A New Theology of the City May 2, 2008

I wrote this on July 31, 2007, but want to put it out there:
Today was our last day with the Trek staff. The students all left this morning, and we spent the afternoon with the staff team in Pasadena. We first went to Ambassador college and enjoyed the grounds there—it is truly a beautiful place, with fountains, grass, trees, landscaped creeks, gazebos, flowers. As we absorbed the beauty of it all I was reflecting more on nature versus the city, as I had been the previous day during the breakout session I led in debrief about environmental stewardship. Sarah and I got to talking about it and she raised the issue of how she feels it is difficult to put her hope in the “redeemed city” because her image of the city is a place of destruction, despair, pollution, chaos, and disconnect from the beauty of nature and the creative hand of God. She knows that the story of humanity starts in a garden and ends in a city, but it is hard to believe in a redeemed city. In that moment something struck me about the city, the redeemed city, Zion, the new Jerusalem, is a city whose architect and builder is God (as the writer of Hebrews says). The reason I connect so deeply to nature is because I see in it the creative energy and power of the God of the universe, whereas everything in the city is built by human hands, and though human creativity is a reflection of the divine, ultimately it does not possess the same heavenly touch that is able to make something out of nothing. But, the redeemed city will be a city created and built by God; therefore, the same creative energy that flows through the trees, flowers, mountains and animals will flow through that city. It will be a place that will drive us to worship the eternal God, maker of heaven and earth, because it will be the artwork of God, just as nature as we know it is. I can put my hope in that kind of city.
It makes sense to me now why God has opened up doors in my life to work in the city, to work on behalf of the urban poor. I have always felt like urban poverty was in conflict with my love of nature, but God has shown me in recent days that in fact my love of nature (which is fundamentally a love of God) is exactly what I need to sustain my hope for work in the city, and I need to stay connected to nature to be effective in the city. Satan desires to use the city for destruction, but God in his ability to work all things together for good has redeemed the city and made it a place of shalom. The forces of evil in the city suck the life out of people—poverty, lack of space, pollution, scarcity of water and light, broken families, inequality, bad education, gangs, and violence. But the power and love of God turns what satan intended for evil into a place where the Kingdom of God reigns—wealth, community, shared resources, people of all diverse backgrounds coming together in unity and the common human family, knowledge and information sharing, unity and peace. These things are possible through the Sprit of Christ in the people of God who build shalom and bring the Kingdom of God to the places where they live and work. At present we do not see this redeemed city in its fullness, but we catch glimpses of it, we caught glimpses of it this summer on the Trek, and what we have seen and tasted compels us to press on for more, and to put our hope in the truth that one day the city will be fully redeemed and we the people of God will dwell there in peace. Lord, let your kingdom come, let your will be done.