Running to Stand Still Can Still Have Its Merit: Discipleship in a Mobile Age

Yesterday, I was in the middle of a global city meeting immigrants from others nations. Many of the immigrants I meet tell me the number of years they plan to spend working in this city before they return to their home country. Two, three, or five years of working in this global city and then return with accumulated savings with increased status. Community development, starting churches and discipling among these immigrant groups can be incredibly tiring because people leave just as fast as they arrive. When I start to think about it, almost all of my friends have moved sometime in the last five years. Many of them have been significant moves from one side of the United States to the other, or to an entirely different country.

There was a time when communities thrived on the stability and longevity of families who established themselves in a place. Without having to make an effort these families naturally knew everyone in the neighborhood because they grew up together, worked together, or were in a club or church together. This natural process worked to naturally weave the community together. Churches benefited from this stability and longevity, so much so that those starting churches would start with families that were paragons of stability.

We often lament the loss of that “old neighborhood feel” where people knew each other, looked out for each other, and contributed for the good of the community. But we don’t realize how these shifts in increased mobility impact the neighborhood feel.

When it comes to investing in people in the way that Jesus modeled and taught us to do, we became used to banking on stability and longevity. We adopted a mentality of investing primarily in those who were going to be around for a long time. The result has been that we have not invested in those we think will only be around temporarily. But in a time of frequent moving, career changes, and even international mobility, we need to adapt by investing fully in people no matter their length of stay.

The phrase “running to stand still” is normally used to mean that our efforts are hopeless. But running to stand still on treadmill still results in exercise. In the same manner, discipling people of every nation is essential no matter the length time we have them. Those guys in the book of Acts (Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, and others) had this mindset. They went to a city called Thessalonica where they spent 3-4 weeks before they were run out of town. Yet, during such a short amount of time they invested/mentored/discipled the new followers of Jesus there in such a manner that Paul could later remark that they became examples and proclaimers of the good news of Jesus to those in the entire surrounding geographical area (1 Thessalonians 1). We need to shift our mentality to make disciples in this manner. It is intense, but it is transformative.

Urban Big Box Stores: Is it only about walkability?

The big box stores are starting to get it. Or are they? In a post on Denver Urbanism, Target, Walmart, and Home Depot are becoming more urban-friendly. The post features pictures of these big box stores situated on street blocks, connected to the sidewalks. Target is leading the way in this big-box store meets new urbanism approach. I applaud Target and the other stores in their attempt to adapt to the urban context, but is that all there is to it?

Walkability is a great feature for an urban store and definitely a positive step for the big box stores that have been buying up huge swaths of unincorporated farmland and throwing up acres of parking lots and cheap, unaesthetic structures. It is environmentally better, better for the city’s tax base, and less demanding on the municipal infrastructure. It is even an improvement for the population-dense downtowns. While it is an improvement in these ways, it isn’t all positive.

Eric Jacobsen offers another angle on the issue in his book Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith. Jacobsen argues persuasively that the big chain stores do not contribute to the local community in the same ways a local business does. In contrast, local stores are owned and run by people who have a personal stake in the community. They will participate in local events, serve the municipality, and contribute to local causes. A local business might care more about how the building contributes to the character and identity of the neighborhood. Local businesses might help promote a community charity or offer a community drama group a space to practice. In this way, the big box stores don’t contribute to the local neighborhoods of the city in the same ways small businesses can. Sometimes when we think of cities we think of everything on a large scale (skyscrapers, big stores, and access to anything). But a wonderful feature of great cities is the local neighborly feel of communities that combine to create cities.

10 YouTube Videos That Remind Me Why U2 is the Greatest Band Ever

This post is deviating from the normal urban theme. During a severe case of procrastination I started watching various U2 videos posted on YouTube. Here are 10 favorites that convince me they are the best band ever.

10. They sing songs that matter. 14 people were killed by British troops during a peaceful protest in Ireland in 1972. “There has been a lot of talk about this song. This song is not a rebel song. This song is Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

9. Their b-side covers sound better than the originals. Here is “Unchained Melody”

8. They are great live! I have posted two videos. One is “Elevation” from their show in Pasadena in 2009, which I was at. The other is a clip from the sensational Zoo TV tour. Here is another of a dramatic version of “With or Without You“

7. They make a great music video. I love this one of “Where the Streets Have No Name” filmed in a bad part of downtown L.A. Once the media spread the word it gave the police fits.

6. They make creative videos too. Like pricey production “Elevation” with the Lara Croft theme, or the playful video of “Numb”. But one of my favorites is the video of the amazing love song “All I Want is You”. The story told in the video is moving and intense.

5. They have performed with artists as diverse as Pavarotti, Jay-Z, Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, Mary J Blige, REM, and BB King. Featured here is “Miss Sarajevo” with a beautiful part by Pavarotti. The footage is from a documentary about a beauty pageant in the midst of war-torn Sarajevo.

