We produce. We develop. We cultivate. It’s just part of our nature. In cities, there are more aspirational high-achievers in close proximity to each other than anywhere else on the planet. This environment of interaction, collaboration, and competition results in creativity and productivity flourishing in the City in ways we don’t see anywhere else.
2. The City is like a magnifying glass. It reveals humanity in all its beauty and ugliness.  Cities are full of potential for good and evil – because they are full of people. The shining light of human potential also has its dark side. For example, the high achievers that the City attracts often become either prideful or depressed by their experiences in the City. Their lives often spiral into a never-ending cycle of working harder and harder - but always with the nagging feeling that it's never enough. Cities can be both attractive and repelling.
3. The City is like a virus. For good or ill, what happens in the City spreads everwhere. Think about business, law, medicine, education, the arts, music, literature, film, etc. Urban areas are where so many of these cultural forces are centered, and so what takes place in the City spreads throughout surrounding regions. In this way, the City has a profound impact on how we think and how we see the world around us (regardless of where we live). Therefore, the forces at work in the City affect our everyday lives more than we usually realize. As we live as faithful disciples of Jesus in our workplaces and neighborhoods in the City, we have a unique opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the world. For as goes the City, so goes the rest of culture.

Even though this broken world will not be fixed until Jesus returns in glory, should we not live as if we actually expect this to happen - as if we actually want to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven?

This is what the apostle Paul did. He didn't just wait around for Jesus to come back. He was strategic and intentional with his time, energy and resources. Paul focused his church-planting efforts in the large cities of his day. Corinth, Ephesus and Rome were all major cultural centers in the first century Greco-Roman world. The City, in all its beauty and ugliness, was a strategic center of the early Christian movement. Paul focused his efforts where he thought the church would have optimal impact. Cities are still around. Actually, cities are getting bigger and bigger. And what happens in the City spreads everywhere else. Do we see this as a threat to run away from or an opportunity to run towards?