Thoughts on “What is God’s Global Urban Mission?”

The document appears to me to be a clearly written and persuasive statement of the philosophy of ministry that has propelled the successes of Redeemer PC.  However, I would question the extent to which this philosophy comes across as “American-centric” and, as a result, whether it is ready for a global audience.  For example, on the very first page a swipe is taken at American-style suburbanization.  Do suburbs play the same role in other parts of the world that they do in the U.S.?  The critique of “ministry methods” commencing on page 4, asserts that “the sensibilities of most evangelical churches and leaders are often non or even anti-urban.”  Is this true everywhere or just in the U.S.?

As it is, the rhetorical stance of the essay risks the label “ugly-American.”  What I mean is that it is declarative and takes the American experience to be normative.  A more humble, global rhetorical stance might be better.  Instead of implying, “This is the way it is and we know it,” why not imply, “This is what we think we have learned from our experience in the United States” and invite Christians from other countries and cultures to confirm or challenge our conclusions?  It seems to me we Americans must continually work on the idea of global collegiality.

Another thing that struck me about this piece was its relationship, or lack of same, with church history.  The ideas developed seem to go straight from Jeremiah to Tim Keller.  Can’t Augustine at least get a tip of the hat?  His ideas about the two cities undergird Christian theology for a thousand years.  Keller’s views can be seen as a take on Augustine.  Christian leaders from other parts of the world—who, unlike most of us Americans, might have actually read The City of God—I think would find these connections to be persuasive and confirming.  At some level Christians from every part of the world share a common history and it can’t hurt to appeal to it.  And, by the way, that history did not begin with Henry’s divorce.

One last thing.  The “tipping-point” terminology and the eco-system metaphor are both provocative and persuasive.  Is there any support for these ideas?  I mean footnotes.  How are the terms informed by church growth research, sociology or history? 

M. Hostetler

St. John’s University

Astoria Community Church, New York