4.They did the best Superbowl halftime show ever. On the heels of 9/11, U2′s performance was a tribute to those lost on 9/11 and a call to bounce back. The band performed Beautiful Day/MLK/Where The Streets Have No Name.

3. They made the best album of all time (in my opinion) with Joshua Tree. The album featured “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” featured here.

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame

2. They have done the best anthemic songs. These are the kinds of songs that rouse a whole stadium to life, that inspire activism, and say something…loudly. Here is “Pride (In the Name of Love)”.

1. One of the best songs ever. In a 2003 special edition of Q, this song was listed as the best song ever among “1001 Best Songs Ever”. You guessed it…”One”! U2 released three videos of the song, but my favorite is the one with the buffalo footage. The other two are the Anton Corbjin directed one and the one with Bono sitting in a bar.

Cities Fighting for Survival

In the midst of unprecedented urbanization throughout the world, including America, there are a lot of cities that are struggling to remain a city. Newsweek recently published “America’s Dying Cities” which gave a brief description of the top ten dying cities in the United States, at least based on certain statistics. Several of the cities were no big surprise (like the three cities in Michigan) as there has been constant trend in population shift to the South and the West. The traditional industrial cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Cleveland have been hurting since the old industries have moved out.

The question remains, if people are flocking to cities like never before how is it that these cities are decreasing in population and even “dying”? It is a strange new reality of the “urban millennium” (Viv Grigg’s phrase) we have entered. People are moving to cities for specific reasons, jobs, professional opportunities, develop a certain skill, art, craft, or perhaps simply to enjoy the amenities a great city can offer. In other words, people hope for certain things in the city. In an increased age of mobility and global transience, people can choose the cities to which they move. In fact, Richard Florida even asserts that we tend to move to cities that suit our personalities in his book Who’s Your City? What this means is that cities are going to have to compete to remain vibrant cities. They are going to have to step up their game, which means they going to have to learn how to become a good city. Inviting a couple of big companies and building an interstate that passes through just isn’t going to cut anymore. People are looking for a city where they can thrive and where the city has character. The great cities of the world have done this very well. We love London, New York, and San Francisco because they have interesting neighborhoods, mixed used communities, and unique stores, restaurants, and faith communities. If New York replaced all the local pizza joints with Papa John’s, Domino’s, and Pizza Huts, then New York’s interstingness (I know this isn’t a word) would drop considerably.

One of the cities that was on the list, Grand Rapids, has responded with a record-breaking lip-dub. It was not only an amazing organization feet, it makes Grand Rapids look like a nice place to live. Cities will need to think more about how to become great places to live rather than just a job and a house somewhere in the burbs. But just as the people of Grand Rapids came together for their city, this is what it will take in the future. Average citizens coming together for the good of their respective cities.

 

Transformation: The Next Wave?

Yesterday, I attended a meeting of Christian faith community leaders in a city. They meet once a month for encouragement, prayer, and collaborative love for their community. I noticed their notes from the previous meeting where a guest speaker was addressing the need to adapt church methodology according to the times. He put it this way: “In the 80′s home cells were the in thing… In the 90′s, prophets and apostles. Now is transformation!”

I was not there for the actual talk (although I wish I was), but have seen an increasing amount of attention on the notion of “transformation”. In recent years there has been a surge in books about the urgent need for “transformation”. These books are written by conservatives and liberals, pentecostals, evangelicals, and mainliners. But what does “transformation” mean? Where does it start? How do we go about it? What are we hoping for? I mean, what does a transformed community look like? Have we really thought it through? Or is it just a ruse to get more people into churches?

I am all for “transformation” just like everyone else on the planet. But we need to do the hard work of really researching and reflecting on what it means and are all of the “nice things”/”good works”/charity events we’re doing actually moving us toward transformation?

He was made nothing, that we might be one

The late Lesslie Newbigin wrote this regarding true unity:

“There is a longing for unity among all human beings, for unity offers the promise of peace. The problem is that we want unity on our terms, and it is our rival programs for unity which tear us apart. As Augustine said, all wars are fought for the sake of peace. The history of the world, and of course the name we give to these efforts is ‘imperialism.’ The Christian gospel has sometimes been made the tool of an imperialism, and of that we have to repent. But at its heart it is the denial of all imperialisms, for at its center there is the cross where all imperialisms are humbled and we are invited to find the center of human unity in the One who was made nothing so that all might be one. The very heart of the biblical vision for the unity of humankind is that its center is not an imperial power but the slain Lamb.” (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 159)

Sounds great inside church buildings

“But even the most devoted city-lover must admit that Christianity has not done especially well in the great urban centers in terms of making a lasting moral and religious impact on the society, its politics, schools, and economy.  In part, the churches themselves are responsible for this, and hard questions need to be asked about a religion that sounds great inside church buildings but has little transforming impact in the markets and the streets.” (Greenway and Monsma, Cities: Missions New Frontier, 74)