So I’ve been tagged again, this time by Abmo…and this time it’s a bit less frivolous.
Abmo asks, with all the rhetoric that goes on in the church about “taking the city for God”–what would that look like if it really happened? What would a city look like when it’s completely won for Christ? Abmo asks that we write about it and then tag two people.
If I’d been asked this question three or four years ago, I’d have had a completely different answer than the one I’m going to give. I was at one time completely immersed in the take-your-city-for-God thing. Funny thing is, no one has ever really asked me what it would look like if it happened. And that’s probably something folks should think about–otherwise, we’re kind of like dogs chasing cars. (If the dog ever caught the car, what would he do with it? Chew the tires?)
If I’d been asked this question three or four years ago, I’d probably have described my version of a Christian “utopia”–one where everyone was nice to each other and readily obeyed what few laws were on the books; one where everyone was a Republican but loved the environment; one where sin was on the decline because there was barely any temptation; one where it didn’t matter what church you went to because everyone all got along; one where everyone was prosperous; and one where even the crops we grew were better than anyone else’s because God was blessing the land. Stuff like that. Sounds good, right?
But…I’ve come to learn there are huge differences between religious Christianity and true Christ-following. And the town I’ve described would have been based more on the religious type. And as appealing as that sort of “utopia” might seem, history consistently tells us a different story of what happens when religion and government are in bed together–which is precisely what would happen in that environment. The religious forms of Christianity have been no different in that regard (the Crusades, for example), and I don’t think a contemporary charismatic flavoring would make things any better. I’ve come to realize that this way of thinking totally misses the point when it comes to the subversive nature of the kingdom of God. So I think for this to work, we would need to scrap a lot of the existing mindsets of “taking our cities for God”, and in fact scrap our religious mindsets to ensure that whatever we had would not be corrupted by them.
That said…I have given some thought to what it might look like for a city to be won over by a true and pure desire to follow Christ, where most–if not all–citizens became true Christ-followers. And I find my picture is much different than what I had before.
If that kind of thing were to happen before Jesus returns…I think it would lead to a signifcant change of structure and a purposeful “downsizing” of the city. The population would decrease significantly, on purpose. I see two reasons for this:
- People who truly seek the heart of Christ will at some point share His passion to reach people who have not tasted of His love. They will take the Great Commission seriously and realize that in a city where everyone is a believer, there are no people who need to hear the gospel. A great number of the population would thus be compelled to go elsewhere.
- Believers would take their cue from the stagnancy of the early church in Jerusalem in the book of Acts–where it took a persecution to scatter them, because they weren’t spreading the gospel outside the city. They would have a conviction by the Holy Spirit that by keeping all the believers gathered in one locale, they would risk a stagnant, lifeless, even religious faith. Water that doesn’t move, stagnates.
Thus, I think a city truly won for Christ might honestly become a ghost town. But if the city remained, it would become a true sending place. People might come in and out for refreshing and refueling, but the focus of the city would turn outward rather than inward. If it did not…it would not remain truly Christ-centered for long before it became religious. (Back to the Christendom thing.)
The point is, as long as Jesus tarries, the Great Commission remains in effect. His disciples here on earth really need a healthy balance of being in shared fellowship with other believers and in regular contact with non-believers. I know it sounds a bit ironic, but if everyone in town became a Christian, that balance would be upset. And while I want everyone in my town to know and love Jesus the way I do…once that’s accomplished, we would need to find that balance once again. It is the very fact that so many Christians do NOT have that balance even now that causes so many of us to be religious, stagnant, and irrelevant to the world we live in. (Oops, sorry. How did that soapbox get under my feet?)
A final thought: ultimately, the final example of a “city for God” will be the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21. If you want another picture of a city that is merely dominated by religious Christianity, I’d recommend watching the movie Chocolat.
I tag Jim.
I tag Kathy.
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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Oh. My. God. Reading your description, it dawned on me that I live in that religious city ‘taken for God!’
We moved here just to be close to the Canadian border (since we work in BC, and have family in BC – but housing is cheaper in the US) and we knew this would just be a temporary stopover (while my husband finished his MA – at a University in BC).
But anyway, I’ve seen the outcome of a city (well, large town really) where the vast majority are Christians (in the churchy sense, not in the following Christ sense) and it’s kinda weird. 😛 Everybody’s nice, I’ll give them that. And there is like *no* crime, I’ll give them that too. Plus, all the lawns are this perfect hue of green, and always nicely manicured. (That part is kind of creepy actually). But it’s so homogenous, and so, so stagnant. That’s just right word.
Your blog is great , .. the whole take the city for God thinkgy, yeah, i guess it sounds honorable and religious, but it’s still the mindset of how important i am and what i can do for God isn’t it, or the mindset of what I need to be doing, for God to bless me, or to be effective in His Kingdom. or how about rethinking how people will tell you that they are mighty warriors and stuff like that ? It’s still the striving and working to prove my self and how good and powerful I am for God. *isn’t it* the self. Isn’t His Kingdom now in our midst and also the real supernatural here and now of Him working , many times people with this mindset, they miss out on that because they are always looking for some great big religious happening, like taking a city for God.
okay! give me a few days and i’ll post on it. it’s a busy couple of days. thanks for thinking of me…kathy
okay jeff, sorry i didn’t follow the instructions very well!
http://kathyescobar.com/2008/05/13/making-the-invisible-visible/
A city “taken for God”?
First of all, it would be a place where it is finally understood that G-d is too large, to wonderful, too “other and beyond our simple imaginations” to fit within any one religion. It would be a place of peace, of open-minded inquiry, a place where human laws and rules would be unnecessary because people would be living in submission to G-d directly.
It would be a city of beauty, where art and music flourish, and our minds are finally free from the stress of survival and able to explore all the vast potential we’ve been endowed with. Science, philosophy, mathematics, and literature would grow and evolve at a pace unimaginable in our work-based world.
Children and old people alike would be cherished and cared for by all. Labels like ethnicity and religion would be at most ways to joyfully describe the incredible diversity of G-d’s creation. There would be no attempts to “convert” or “proselytize” anyone, because we would live in wisdom and see that there many paths to the mountain top.
Housing would be life-affirming…open to air and sunshine and breezes and star-lit nights. Food would be chosen so as to do no harm…no being would have to die to lie on our tables or feed our appetites.
Ah, that such a city could exist! Thank you for the dream!! 🙂