city reflections

Did you watch the 16 minute video of Dr. Bakke that I posted a few days back? What grabbed you in it?

Several of his statements cause reflection for me...

-40% of the world lives in India and China; only 4% live in the U.S.

-The 4% that do live in the U.S. are more and more multi-ethnic. Neighbors of every color, nationality, and culture are the reality; we really are a global village.

My ethnocentric notions are challenged when I read these statistics. White power and privilege that are embedded in me due to my environment and upbringing are challenged when I read these statistics and realize what a small minority I am in a much larger world. I think about how important it is for me not to socially isolate with people like myself but to intentionally spend time with a diverse span of people so that I might gain a better sense of others' perspectives and realities.

-Bakke talks about the period when churches were fleeing from the cities in the 60's and after.

-He also talked about how our world is becoming more and more urban as city populations expand.

I think about the Early Church. When the Plague hit and people began fleeing the cities, it was the Church that fought against the traffic and went into the city to care for the sick and dying.

Do we see the Church returning to the hard places in our cities or have we been fleeing with everyone else to self-protect?

-500 world cities have 1 million or more people in them.

-"80% of those in state prisons in New York come from six neighborhoods in New York City. We can pay $50,000-$100,000 to incarcerate a person, or we can do something about the six neighborhoods."

My community has about 110,000 people in it. The problems and needs in the city are still complex and big, but the smaller size of our community makes it easier to become familiar with it. I listened to our county sheriff speak the other day about his work and our county jail. We have the 3rd largest jail in Iowa, and there are currently 240 beds full. Sheriff Thompson's passion is to help break the cycle for families and provide environments for children that will help them to overcome the generational pattern. Not every Christ-follower will be called into such a vision and passion, but I am of the belief that the Church should be leading in these efforts of restoring community and working toward shalom in even some of the hardest places within our cities. If we hear Jesus say "follow me" and we look to see where he walked so that we can follow, I'm thinking we will travel into some places that we as the Church have largely been ignoring.

Those are just a few of my thoughts as I heard the interview. What did you think about as you watch the Bakke interview (posted 2 days ago) about how U.S. cities are changing?