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Truth is transferred and defined not through ideology or teaching but in and
through people’s lives
Urban life is pragmatic not ideological. The global urban culture is saturated with
philosophy, trends, and options of spirituality. This generation is attracted by what is
perceived as working. Truth must now be seen, tasted, touched, and not merely heard. Linear
transference of truth is no longer valued. Rather, truth is accepted through relational and
experiential contact. It’s not coming from an unwillingness to operate in faith but a deep cry
for genuineness and a spirituality that actually produces something. The question is
“ Where are the true Sons of God? ” According to the Barna research group, 85% of 24
million non-believers in N. America know at least 5 Christians; yet only 15% say that those
Christians display any difference from those who are not Christian. The implication is that
we need a new setting for our classroom. We need to live out our message in the most
complex environments of the urban world. We need to create an incarnation and physical
context to our teaching and discipleship. Jesus made physical application the context for
revealing truth when He “put on flesh and dwelt among us so that we could see His
Glory ”(John 1:18). Its not that our message is no longer valid, but rather it is being
validated by how well we are living it out in the context by which the majority of the world
exists today. If we continue to present our message and discipleship only from a rural,
suburban, or homogeneous context, it will increasingly be suspect in a world no longer
relating to that reality.
The examples of our message cannot be simply taught, but must be seen. In John 14:6,
Jesus took the revelation of truth out of the context of teaching into the physical reality of a
person. The urban world hungers to see the person of Jesus. The churches and ministries
that will draw the attention of this 21st century generation will be those who are connected in
some way to the context of struggle and reality in the urban world. This generation is so
desperate to find instant application to the urban reality that they no longer want to be taught
through the method of removal from the world, but rather in the midst of it. They want to be
taught in the market place. Our need to influence and exist in the spheres of society is no
longer simply for evangelistic reasons, but so that truth can be validated by how well it
works in the world. This generation no longer wants to experience church and discipleship
monastically or from safe, isolated structures, but rather in corporate offices, high-rise
apartment buildings, slums and street corners. They are redefining church to be something
exists through community, no matter where it takes place, and not in buildings. We must
take our worship and processes of discipleship public in order to remain relevant.
Value is placed not on Structure but Movement and that which effects change
The urban world is intense and complex. Spirituality is no longer seen as a personal thing.
Every social issue is seen as a spiritual issue. This urban generation is looking for a
spirituality that produces change in the world around it. The question is, “Are we going
anywhere?” No longer are churches or ministries validated by how well established or how
big they are. The urban view is the perception that the world is slanted toward the rich and
the powerful. If a church or ministry is big it is actually suspected of running over
somebody to get there. Structures are not valued in and of themselves but only to the degree
that they are creating movement and real change. They are hungering for real movement that
inspires, and are ready to sacrifice their lives for true causes. They are simply not impressed
with institutions. They want to join something that looks grass roots, organic, and very
relationally connected to humanity.
Our very existence as a church or ministry is being validated by how much change we are
creating in the world and how personally connected we are toward that world we seek to
impact. We will attract this generation to the degree that they feel we are touching real need.
They do not want gated Christian community, but rather messy, integrated, relationally risky
involvement with the world. John 15:8 reminds us that the world will believe that Jesus has
come from the Father by the fruit we produce. The implication is that the Church will need
to recapture the method of discipleship that Jesus used, by inviting people to discover God,
discipleship, and spiritual maturity while doing ministry in the world. Again, this generation
wants to discover spirituality through action and integration into the world, rather than
through removal from it. They must feel that we are so radically going somewhere that they
will miss out if they do not jump on board.
The conclusion, as we move into the 21st century, is that the Church will be increasingly
validated by its level of urban connectedness. Our voice will only be heard and respected to
the degree we are identifying with and touching the heart cry of an urban generation. The
urban world will only be reached by embracing the parable Jesus gave in Matt 13:33. He
reminded us that the Kingdom of God (the physical application of the ways of God’s rule)
would affect the world like leaven (or ferment) in a loaf of bread. To ferment literally means
to infect and change a substance at the cellular level. We must dramatically and physically
connect with the complex increasing urban realities of our world in order to infect it on a
cellular level. As we do this, the Church, and those ministries seeking to equip and mobilize
the Church, will be both validated and heard, attracting an urban generation that has the
heart, hunger, and ability to change the world.