“…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. ” Acts 1:8 This commandment, given by Christ to his apostles, was one of action. First they were to go into their homes, or Jerusalem, then to their community, or Samaria, and then finally to the ends of the earth. The Christian church of today, however has lost sight of that directive. For too many years now we have sent thousands of missionaries abroad while ignoring the mission field next door.
While many may witness in our homes few move out into the community, especially when that community is in an urban area. Joshua 8:7 says “…take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. ” Now more than ever this call to “take the city” must followed by believers. The current population of the world is 5,983,000,000 (World POPClock, 1:57 p. m. , April 28, 1999). Of those estimated 6 billion people, two thirds of them will be living in cities by the year 2000 (Giradet 1). By ignoring the call to evangelize the cities for Christ, upwards of 4 billion people my be lost.
The shear numbers involved in urban evangelism should serve as all call to arms. The church must be involved in the cities of the world both physically and socially. Amos Howley say’s that “Every social act in an exercise of power, every social relationship is a power equation” (Hurst 92) Within that power equation, who better to serve at a catalyst for social action than the creator of power Himself. The Holy Spirit will enable the saint, but to effectively minister in the urban culture one must know the history, understand the lifestyle, and apply cultural relevancy to each and every action.
First, a definition of exactly what the term urban means is essential. Benjamine Tonna in his book Gospel for the Cities gives a definition of urban that encompasses many of the far reaching aspects of this illusive term. “Urban…here covers all the ‘things’ that characterize the fact of the metropolis…The central interest is in the process of urbanization, which can be defined as the phenomenon by which millions of men and women move en masse from rural to metropolitan areas, and – more importantly – which transforms the lifestyle” (Tonnna 5).
It is difficult if not impossible to characterize an urban area strictly in term of numbers or density. It requires far more than quantitative analysis but also qualitative analysis to understand the culture and lifestyle as well as the pure data. With this definition in mind, the history of the migration to cities must also be more fully understood. The industrial revolution spurred on a mass migration to the cities in the early part of this century. As jobs in manufacturing began to appear in large clusters at a particular city so did thousands workers to fill those positions.
The boom in cities occurred at an astounding rate. “…while the total world population doubled during the first half of the present century, that of the cities with a population of more than 100,000 quadrupled (Tonna 49). This boom began in the United States and continued throughout the world for the next 30 to 40 years. Although the interests of the large corporations, and capitalization in general were well served through the advent of the city, more often that not the city was not a place where individual needs were met.
The process of urbanization is unique from all other cultural migrations in that it was the creation of a privileged few for monetary gain and not a migration as a reaction to a social need or problem as had been the pattern in the past. “Cities such as Madras and Calcutta, Hong Kong and Singapore were born as support bases for imperialist interests; they exercised commercial, administrative, and military function.
These cities, and many others, in Latin America and Africa as well, sprang up from the concerns of the European population residing in them and the interests of the overseas metropolitan centers – mot from the needs of the local population” (Tonna 11). This kind of development caused great problems in cities, many uniquely different than the American city. It is easy to base all assumptions about the city and urban areas on the model seen in the North America but that would be a fallacy. The urban area is spreading at record rates all over the world.
Two-thirds of all the Third World metropolises – forty-eight out of seventy-two – are in Asia. All told, some 132 million persons live in these 45 cities. Sixteen Latin American cities have a population exceeding 1 million. And even in Africa the urban area is growing. There are now seven African cities with a population exceeding 1 million (Tonna 12-14). The process of urbanization is continuing even today. However, the knowledge the history cities does not necessarily negate a knowledge of the culture of cities.
There are many paradigms that make up the culture of the urban area. Traditionally cities have been recognized by poverty, racial tension, and a generally lower quality of life. Of all the negative aspects of city life the one, steady, underlying current is a low socioeconomic status. Hurst tells us that “…socioeconomic status is (1) a continuum of inequality between classes, (2) partly the result of subjectures as well as objective conditions, (3) multidimensional, and (4) non-conflictive in nature” (Hurst 10).
It is this low SES, however, that leads many urban dwellers into a state of conflict with many of the white, middle class, evangelicals who venture out to minister to them. On of the first fallacies in urban ministry is a lack of understanding of the conflict that exists between what the messenger unwittingly represents. The church is comfortable accepting the expenditure of vast sums for war and larger police forces, even though this drains away resources that might have been used for the needs of people right nest door to the church (Ellison 67). To misunderstand the culture of poverty is much like driving blindfolded.
You may get a few feet but eventually you’ll hit something. Many Protestants have historically felt, as Durkhiem put it, “if individuals do not engage in their occupations, but rather remain idle, poverty will befall them. Riches are the result of industry, and poverty is the result of laziness” (Hurst 303). This idea of self sufficiency forms a gap between those who desire to save the lost from hell and those who are forced to listen to the gospel by someone who won’t back social policy designed to get them out of the only hell they can comprehend.
The simplest way to ensure an unsuccessful urban ministry is to buy into the feeling that “those who are poor should expect no help from others since it is their own behavior that has resulted in their dismal situation” (Hurst 303). As if the class struggle is not enough to overcome, race is still a major factor in the evangelizing of the urban community. William Julius Wilson has said that “the social problems of urban life in the United States are, in large measure, the problems of racial inequality” (Hurst 62).
With a high minority population living in the cities, understanding race difficulties and differences is essential. There is a basis fallacy in the W. A. S. P. (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) going into urban areas and preaching a Caucasian Christ who, to them, knows nothing of being a minority who feel frustration with the current political system when in actuality Christ can more easily be identified with those minority outcasts than with mainstream religion. As. Ellison put it “The Christian church has tended to maintain society’s fantasies by presenting a false picture of Christ of the Bible.
It has tended to portray Jesus as Anglo-Saxon, blue-eyed, blond, Protestant (and, some add Republican). As William E Pannell writes in My Friend the Enemy ‘this conservative brand of Christianity perpetuates the myth of white supremacy” (Ellison 58). One of the greatest stumbling blocks to the gospel can be the struggle associated with race. Both historical accounts and contemporary research data give a sobering picture of the Christian community’s mirroring – and at times leading – American racial prejudice (Ellison 51).
One of the first steps in reaching the city for Christ is a time of racial reconciliation and healing. Those of all creed and color must be able to stand together. 1 John 2:10 says that “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. ” There is one final paradigm that shapes urban culture as a whole. Although this paradigm is the youngest in the series it can, at times, have the loudest voice. It touches not some or even most but all of those in urban and non-urban areas. The paradigm is that of the media portrayal of the urban lifestyle.
On any given night, one can turn on the television and, if all that one sees is taken to be true, learn that all those living in urban areas and either drug dealers or drug users. You will find out that most of the children do not have fathers and the one who do are abused by them. You will find out everyone is promiscuous and no good can be found within the city limits. It is no wonder so many people buy into this view, including many of those living in the urban areas. Although the city can be rough, it is dangerous to make it sound even worse than it really is.
There is hope for the city and those within its limits. The urban dweller has enough to face without the bombarding of negative stereotypes that often turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. Benjamin Tonna say’s that “The process of secularization takes place in the city; in fact urbanization and secularization go hand in hand as parallel processes, even with a certain degree of interdependence. But this does not mean that religion is no longer viewed as the solution to human problems…” (Tonna 91). It is in fact, the only viable solution the world has left.