Suburban Christian: Place and Anonymity

When we speak of "community," we usually mean it in the sense of affinity groups, like the arts community, the African American community, the gay/lesbian community, the Christian community.  Lost today is the sense of physical community, in which "community" refers to a particular geographic area or neighborhood that anchors us and defines us. (p 117)

The chief antidote to suburban anonymity and isolationism may well be the Christian practice of hospitality. (p 132)

Both from Albert Hsu's The Suburban Christian.

Comments

[stepchild]

In this digital age, the distance between us and our affinity groups is shorter than the distance between us and our neighbors. I'm sure some would disagree, but don't think this affinity concept of "community" is necessarily any less "real" than the good, old-fashioned neighborhood.

There are some places (usually more urban than suburban) where location and affinity are combined. Take, for example, San Francisco; it has a "gay" district, an "arts" district, and several immigrant neighborhoods.

[Steve McCoy]

stepchild, I tend to agree. In many ways the church has always been an affinity group from a large physical location.

I think we need to be careful not to neglect the physical locations because our culture does so. We can recreate elements of physical community that are missing. But I think for the most part our connection to people will happen through affinity.

[stepchild]

Steve,
Good point about not neglecting the physical locations. A lot of the lines we draw are "natural" to us or to our culture, but are not necessarily God's best.

I think about all the big, suburban churches that are actually psysically located in an urban area, surrounded by low income and working-class people that they largely ignore.

In the past, I was involved in a church that struggled with this very thing. The pastor was a great evangelist, and went door-to-door daily to share the gospel (yeah, I'm not a big fan of that method, either)throught the neighborhood around our church. He would regularly introduce people just before baptizing them with: "This is Mark. He and his wife have live across the street for years..."

Unfortunately, we rarely saw any of those people for very long because they weren't accepted by our suburban, upper-middle-class members.

[Bryan Riley]

I fear that the American's sense of individualism, self-promotion, and drive has resulted in the complete loss of community. Although blogs and cyber-communities provide some media through which people can tear down walls between one another, the semi-anonymity of it still maintains a "safe" distance from others. We can hide our hearts. We can keep from being accountable. We fool ourselves into a false sense of security that "no one" will know how terrible we feel inside.

I think Christians, and the practice of hospitality (which means a brotherly love for strangers), must make every effort to tear down the walls that separate us. Community and relationships were a part of our internal wiring, by our heavenly Father, who created us in His image so that He might have a relationship with us. Satan tries to prevent relationship because it is a part of what he is trying to destroy.

[stepchild]

It could also be said, Bryan, that the anonymity of the internet actually allows people to be more real, open, and honest. We've all gotten pretty good at being fake in public ("How are you?" "Fine.") or even lying to people's faces ("We've been praying for you.")

I do agree that we should be practicing hospitality. But I think that many people today are programmed differently than folks in the past, and that they actually find true community and real relationships online. There are some good examples of showing hospitality on the internet as well:
mySecret.tv">http://postsecret.blogspot.com/">mySecret.tv
Post Secret

It seesm to me that we argue with people over what true community is, or we can minister through personal relationships as they define them. Again, I believe that community is the context of the gospel, but I'm not convinced that physical proximity is necessary ,or even beter, for all people.

[Bryan Riley]

I agree that it does, for some, provide a medium for more openness, but it also is a very easy medium upon which to lie through one's teeth and no one would know. When i first started blogging someone imagined me to be a spy on behalf of Ronnie Floyd on the blogging world. What if i were and was saying I wasn't? What if i were really a small business owner in Florida while saying I was a missionary in Hawaii? It would be hard to know the difference via the internet. True accountability comes via eye-to-eye interaction, serving together, praying together, embracing one another, living through the same kinds of things. Now, sometimes, it may be that there isn't anyone in your circle who is experiencing what you are, and the internet can also widen our circles to find commonality with others.

Anyway, we could imagine the positives of personal and internet communication all day long... I think we are on the same page here. I like both, but endeavor to meet many of the people I've met here in person some day.

[Friar_Tuck]

I have seen this and wanted to purchase it, but somehow I have felt so far it would be surrendering to staying in the suburbs more permanently

[Mike]

I've lived in rural communities all my life, except for the 4 years I went to college. There is something real powerful about the physical community that is dissolving even in the rural areas (definitely behind the times).

Is it good to drive (or surf) past our physical community to our affinity community? I would think (tossing out ideas) that to do so we are limiting the full creativity and variety community has to offer. Also, from experience, the physical connection with community should be one of our highest goals, for this we were created. I will never desire an online "community" with my wife, but always the physical community. Let's not forget community is another word for relationships.