The Prosperity of the City
My small group is about to go through Tim Keller's Gospel in Life study in our group time in the next couple of months. I am becoming a big fan of Keller, partly because of how clear he is in his message and the intellectual depth that he brings to the discussion (plus: anyone who quotes Edwards & Lewis is cool in my book... just sayin').
So I'm started getting ahead a little (probably because I'm the leader... it's my job to know what's up), and in reading through the section on "City" we are reading through this letter that Jeremiah wrote to the Jews exiled to Babylon in 586 B.C., and in it he writes:
"Build houses and settle down." - Jer 29:5
"Plant gardens and eat what they produce" - Jer 29:5
" Marry and have sons and daughters" (and encourage your kids to do the same) - Jer 29:6
"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." - Jer 29:7
And I'm sure that those Jews that read this letter, who had plenty of people telling them (on God's behalf, which is one reason God had Jeremiah write THIS letter) "Oh, you won't be here too long!" "Don't worry, don't get too comfortable - God's got a one way train back to paradise. Don't settle here in this pagan city." were probably thinking....
"What?"
"Pray for THIS city?"
"Do you know what these people did to my {insert relative} when they destroyed Jerusalem and drug me off to here?"
"You gotta be kidding!"
Don't get me wrong, Babylon was the place to be in that time of the world. It's where everything was happening. It was the center of power, culture, and the economy for the biggest and baddest empire of its time... not unlike the city that Tim Keller does ministry in... New York City. You may have heard it it :-)
A lot of us find ourselves in the cites we live in because a job brought us here, not because may be necessarily be in love with the culture of the place we find ourselves planted. As a Christian, there is a lot in the city that flies in the face of what I know to be true that the Bible teaches (maybe not as much as the gap between the Jews' covenant with God vs. the Babylonian culture, but in some ways we feel it). I believe however that our calling is the same, so for my city...
"I should seek the peace and prosperity of Atlanta, because as Atlanta prospers I too will prosper."
This means I need to primarily give to, and invest in the good of my city. A lot of us come here to take what the city can give to us (Hey, the Braves are here and I love baseball! Hey, there's economic opportunity here so I'm going to make money! Hey, there's a hot singles scene here so I'm going to plunge myself into all that has to offer!, etc.)
However, what God is calling his people to radically do is to give to the city and raise the status of the city and the people here. It means - volunteering to make this a better place to live, investing in relationships instead of using people, giving hope to the marginalized and oppressed. Is that a picture of what the church (meaning, God's redeemed people sent out into the world) looks like in Atlanta (or insert your city here) or does it look different? Are, in your city, Christians considered the most giving, hospitable, life-giving, culture-enhancing people in the community? And if not, why is that the case? Is it because we're falling for the same lie that the Jews were getting fed - that the city that God placed us in really isn't that important... that it's all about us and our circle instead of the betterment of the place he has placed us? And if it is not, shouldn't we change - and instead of doing church; be the church and do justice in our city?
That's what Jesus did. That's what a select group of remarkable Jews did in Babylon. That's what we should do in Atlanta.
So I'm started getting ahead a little (probably because I'm the leader... it's my job to know what's up), and in reading through the section on "City" we are reading through this letter that Jeremiah wrote to the Jews exiled to Babylon in 586 B.C., and in it he writes:
"Build houses and settle down." - Jer 29:5
"Plant gardens and eat what they produce" - Jer 29:5
" Marry and have sons and daughters" (and encourage your kids to do the same) - Jer 29:6
"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." - Jer 29:7
And I'm sure that those Jews that read this letter, who had plenty of people telling them (on God's behalf, which is one reason God had Jeremiah write THIS letter) "Oh, you won't be here too long!" "Don't worry, don't get too comfortable - God's got a one way train back to paradise. Don't settle here in this pagan city." were probably thinking....
"What?"
"Pray for THIS city?"
"Do you know what these people did to my {insert relative} when they destroyed Jerusalem and drug me off to here?"
"You gotta be kidding!"
Don't get me wrong, Babylon was the place to be in that time of the world. It's where everything was happening. It was the center of power, culture, and the economy for the biggest and baddest empire of its time... not unlike the city that Tim Keller does ministry in... New York City. You may have heard it it :-)
A lot of us find ourselves in the cites we live in because a job brought us here, not because may be necessarily be in love with the culture of the place we find ourselves planted. As a Christian, there is a lot in the city that flies in the face of what I know to be true that the Bible teaches (maybe not as much as the gap between the Jews' covenant with God vs. the Babylonian culture, but in some ways we feel it). I believe however that our calling is the same, so for my city...
"I should seek the peace and prosperity of Atlanta, because as Atlanta prospers I too will prosper."
This means I need to primarily give to, and invest in the good of my city. A lot of us come here to take what the city can give to us (Hey, the Braves are here and I love baseball! Hey, there's economic opportunity here so I'm going to make money! Hey, there's a hot singles scene here so I'm going to plunge myself into all that has to offer!, etc.)
However, what God is calling his people to radically do is to give to the city and raise the status of the city and the people here. It means - volunteering to make this a better place to live, investing in relationships instead of using people, giving hope to the marginalized and oppressed. Is that a picture of what the church (meaning, God's redeemed people sent out into the world) looks like in Atlanta (or insert your city here) or does it look different? Are, in your city, Christians considered the most giving, hospitable, life-giving, culture-enhancing people in the community? And if not, why is that the case? Is it because we're falling for the same lie that the Jews were getting fed - that the city that God placed us in really isn't that important... that it's all about us and our circle instead of the betterment of the place he has placed us? And if it is not, shouldn't we change - and instead of doing church; be the church and do justice in our city?
That's what Jesus did. That's what a select group of remarkable Jews did in Babylon. That's what we should do in Atlanta.
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