Make All Things New

I had the opportunity to preach the last time our church was able to meet (due to the 24 inches of snow in Philly last weekend). The text was John 11. I’d love your feedback.

John 11 – Extraordinary Hope

A young man was killed near our church building last weekend.

Saturday night we setup for church at Richmond Hall in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. Finished up around 6:30 p.m. As I drove past the playground across the street, nothing was out of the ordinary. It looked like the beginnings of another typical night in the neighborhood. Sadly, what came later was anything but typical.

We arrived for worship the next morning completely unaware of anything tragic happening less than 100 feet away and merely 9 hours earlier. There are conflicting stories about the events but the end result is the same: a 21 year-old boy from the neighborhood is dead. He was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman in front of the playground. As I said, there are lots of different stories about how all this came to happened and I hate to speculate, so I won’t. Here’s the report from our local ABC station:

When I heard about this, I was settling in with my family after church. Got a text about it and read a brief news release. I asked myself, “How do you bring shalom to a situation you know nothing about, with people you don’t know and who may not care about what you have to offer them?” Thankfully, I didn’t have to spend too much time dwelling on that thought in the comforts of my home.

“Gonna go down there and check around” was the text from my good friend (pastor and co-laborer for the gospel) Rob Burns. My most excellent wife totally understood as I got up and left.

“How do you bring shalom in this situation to people you don’t know and who may not care about what you’re offering?” I thought to myself again. Then it struck me. “You enter in!”

We need not look farther than Jesus to see someone who entered into a world of pain where people didn’t know him and certainly most didn’t want what he was offering. Yet he came to bring shalom (in part at first) to the people. He did this by entering into their lives and sharing their pain, ultimately being rejected and killed so that we wouldn’t have to bear the wrath for our sin. That is true caring. That is true love.

I’m not saying that Rob and I do this perfectly like Jesus (hangout with us for a while and you will see our lives are marked by God’s grace, not our own accomplishments). But the Holy Spirit prompts us to be like Jesus (while conforming us more into his image) in our city.

So, we prayed, walked around the playground, talked with people, listened to people, talked to the police and just generally looked for ways we could help the people in our community. We tried to enter in.

I think the answer to loving your city, to serving it and bringing a foretaste of shalom to your city is simple but impossible. It’s simple in that it only requires you to go and enter into the lives of people around you. That really doesn’t take much (even if it may be uncomfortable sometimes). Besides, you are just following the leading of the Savior as he entered into this world.

However, it is impossible in that – on our own – we won’t seek the shalom of the city and we won’t enter into people’s lives until Christ has entered into ours. The gospel must first change us before we are propelled out on mission. It’s impossible because we can’t make that happen. It’s all God’s grace to us and through us so that we can be blessed and a blessing.

My question for all of us is: “If God has called you to himself, how is he sending you to spread shalom in your neighborhood?”

Tim Keller – Preaching the Gospel from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Tim Keller – The City from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

If you like Keller, be sure to read his book “The Prodigal God”… awesome!

In a previous post I mentioned that Mark Driscoll would be interviewed for ABC’s Nightline. Well, here it is:

(HT Jason Garwood)

I have been thinking much about how to some, ministering the gospel within an urban setting almost assumes a ministry to the poor and destitute. So often when I share with people that my family and I are going to Philadelphia to pursue urban ministry and possibly church planting, the response includes something about how poor and broken the inner city is. While I recognize that there are some very impoverished areas in Philadelphia, why do so many assume that is where we are going or that that is what defines the city? Perhaps this is just a misunderstanding. Perhaps there is no real prejudice here. Perhaps the assumption is just out of concern for us. I don’t know. What I know is that I have lived in cities and I have lived in suburbs and I have seen wealth and poverty in both. Perhaps the polarity is more extreme within cities – the poor are poorer and the rich are richer.

The truth is that going to the city doesn’t necessarily mean ministering to impoverished people. To me, the insinuation that urban equals poor shows at best a lack of engagement with the city and at worst, a bit of condescending attitude. All levels of the socioeconomic scale are represented in a city like Philadelphia. But that really shouldn’t be the point, should it?

What I am wrestling with here is trying to understand my own (and others) presupposition when it comes to the city. In light of wanting to understand my own heart better, I desire to also understand the prejudices within it.

