Reaching the UnreachedAn annual conference for churches trying to reach out in the hard places of our land

Here’s the talk I’m giving at church on Sunday.
What do you think of the city? When most groups do a word association on ‘the city’, they throw up a mix of positive and negative images. But what is God’s vision for the city?

1. A place of refuge

Read Joshua 20. Here are a farming people, about to disperse into the land. And God says: You’ve got to have cities because you’ve got to have places of refuge. The first cities you build will be built as places of refuge.’

How do cities today offer a place of refuge? cities are a place where refugees and minorities can find a home and a community. People from the majority culture (‘middle-England’) usually don’t like the city, but minorities love it. The reason for both is the same – it’s because the city is a place of difference.

What about Sheffield?
‘Sheffield has become the UK’s first “City of Sanctuary” for asylum-seekers and refugees – a city that takes pride in the welcome it offers to people in need of safety.’ (www.cityofsanctuary.com) The City of Sanctuary Pledge says: ‘We recognise the contribution of asylum-seekers and refugees to the City of Sheffield, and are committed to welcoming and including them in our activities. We support the goal of Sheffield becoming a recognised ‘City of Sanctuary’ for refugees and asylum-seekers.’

2. A place of creativity

In the nation of Israel the city of Jerusalem was a centre for music, wisdom and poetry. In cities we meet people who are unlike us (creating a fusion of ideas) and like us (challenging us to excel).

What about Sheffield?

Sheffield has a thriving arts scene, especially with music. Last Sunday a group of us went to the Millennium Galleries (one of our congregation works for the Sheffield museum and galleries trust). Others in the congregation are involved in the live music scene while another TCH congregation has a focus on reaching people in the music scene.

3. A place of influence

Paul said: ‘I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.’ (Romans 15:19). He could claim that because he had started new churches in all the major cities. From the city the message of Jesus could go out into the surrounding area. Cities are places of influences:

• because they are places of creativity that set the pace for the culture.
• because the headquarters of government, business, arts, media and professions are in the city.
• because cities have strong global connections. Simply by church planting in Sheffield, the Crowded House has been able to have an impact on countries around the world, especially China and Kurdistan.

If Christians want to reach the world and transform the culture, we need to focus on cities.

What about Sheffield?

I grew up with a deep passion for the countryside. All my dreams involved living in the country, writing poetry somewhere as remote as possible. When Helen and I first married we lived for a year in north London which was hard for me. And then the opportunity came to move to Richmond, a small town in the Yorkshire Dales. It was a wonderful place to live. From our window we saw the hills. I could walk out of our door into beautiful countryside. And I did! But a few months in I realised I had made a mistake. I loved it there. I still look back to our time there with great fondness. But I knew I had to serve God in the city. That’s where most people are. That’s where the poor are. Even then it was only when we came to Sheffield that I really learnt to love the city.

4. A place of opportunity

The city is a place of opportunity – in employment, arts, sport and so on. But it is also a place of opportunity for the gospel. Most Christians think of the city as a hard place or a dark place. But the opposite is true. In the Bible and in history, the evidence is the opposite. Read Acts 11:19-26. Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. It was the New York or Sao Paulo of its day. By the third century over half the Roman Empire had converted to Christianity yet the vast majority of these were in cities (‘pagan’ originally meant country-dweller). Always, always the more urban a place is, the more troubled and the more plural – the more people have responded to the message of Jesus. People in towns are spiritually lifeless, but it is covered over with respectability. Urban people are more likely to recognise their need. Urban people are more open to new ideas.

What about Sheffield?

The Crowded House has grown from eight people in 2000 to around 200 today in five congregations. I visited a church this week in Sheffield called The Rock which was also started in 2000 and has now grown to 160 from over 20 ethnic groups. Sheffield is place of opportunity – to know Jesus and serve Jesus.

Think of five things you love about your neighbourhood.

• Sheffield is the fifth largest city in the UK (after London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds).
• Sheffield is the safest large city in the UK with the lowest figures for violent crime.
• Sheffield’s health services came top in recent league tables.
• Sheffield is England’s greenest city with 150 woodlands and 50 public parks. It has more trees per person (four for every person) than any other UK city and is the only one with a national park within its boundaries. Sheffield is the UK city that sends the least amount of waste to landfill.
• Sheffield FC is the world’s oldest football club and Hallam FC has the oldest football ground.
• Sheffield has Europe’s largest outdoor artificial ski resort.
• Sheffield has more cinema seats per person than any other city in Britain. Cineworld has the largest cinema screen in Europe while the Showroom is the largest independent cinema outside London.
• The University of Sheffield was voted the Sunday Times University of the Year. The city has been voted Most Popular UK Student Destination. It has Europe’s largest Further Education college. It is also the city in which most graduates stay on to live (apart from London).
• Sheffield is known as ‘Steel City’ because it has been a centre of steel and cutlery manufacture. Although steel is no longer a major employer, Sheffield produces steel than ever before because of modern manufacturing methods.

The flipside of the city

But there is a flipside to the potential of the city. Our rejection of God spoils cities.

• a place of refuge becomes a place of escape from social constraints and escape from God
• a place of creativity becomes a place of idolatry and self-worship
• a place of influence becomes an influence for evil
• a place of opportunity becomes a place of exhaustion and pressure as we all try to make it or hold on to what we have

A new city
And so the Bible’s vision of the future, of God’s future, is a vision of a new city, a renewed city, God’s city. Jesus died outside the city so that we can be welcomed into God’s city (Hebrews 13:11-14). We are ‘confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.’ (Hebrews 11:10) ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared … And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.’ (Rev 21:1-2)

In the meantime the Christian community is:

1. A city within the city
We are an outpost, a glimpse, a foretaste of God’s new city. Jesus said to his followers: ‘You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.’ (Mt 5:14) We are the place where God’s future can be seen. A place of refuge from God’s judgment. A place of welcome for outsiders. A place of creativity that is offered to God. A place of worship and prayer.

2. A city for the city
God’s people are told: ‘Work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you.’ (Jer 29:7) The word ‘peace’ (shalom) means blessing, well-being, wholeness, economic, social and spiritual health. ‘Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.’ (1 Pet 2:11-12 NLT & NIV). Christians belong to God’s city so we don’t quite fit in – we’re like temporary residents. Yet at the same time we are to do good to the city in which live.

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This talk draws heavily on work of Tim Keller. See ‘A Biblical Theology of the City‘ and sermons at the Redeemer website.