This One Idea Will Permanently Expand Your Thinking About Urban Discipleship & Evangelism
By S. Crawley
Photo by Luca Bucken on Unsplash
When we think about reaching out, serving God, and helping people, we have two default settings that can limit our vision.
Firstly, we often start with ourselves.
This is understandable. We know ourselves. We have areas we feel confident and competent - we know we can contribute. We have insight into our abilities and our gifts. We know what we like to do!
Secondly, we usually start with our immediate environment.
Again, this is understandable. God has placed us in specific communities with existing programs, needs and people needing help. It is natural and easy to join what is already happening.
AND.
If we are not careful to step back and check our assumptions, we can easily miss what God is actually wanting to do. Sometimes, we even find ourselves doing “good things” that are at cross-purposes to Him.
We Are Always Out Of Our Depth
Those of us in cities are constantly faced with two realities that should keep us curious and humble.
Firstly, the incredible complexity of urban environments.
More than ever before, cities are VUCA—Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. We are surrounded by incredible diversity and complexity. Relationships, communication, technology, social trends, and social groupings are all in a constant state of change that seems to be accelerating.
It is impossible for us to fully comprehend everything that is happening in today’s cities.
Secondly, the awesomeness of God.
He is insanely amazing. He never stops working (Ps 121:3-4, Jn 5:17). He has clear plans for Creation and has sovereignly and intentionally placed us in specific locations and communities as part of those plans (Acts 17:26-27).
His plans are WAY beyond our ability to discern in our own wisdom and strength (Is 55:6-9, 1 Cor 2:9-10).
By ourselves, we can’t fully understand the complexity of our cities or the awesomeness of God, and this should keep us curious about what He is doing and leaning into Him for insight and guidance how we can best work in with His plans.
Lessons from Gamaliel and the Bereans
Throughout the Book of Acts, Jewish communities are challenged by an understanding of God’s activity that is different from what they had previously known or thought. Some respond with immediate hostility. Others create space to listen and evaluate what is unfolding before them.
In Acts 5, we see the hostile response as the high priest and Sadducees whip up a big meeting to remove Peter and the apostles.
In the heat of the situation, the Pharisee teacher, Gamaliel, took a courageous stand and sought to create space to evaluate the situation. While there is no indication that he accepted the apostles’ message, he was bold in his willingness to resist the majority and humble in recognising there were limits to his knowledge and understanding of what God was doing. (The full story is in Acts 5:17-32.)
Later in Acts, we read of a similar humility (“noble character”) when Jews from Berea listen to Paul and Silas’ message and search the Scriptures to evaluate for themselves (Acts 17:10-12).
Both Gamaliel and the Bereans were able to step back from their assumptions. They created space to listen, ask questions and re-evaluate to ensure that they did not miss an unexpected thing that God was doing. This is equally important for us, particularly in the complexity of our urban environments.
Three Questions That Create Space
Questions are powerful.
When we bring them to our Bible reading and prayer, they open up rich new possibilities. They help us see opportunities and contributions we wouldn't otherwise have imagined. They help us move and stay in sync with what God is doing here and now.
Here are three questions that can help us listen and discern:
God, what are You doing here?
What is on Your heart for these people/places?
How are You inviting me/us to join what You are doing?
These questions are relevant to all of us at both the universal level—Creation as a whole—and the local level—the physical and social spaces where God has specifically placed us, whether that is a family, neighbourhood, workplace, school, industry, or region.
The local is important because this is where He has chosen to place us. The universal level is important because the big, big picture helps us understand what He wants to do locally.
Here’s The Powerful Idea
God's end vision gives us an anchor and reference point for everything we do.
In the Bible, He repeatedly paints a picture of the endpoint He is working towards. At least 50 passages of Scripture speak to this.
Here’s one of them:
“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
- Isaiah 25:6-9
Sit with that. Soak in it. Imagine it.
What will this look like at its complete fulfilment?
These four verses paint a rich picture of feasting and a lavish celebration hosted by God.
They speak of restored sight and freedom from death for ALL peoples, not just favoured groups. Of a God who will intimately and personally wipe tears from peoples' faces. Of people recognising their inability to save themselves, acknowledging and rejoicing in God's goodness, faithfulness and deliverance.
This is a picture of His plan for the people He has placed you amongst.
It's important not to skim passages like these.
Scriptures that speak of God’s end vision push us into prayer and spark important conversations with God. They birth fresh vision and a sense of what is possible. They help us see the big picture in which our small picture sits.
As we wrap our heads and hearts around God's vision, we often find that He stirs fresh ideas and passions in us as we consider how to serve Him and the communities He has called us to.
Landing It
When we place God’s end vision as our primary reference point, we can no longer assume anything, particularly in the context of urban complexity. We are brought into a dynamic and living partnership with our Father in His much bigger project. We are drawn into an ever-growing dance with Him as we seek and discern, respond in faith, and grow in living knowledge of who He is and how He works.
As we seek Him, He will stretch us into aiming higher and trusting Him for more than we would by ourselves. He will deepen our own relationship with Him, even as He brings healing to our cities and draws others to Himself.
Every day brings new possibilities and opportunities. Always challenging, never dull, we become caught up in a dynamic and living partnership with our Father in His much bigger project.
What are God’s plans for the people and places where He has placed you?
Reflection and Response
A Scripture
- What grabs your heart from Isaiah 25:6-9? What about that is significant for you?
- If you want to go deeper, here are an additional 16 Bible passages that speak about God's end vision.A thoughtful question
- How might God's end vision look if it was fulfilled in your context tomorrow?
- What might God be inviting you to do about that?A possible application
- Dig into God's "end vision" passages with your team or other Kingdom-minded people around you. Wrestle with these questions together:
- What is God doing here?
- What is on His heart for these people/places?
- How is He inviting us to join with Him?
Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.