Do I see the city as a poor place? Do I speak of it as a place that needs people from the “wealthier” suburbs to come and rescue it? Do I sense a call to ministering to poor people in tough neighborhoods?

When I think of cities, my initial thought is of many positive things: neighborhoods filled with many people, diversity of ethnic cultures (and foods!), arts and culture, etc. For me, thinking of going to the city isn’t looking at a sacrifice but rather an opportunity. An opportunity to share the gospel in a context which I enjoy.

Of course, I don’t want to be naive to the real needs of the people of the city. Yes, there are many poor and needy people and yes I hope to help meet those needs. But those needs are readily apparent and in some ways easier to meet. The real need, whether rich or poor, is to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. That is the need which I want to meet, even in some small way. The gospel is needed in the city for the city.

I have heard it said that our worldview is to us like water is to a fish. As a fish what it’s like to be wet (assuming that a fish could communicate with you!) and it won’t know what you are talking about. That is, a worldview isn’t something we think about but rather something we think through or from. Thinking through our worldview is often challenging, yet always rewarding work.
At my first class in the LAMP program recently, we were asked to share a bit about  ourselves and the calling we are sensing from God. When I shared that I currently live in   New Jersey but will be moving to Philadelphia in response to God’s call to “urban ministry”, I did think much about the worldview from which I was speaking. While my friend Anthony shared a similar calling to “urban ministry” neither of us appeared to think much about how that might be misinterpreted.
Later in the class, another member of our cohort (who is born, raised and ministering in Philadelphia) mentioned (with some seeming frustration) that she didn’t understand why we referred to “urban ministry”. While it was quickly explained that nothing derogatory was meant by the term, it gave me some things to think about on my drive back to the suburbs that night.
I examined my possible insensitivity in speaking about coming to the city to minister the gospel of grace. While I certainly don’t think of myself as some hero coming in to rescue a sick city from itself, I realize how my moving from the suburbs to the city could appear that way. When I think of being called to the city of Philadelphia, I don’t think about how the city needs me but rather how I need to be faithful to God by being there. I can only imagine what it must seem like for someone ministering in the city to hear about some one wanting to come in and “do urban ministry”. It’s not about feeling pity for the city but rather seeking the shalom of the city.
I also considered how confusing it could be to join the word “urban” with “ministry” to form the term “urban ministry.” There is some truth in saying that one who misters in the urban setting calls their vocation “ministry” but when someone moves from the suburbs to the city, they call their vocation “urban ministry”. I think I can see the challenge here. Honestly, I have never referred to sharing the gospel where I currently live as “suburban ministry”!
The point that was clarified for me was this: when I refer to urban ministry as a calling, “urban” refers to the context or setting in which the ministry takes place. In this way, the person from the city who says it is just ministry is correct, just not as fully descriptive of their calling.
Christ calls us all to “come” to Him and to “go” out for Him. The city is simply where I am being sent by Christ to share His gospel. I pray that in my going, I would be sensitive to thus who are already there!

Westminster’s The Gospel and Culture Project just got a new website (I’ve been anxiously awaiting this relaunch). Check it out!

From the site:

The Gospel & Culture Project (GCP) equips Christians to understand and apply the Gospel as truth capable of transforming human culture. We accomplish this through a group of interwoven initiatives:

Gospelandculture.org is an online community where specialists in specific areas of cultural interpretation and theological application dialogue with fellow believers about contemporary questions. The site also communicates about the ongoing work of the GCP and promotes its initiatives and events.

Forays are monthly gatherings held in the University City area of Philadelphia that explore aspects of contemporary life through the lens of the Christian faith.

In fact there is an event in Philly tonight (I wish I could go) entitled:
Jesus Watching Mad Men: A Gospel Model for Understanding Television, Film and Cyberculture Spectatorship

I encourage you to check out the site and subscribe to their feed.

Acts 29

The plans were just firmed up last night for me to attend the A29 Northeast Regional Conference in Troy, NY on Monday. As interested as I am in attending the conference, I am probably more excited about the 5 hour drive each way.  Lord willing, I am going with some church planters from Philly in a 15 passenger van.  I am praying for a good time of fellowship and learning with a bunch of dudes that love Jesus.

I won’t be live blogging or anything (the fact that I just typed that is ridiculous!) but I will come back with a report next week.