Urban Church Planting

Journey into a World of Depravity, Density, and Diversity

Stephen M. Davis

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781532696169, 9781532696176
• eBook ISBN: 9781532696183
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

For the last couple decades, urban church planting has been all the rage. This has been a blessing for the city. This has also been a curse for many who sensed a call, saw a need, and left for a life of adventure, only to leave the city after a short time. Many left behind no church and live with memories of failure and frustration. They were eager, well-supported, not a little naive, and unprepared for life and ministry in the city.Urban church planting is not for everyone. It is not more important than church planting elsewhere. But if you believe God has called you to urban ministry, read this book before you go. It is written by a city guy, freed from the romanticism often associated with planting churches in the city. If after reading this you still believe God is calling you to the city, then by all means go. If not, know that God can use you elsewhere.

Chapter 10

Church and Kingdom in the City

I want to close with one major theological and practical issue you will face in the city which relates to the church and kingdom dynamic and the mission of the church. As N. T. Wright observes, the phrase “kingdom of God has been a flag of convenience under which all sorts of ships have sailed.”14 These ships are social, political, nationalistic, and theological. Their corresponding agendas often have little to do with the arrival of the kingdom of God announced by Jesus.

The opening of the gospel of Mark proclaims the “beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Jesus arrives on the scene, “preaching the gospel of God” (1:14). He announces that “the time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel” (v. 15). The phrase “is near” can be understood as referring to something still to happen. However, as France comments, “If Jesus is understood to have proclaimed as ‘near’ something which had still not arrived even at the time when Mark wrote his gospel (let alone 2,000 years later), this is hardly less of an embarrassment than if he had claimed that ‘it’ was already present.”15

There are passages which indicate a present kingdom aspect (Luke 17:21) and others which point to a future aspect (Matt 25:34; Luke 21:17, 31). Multiple texts demonstrate that the gospel of the kingdom was the message of Jesus and the apostles (Luke 4:43; 9:1, 2). Jesus “instructed the seventy to proclaim, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:1, 9). In Acts we find Philip who “preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ . . ..” (Acts 8:12). The Apostle Paul in Ephesus “entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). Near the end of his ministry, Paul “expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 28:23).

Any initiation of a present aspect of the kingdom must be distinguished from the consummation of the future kingdom. According to Ladd, “the Kingdom of God involves two great moments: fulfillment within history, and consummation at the end of history.”16 The reality of future completion does not rule out present kingdom realties and there is no area of human life or culture which is not subject to Jesus’ authority, where the gospel does not speak with power. While there is certainly a greater fullness and understanding of the gospel following the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is there any valid reason, apart from the impositions of a theological system, to deny that there is both a present aspect of reign of God among his people and an eschatological consummation?

Many churches ministering in urban areas see social concerns rooted in spiritual problems, problems to which the gospel speaks through the message of salvation bringing transformation, granting eternal life and offering new life in Christ here and now. In short, the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of God’s reign already inaugurated in the first coming of Christ, authenticated by his earthly ministry in confronting and defeating the forces of evil, visibly and divinely demonstrated in the death, burial, resurrection, and session of Christ at the right hand of the Father, and consummated at his return in glory—this is the gospel we preach! It is not only a gospel for the hereafter, which would be enough if that was God’s intention; it is also a gospel for life here and now. It is not all about not being “left behind” or getting to heaven. “For Jesus, God’s kingdom was fundamentally God’s reign over the lives of men and women.”17

