Missional in Suburbia at Allelon.org
Allelon.org, a fantastic missional resource, has generously published my paper called, “The Gospel and the God Forsaken: the challenge of the missional church in suburbia” which I put up on my blog a few months back here.
They also put it up along with a post by Alan Roxburgh on their new blog called “Moving into the Neighborhood” which I think is a blog all about the suburban missional church. I’ll follow that blog closely for sure…
I also noticed that, Ryan Bell, a good friend of mine has a paper posted this month as well called “Leadership Begins with Listening.” Looking forward to reading that one too…
Brian Bennett said...
107/16/07 4:34 AM | Comment Link |
Todd,
I thought your paper on suburbia was excellent. We are in desperate need to think intentionally about how it is possible to live in the suburbs and still live in the way of Christ. Your paper was excellent because you named the issues clearly that face Christians in the suburbs. Your penetrating question spoke to the heart of the matter. Is the suburb one of the most God forsaken places on earth? Many would answer no because of the material wealth that is present, but that is seeing with only physical eyes. There is so much discontent, disconnect and “rat race” mindset still found which, shows the fragmented lives of people in the burbs. Everyone can’t move to the city. Someone has got to stay in the suburbs and figure out what it looks like to carve out a life there in the way of Christ that doesn’t conform in the wrong ways to some of the patterns you listed in your paper. This is a very difficult task though, living missionally in the burbs.
I was just in Germany for the last eleven days, and being in a different culture opened my eyes and gave me some insight into my own. The Germans, at least where I was, gathered in public places to hangout such as the park or café. Especially the youth, but as a whole their culture is more outdoors community focused. They don’t just hang out in their houses all day. They go to the city center and interact with each other and the stores. But at other times they are very standoffish. (I don’t know if that last word is actually a word, but I am a practical writer and make my own words up all the time) In American suburbia, the individualism you talked about in your paper is extreme. Everyone sticks to themselves, though they will wave at you or have a short conversation. I have been the guiltiest of this as I find it hard to interact with the people in my suburb at times because of our different schedules. Americans are more open I believe to a short conversation or a quick hello, but not last community and personal connection. Our society provides for a personal, private and separated life from others. This makes it extremely difficult to make connections with people that go below the surface.
This means that living missionally in the suburbs will take much time, will have to be extremely intentional and will have to find ways to connect with other people. There has to be some sort of contrast lifestyle, the type you talk about in your paper that deals with those four topics of consumerism, individualism…etc. Somehow Christians in the burbs have got to figure out in what ways do they need to live differently in such a way that the aroma of Christ breathes through them into the lives of their neighbors. But that is easier said than done. Many people don’t even realize the suburbs is a God forsaken place, they still think their dream life is complete, even Christians. The topic in your article of safety and the other issues you address must be dealt with by the church as a whole that finds its body of believers in the suburbs. I have passed it on to a few other pastors and am hoping to interact with them in our specific context. Thanks for the article.
Brian Bennett
Missouri