Keller on Suburbia

Daniel Cruver over at Eucatastrophe posed a good question to Tim Keller (NYC) on the suburban church.  Keller is very focused on planting churches in global cities.

Keller responded...

There will be have to be some necessary differences in mindset between urban and suburban churches because context always affects us deeply. Our own daughter churches in the NYC suburbs have the same theological vision and love of the city, but they simply aren’t a) as multi-ethnic and b) as close to the poor–because the zoning laws of the suburbs tend to homogenize things economically and therefore, to some degree, racially. So it is just harder to show how the gospel brings down racial and class barriers in the suburbs. (According to Ephesians 2, that is a major sign of the truth of the gospel.) It doesn’t mean that suburban churches are ‘inferior’ or that it is easier to be a pastor in the suburbs–I actually think it will take more ingenuity and creativity to demonstrate the power of the gospel in the suburbs than it will in the city.

As a pastor in a suburb of Chicago I completely agree.  I'm spending this week doing some vision work and asking the same question Daniel did to Keller, and the answers aren't easy.

Comments

[billmelone]

Thanks for posting this. Its an issue that needs attention. I live and go to school in Philly, and attend a great church in the suburbs and although the church preaches the gospel faithfully and serves enormously practically, its hard to see expensive cars and nice houses when I'm with church folks when I've got guys asking for quarters in the city (twice this afternoon). I know theres nothing necessarily wrong with hummers and nice houses but something doesn't sit right, and its more than just wealth or whatever, its a mindset of doing church and interacting and I'm glad to see it. I'm not sure enough people are aware of the need to ask these questions, so keep posting.

[Dino]

I think the lens in which we read the Gospels impacts this dichotmy. It seems many in the urban cities read the Gospel through the lens of liberation theology. And many in the suburbs tend to see the Gospel in moralistic terms.

While this is simplistic and generalized this seems to be my experience as I walk in and out surburbia/urban areas.

I think the difficulty in suburbia is how to deal with affluence in relationship to the Gospel.

[Jon]

bill, what you say makes me think of the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved.

I guess I agree with you that there isn't anything inherently wrong with having a nice house and/or car, but there are times when I wonder if, in saying that, we aren't selling out to a culture that too highly values wealth and all the things that humans have made.

Jon

[Rick]

Great question. I (like everyone reading this, I suppose) read lots of material on church planting, emerging stuff, blahblahblah...and my only complaint is not enough people writing about the suburban context.

My wife and I are seriously bouncing the idea around of moving into the city - but is this a reversal of the church trend a few generations ago when they LEFT the cities because of corruption/danger/whatever? Do we want to leave because the suburbs are so difficult to really reach (but in a different way?)

[Todd]

being a pastor in suburban philly who is passionate about being missional, this is a question i have done some serious thinking about too (some on my blog and some in my head) ...this is a conversation that needs to happen more and more. it's clear (at least mostly) what it means to be missional in urban settings (where we see most of the "successful" missional communities) but i could not agree more that there is quite a challenge for us to be a prophetic voice to the suburban christians. and, i am pretty sure it doesn't mean having all of them move to the city.

[Pat]

I also am a suburban, missional church gatherer/planter. I'd love to see more on this topic be discussed. As much as I think it would be easier to do what we want to do in the city, we're not called there - we're called to our little burb.

Mission is different; community is MUCH different, creating proximity spaces is MUCH different...