One reason for renewed interest in this subject is that the gospel of the kingdom has been expanded and associated with understandings of the kingdom and mission of the church which go beyond a traditional and biblical focus on evangelism and discipleship. Let me be clear. There is no kingdom ministry without the gospel. In preaching the gospel, we believe that the gospel brings new creation to individuals and bears firstfruits of the eschatological new creation through the authority of the One who is Lord of all creation. We remain suspicious of either a vision that relocates the kingdom exclusively to the future or one that anticipates a fully realized version through human effort. For some the gospel of the kingdom has become an umbrella for engagement with societal concerns which are unrelated to the primary mission of the church and actually detract from that mission. For others the gospel of the kingdom is dispatched to another era which results in a dichotomized word and deed ministry. For many Christians, the church is the building which services Christians and where Christians find refuge. The homeless are seen from afar or briefly encountered with sporadic mercy missions forays into the city; poverty is kept at arm’s length with occasional endeavors to provide food for feeding the hungry; urban blight is seen on the news but never seen up close in neighborhoods which have been abandoned in the name of upward mobility; gang violence is something on the news not something around the corner; and high school drop-out rates of 50 percent are unknown in privileged communities. Sociologists have observed that violent films and rap music “help youths become inured to violence, and, perhaps, death itself. Those residing in some of the most troubled areas typically have witnessed much street violence that has at times resulted in maiming or death.”18 How the church responds to these realities reflects the understanding of its mission. Any response is deficient without the gospel. Any iteration of social justice apart from gospel proclamation compromises the church’s mission and turns the church into an instrument for human and political agendas which ultimately fail because they do not address the nature of sin and the need of redemption.

It seems that urban areas struggle more with the relation of the church and kingdom in attempting to address injustice and inequities which often appear more glaring in the city’s diversity, density, and depravity. In the city we’ve gathered for prayer vigils at murder sites, done ride-alongs with the police in bleak neighborhoods as police chaplains, gone door-to-door to install burglar alarms where there had been a rash of burglaries (and used those times to present the gospel), prayed with drug dealers on the corner, fed the homeless at specially planned outreaches, and have seen the gospel at work in lives bringing forgiveness and new life. Urban church planters will need to reflect on how best to be a light in the city, how to engage their communities, and how to express good works, without succumbing to the siren of social activism divorced from the gospel and done simply for the betterment of the human condition. We are all for the betterment of the human condition. The question remains as to the priority of the mission of the church.19 Some urban pastors advertise themselves as activists and engage in activities which bear little resemblance to or have little to do with the gospel. For one example, I question the benefit of cancelling Sunday worship services to do community gardening. What’s wrong with gardening on Saturday with your neighbors? Many churches have long forsaken the gospel and exist only to further social agendas, many of dubious value. Of course, good deeds should flow from the gospel and the church cannot be silent on sin in whatever form it takes.

No one denies the reality of poverty, homelessness, the need for prison reform, and disparities in wealth and opportunity. The questions arise as to how to address these issues and the means to engage them. My answer in short, which for some might appear simplistic, is that there is a gospel priority in the mission of the church. The gospel addresses ultimate issues, eternal salvation or eternal separation from God. The preaching of the gospel does not remove all societal ills. There will be many good causes crying out for your attention. The good news of the gospel is the main thing. The gospel does, however, transform people’s lives, change their relationships and values, and provide a community of believers to come alongside them in their struggles. That does not mean that everyone will be lifted out of poverty or be given equal opportunity in housing and employment, that racism will disappear or that institutions and those who govern will be just. Yet the gospel addresses all facets of life as it addresses sin and Christians become salt and light in their communities and in the institutions where they work. These institutions and communities will not be redeemed. The city will not be redeemed according to some utopian dream. Individuals will be redeemed to live as God’s people as citizens of his kingdom and citizens of their community. They are then free to invest their time in multiple causes, perform good deeds and engage in worthwhile activities. Their engagement might very well be encouraged by the church, in some measure supported by t...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• The City in the Bible
• What has Changed? What Remains the Same?
• From Paris to Philadelphia
• Leadership Dream Team that Wasn’t
• Back to Prison
• Two Fundamental Questions
• Dangers of Cultural Accommodation
• Some Nuts and Bolts
• Why Some Church Planters Never Plant Churches
• Church and Kingdom in the City
• Conclusion
• Bibliography