By S. Crawley

God's vision for Creation is huge. He WILL saturate the earth with the knowledge of His glory as people respond to His invitation to trust Him as our loving Father-King and live that relationship out with Him day-by-day. As we reflect and pray into His vision, it should challenge us deeply - particularly in the context of the unique challenges posed by our cities.

We previously looked at how population growth and technology have increased the complexity of our cities.

The number of potential relationships for the average person is very high. With that comes greater freedom to choose, and greater expectations from others for social engagement. All this has reshaped urban social dynamics. The way people connect in cities has shifted from being primarily based on shared space or history to being centred around “affinity” – shared needs, interests or causes.

These changes have important implications for urban ministry. These implications confront us with pressing questions that must be addressed if we want to see God’s vision for our cities fulfilled. We will look at three of them here.

Implication #1 - Socially-Related Mental Health Challenges Are Almost Universal

Mental health challenges in cities are well documented and urban social dynamics are a big part of that picture. There are three obvious sources of pressure which are increasingly prevalent, if not universal - social overload, social image maintenance and social isolation.

1. Social Overload
   Firstly, in cities, we are surrounded by far more people than we could ever have a meaningful relationship with.

   In addition to our "strong ties" - the high-priority relationships we are most heavily invested in - we may have hundreds (or more!) online and offline "weak ties". Each of these requires some level of maintenance, even if it’s just scrolling through and "liking" Instagram and Facebook feeds.

   This requires time and attention, which can easily create stress and a sense of social overload.
   

2. Social Image Maintenance

   Coupled with this is the stress of cultivating and maintaining an image.

   Most people consciously cultivate their image to some extent, even in offline relationships. When most social interactions take place in the online world the individual has a much greater ability to control how they are seen or perceived. The flipside is that any false moves or faux pax is visible to most or all of one's social network, and the social stakes can be very high to “get it right”.

   To the extent that our self-image depends on how others view us, there is a lot of pressure to curate a positive impression in online spaces, which can easily lead to mental health issues.
   

3. Social Isolation

   Thirdly, and perhaps ironically, urban living is also often associated with isolation and lack of “strong tie” connection.

   Although we are surrounded by people, our time and attention are spread across many different commitments and our online social networks are continually demanding our attention. As a result, there is less opportunity for connections to form organically - forming and maintaining strong ties requires a high level of intentionality and effort.

   A lack of these nurturing relationships leads to a vicious cycle of depression, withdrawal and isolation, which is playing out increasingly amongst young people in high-income cities.

 These urban realities around mental health and social networks are constant factors in people's well-being.

Question #1: How can we meaningfully serve those suffering from social overload, social image pressure and social isolation in our cities?

Implication #2 – Discipleship Without Social Overload Is Needed

Connected with the first implication is the reality that we all have limited relational bandwidth.

Urban and online contexts have increased the number of our connections without increasing our relational capacity. Unfortunately, many discipleship approaches require people to step into new social spaces if they are to explore Jesus and His invitation.

Instead of giving them the opportunity to explore Jesus WITH the community that He placed them in, seekers are often forced to choose BETWEEN Jesus and their community.

This approach can often result in damaged relationships and lost opportunities for the previous social networks to be exposed to God and His work in the person’s life. In the long run, it also makes it harder for someone to integrate their new relationship with God into their social world. It increases the likelihood that they will simply disconnect from one or the other or both.

 This is not the pattern we see in the New Testament.

God has deliberately and intentionally placed people in certain communities so they might reach out to Him (Acts 17:26-28) - not just for themselves, but their surrounding community.

In the Gospels and Acts, we repeatedly see Jesus connecting with individuals and their broader social context. Think Matthew and his tax collector buddies (Matthew 9:9-13), Peter and his mother-in-law (Mark 1:39-41), the Samaritan woman and her village (John 4:1-43). After Pentecost that pattern becomes even stronger - how many people who start following Jesus after Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit is made available to everybody) are told to leave their community to do so?

 When we require people to invest themselves in our social networks, we risk imposing our own expectations on top of those of the Gospel. We effectively force people to choose between increasing the relational load in their lives, cutting off existing relationships so they have the capacity to join ours, or walking away from God. There have to be (and are) other possibilities.

Question#2: How can we disciple people so they can lean into relationship with God whilst remaining in their existing social contexts?

Implication #3 - Engage the Social Centre, Not the Margins

The third implication is related to the 2nd.

 Urban social networks can be highly transitory. People can move from affinity group to affinity group or urban village to urban village without putting roots down. They are searching for something, and will keep moving on until they find it.

 Some people are isolated and desire social connection. The Gospel and/or the church communities that come with it can be deeply attractive. It is good and right to serve those who are disconnected and welcome them into community relationships.

 But what about the people who are deeply and strongly connected in the middle of social networks and who have no interest in church communities?

 Affinity groups often have a stable cluster (or clusters) of strong ties at their centre. These social groups are the engine rooms of community and connection in that "urban village". Trusted people who exercise influence and, at their best, are committed to serving the affinity and the need or passion that brings them together. 

 These are the people that God has established as leaders in their community. These are quite possibly the types of people that Jesus told His disciples to look for when He sent them into new villages - stable people at the centre of the community who were well-resourced, able to host, and receptive to His disciples (eg Luke 10:1-12).

They may not be willing to jump into our social groups, but if God is at work and their hearts are responsive, they can be keen to explore God and include their social group in that journey. We need to have ways to meaningfully serve and engage with these people.

Question #3: How can we meaningfully engage the social centres of the urban villages around us?

What About You?

To summarise, three of the important questions I see are:

• How can we meaningfully serve those suffering from social overload, social image pressure and social isolation in our cities?

• How can we disciple people so they can lean into relationship with God whilst remaining in their existing social contexts?

• How can we meaningfully engage the social centres of the urban villages around us?

What about you? Where do these implications and questions land for you? Do you agree or disagree? What do you see?

Getting Practical

Think about the households and affinities you are connected with or that God has put on your heart.

1. What signs do you see of relational overload or mental health challenges?

2. What obstacles do you see in helping them discover God and His story where they are? What solutions can you think of? Refer to the Gospels and Acts for ideas.

3. Which people or groups are at the centre of that urban village? What are they hungry for?

4. What is God showing you about these things?

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.