Atlanta, New York City, & New Jerusalem
God's Vision of Making Cities New by Making People New
Days after moving to the city, I went on a long-anticipated trip to New York for a prayer conference. There are cities, then there is New York City. It’s just a different animal. For reference, New York City has over 20 million people in it’s metropolitan area compared to Atlanta’s 6.2 million (much less space; many more people). It’s this overwhelming but beautiful melting pot of cultures and communities that call the same place home. And God is raising up a remnant in that city to seek the revial and renewal of a place filled with people that God loves.
“Cities have more of the image of God per square inch than any other place on earth.” —Timothy Keller
Renewal can feel like an uphill battle and a discouraging process. After all, the only reason you seek renewal (replace or repair something that’s been damaged) and restoration (to return something to its former glory) is because it’s needed. Something is broken and not as it should be. Walking around New York City, there were churches that have become night clubs and bars. There were churches that were still “churches” by name but Christless by theology and practice. Unfortunately, it’s not much different than our city and maybe even yours. It may be on a different scale and at a different pace, but the culture and direction is very much aligned. I heard Jon Tyson once refer to the movement of our secular, post-Christian culture as a “reverse exorcism” and that’s pretty accurate. I remember feeling something similar in Edinburgh, Scotland as I looked upon relics of Christian history in a nation that today almost qualifies as an unreached people group. Some may ask “How did this happen?” I think that’s an important question to unpack in another post. The one I’d like to unpack is this: “How do we redeem it? How do we seek the renewal of our city (or wherever you live)?”
“Secularism is performing a reverse exorcism. It’s going wherever it finds christian influence and demanding it to ‘come out and never enter here again.’” —Jon Tyson
It’s good to first remind ourselves of what Jesus did within His earthly ministry. He came preaching “the Kingdom of God” and calling people to “repent” as a response to it. However, Jesus didn’t just come with a message, He came with power. He healed the sick, made the lame walk, made the mute talk and the deaf hear, fed the hungry, dignified the poor, raised the dead, and forgave sin. When Jesus would do this, it was an inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in real space and time. People were witnessing what life could and should be like under the rule and reign of Jesus as King. People were witnessing a restoration of the natural order—a reminder of what once was prior to the fall. Not only that, it was a preview of what will one day be a universal reality once again when Jesus returns.
But what does this mean for us here and now?
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Jesus ushered in or inaugurated His Kingdom on earth. He has given us access to it by grace through faith. He has given us the presence and power of it through His Spirit. He is calling us to be agents and ambassadors of it as His Church. He will one day return to finish it or consummate His Kingdom on earth.
How does God renew cities? The same way God renews families, neighborhoods, communities, workplaces, universities, and churches. Through a renewed people who take up their role as agents of His Kingdom and advance it into every corner and crevice in the power of His Spirit.
This is what we’re trying to do in and through Kingdom City Church (hence the name). One of our five pursuits is “the renewal of the city” but not just a vague kind of renewal—the Kingdom kind of renewal. The kind of renewal that only comes through Jesus and the expansion of His redemptive rule and reign through normal, everday people living in the power of the Spirit in normal, everyday spaces. We believe there is an invitation available to anyone and everyone to come to the table, be accepted by grace, transformed by love, and commissioned in power to live the kind of life Jesus lived and do the kinds of things Jesus did.
What could this look like for you? What could renewal look like in your life, your family, your neighborhood, your city? What role could God be calling you to play in it? I pray you catch the vision for Jesus and His Kingdom and accept His invitation to join Him in His mission wherever you live until it looks like Heaven.
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