There's an interesting BriefCACE article by article by Sam Tuttle, a city planner about public space. (Thanks Al for pointing me to it).
As we think about moving into neighbourhoods as the people of God,we often think deeply about what shape a congregation's personal evangelistic or discipleship processes might look like, but less about redemption of the social spaces we find ourselves in. What does it mean for a church-plant team, or a missionary team to redeem culture? What is our relationship to the 'city' or the 'village' or the 'land'.
Here's a part of Sam's article:
"...Why should a Christian, or anyone, be concerned about where the next neighbourhood, skyscraper or grocery store is built? To understand this, we must first see why cities matter. In their most basic form, cities reflect God’s design for community.
Despite all of its negative connotations, the city is God’s idea. When God called Adam and Eve to ‘be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’ he is calling them to use all of their resources, including those provided in nature, and those resources given to intelligent, creative and relational people created in God’s image. This is often called the Cultural Mandate. Cities are the culmination of our relational and creative aspirations. They are the gathering together or our collective desire to be fruitful and subdue the earth.
Because of this tremendous potential, there is tremendous power to do evil. Like all of creation, our cities are corrupted and groan to be redeemed. But the city has a place in God’s redemptive plan. The picture of the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom on earth is not of a return to the Garden of Eden, but of the New Jerusalem. God’s final design for his people is as citizens in the City of God...."
Here's the WHOLE ARTICLE for you to read.
What do you think?
