Grace and the City

Tim Keller along with many other speakers came together last week for the Q Gathering in Chicago.  The annual Q gatherings are for the purpose of addressing the biggest issues impacting the church's role in society.  Recently, I checked out Keller's lecture on Grace and the City from the 2008 gathering in New York City.  In this lecture, Keller brings out the reasons why the city is the best place for human flourishing.  He states, "The city is a gift of God to humanity."

What is a city?  Keller defines a city as "a mixed-use, walkable human settlement."  Furthermore, the city is a place of density and diversity.  The city is the place of economic order, cultural order, residential order, political/legal order all brought together with great density and diversity.  Because of the city's close proximity of networks, cities always produce culture.   Culture connects people and this happens through our lives stories and through our proximity to one another.  In the city because there are thousands of people who are like you, or better than you, or different than you, and this dense and diverse reality moves people toward creativity. 

The problem, however, is our human tendency to use the city to make a name for ourselves rather than to seek the welfare, the good, of the city.   As a Christian, I ought to seek to care for my city.  The importance of the is evident throughout the story of the Bible. 

Keller, furthermore, stresses the need for Christians to remain in the city.  He says that we need the grace to stay put, to care about the city more than we care about our name.  This has certainly been a challenge for many Christians in the city where I live, Salt Lake City. 

So where do we go to develop a love for the city, the courage and confidence to stay in the city?  Where do we go in order to have a great love for Salt Lake City?  Keller, points his listeners directly to Jesus Christ and his death upon the cross in our place.  He points out that Jesus was brought outside the city of Jerusalem to be crucified and  that he lost that city in order that WE might become citizens of the city that is to come, the new city, the heavenly city.  Keller, points out that it is the Christians' identity as a citizen of the new city makes us better citizens.

Where is our hope for the cities we live?  The book of Revelation describes a vision of the future city, the city that is to come - a city renewed and flourishing!  My hope, as I dwell in Salt Lake City, is that I am a citizen of the beautiful city that is to come!  I can take courage knowing that I have a part in what God is doing to bring about this glorious new city, a future city that is to come!

Check out Grace and the City here.