The incarnation of Christ has become a fundamental missiological principle, but one that is very difficult to apply. Paul applied this model (or "mind") of Christ to Christian behavior patterns of humility and concern for others (Phil. 2:1-l1). John identified it as the means through which the grace and truth of God's glory have been revealed (Jn. 1:10-18). This principle assumes that if Christ could voluntarily give up his divine nature, come to earth in the flesh to fulfill the will of God, then his disciples today could give up some of their culture in order to make disciples of other nations. Therefore, the acceptance of cultural diversity would be natural to the kingdom. Ethnocentrism would not be acceptable Christian behavior because it would hinder the advancement of the kingdom and be contrary to the mind of Christ. This issue directly affects the personal lives of Christians and the ministry of a church in an urban context in a way that does not challenge rural churches. Some of these challenges churches in the city face in order to grow would be the following:
- Churches of Christ cannot expect a healthy growth rate in the next few decades without an increase in the number of city churches. We can no longer depend on rural-urban transfer growth or suburban church growth since neither contributes much to the net growth of th kingdom. As older rural churches continue to decline and die and urban populations continue to increase, the church will have difficult growing by ignoring these population trend. This is the national equivalent of the local reality of the fate of a downtown church that fails to reach new residents in an ethnically changing neighborhood. It will die or relocate.
- Cities need a diversity of churches in order to meet the needs of rural immigrants as well as the urbanites. Due to cultural differences we cannot expect them to all be in the same church or to all be just alike. We can expect them to appreciate the mission of each church and appreciate fellowship with one another. Those new to the city need a church that is their spiritual home in a potentially threatening city. However, those who have grown up in the city and have only known the city need a church that belongs within the city. They should not have to adopt a rural worldview to be in Christ.
Black churches are especially in need of this diversity with the process of inculturation that their community has experienced through rural-urban migration and later through desegregation. This, more than urbanization, is creating a class split among blacks: the middle class are leaving poor areas and need a different kind of church; the lower class continue to have needs that the rural church in the city might meet. Historically the rural church has been the "cultural reservoir of the 'black folk' religious experience:"
- Metropolitan churches will need to be more open to change. For the church with a rural heritage to purposefully become a metropolitan church (to reach city people who have no rural roots), several cultural factors would need to be addressed. These would include:
A change to a more creative scheduling of church activities. This means providing more ministries and activities rather than pushing harder to get everyone to the three services each week. Studies show that people raised in the country and still living in the country or in small towns are more likely to attend church every week than those who migrated to the suburbs or city and people raised in the city are less likely to attend regularly after they move to the suburbs.
Lyle Schaller offers some practical suggestions for this shift in his book, The Seven-Day-a-Week Church. His thesis is that the "Sunday morning" churches are on the decline and the "full service" churches are growing.1 Rural churches in the city encourage their decline by limiting their activities to three Bible study/preaching events a week and by continuing to assume that tomorrow will resemble today. Usually these churches, even when blessed with some transfer growth, will have a leadership that perceives the church smaller than it really is. Metropolitan churches adjust meeting times, adopt new schedules for Sunday school, and anticipate growth.
A change from a relational to an institutionally/functional body. Institutional factors (ministry activities) are more critical to the growth of the church in cities than in rural contexts. A study of Presbyterian churches found that city churches grew or declined more than others depending on their leadership and programs.2 If relationship, as in rural churches, has priority over function, then changes would be unlikely. For example, if a few people do not like something, it will not happen-giving every long-term member veto power. Urban churches will be more open to change. Hadaway and Roozen explain it this way:
Rural areas and small towns experience less dramatic changes in population than metropolitan neighborhoods. There is no suburbanization, no urban decay, no white flight, no racial transition, no rapid population growth, and no rapid population decline in most rural areas. Institution factors also are at work. Rural churches and small town churches are slow to change. These congregations are often dominated by longtime members who prefer that things be done "like they've always been done." For contextual and institutional reasons, therefore, very little seems to impact the growth of churches in small towns and rural areas.3
A change from an inward survival mentality to an outward sense of mission in the community. The focus of the ministry of the church would shift to outreach, to much more involvement in the community, and to a greater sense of presence in the city.
A change from "being" a warm friendly family to a fellowship with a clear direction and purpose. Goals or the function of the church will need to be much more openly expressed. The city church cannot rely only on relationships and kinships, as in the rural church, to "glue" it together. Leadership will need to keep common goals and direction before the church.
A change from social control to helping members learn to make spiritual decisions. The church cannot count on the social context, like the rural church, to address all the ethnic, moral, and spiritual issues of life. These will be constantly challenged in the city. Honor cannot be assumed; it will need to be taught. Christians cannot float; they must intentionally nurture their faith in a constantly changing world.
A change from event-oriented evangelism to relational evangelism. Adjustment of specific evangelistic methods to the city setting will be necessary. For example, Hadaway found that visitation patterns and outreach in a small town would change in the city. Unannounced house-to-house visitation may shift to meeting someone at lunch.
Similarly, talking to homeless persons on a street corner or making a point to talk to an unchurched friend during a break at work, at the health club, at the grocery store, over coffee, or across the back fence can be, and 4
A change in preaching, from ignoring or reinforcing the evils of the city to proclaiming good news and witnessing to the power of God in the city. When ministry training becomes rural or suburban in orientation, it is difficult for the graduates to adequately minister to the common people in the city. There is a need today for better theological and ministry training for urban ministry. Preachers cannot keep their church "socially tranquilized" and ignore the needs of the community.
Churches in the city, especially the preacher and leadership, will need to love the city and openly express that concern for the city. The rural bias and myth of rural bliss will not open new opportunities for relationships in the city. Imagine how people living in a large city for several generations would feel if they heard the preacher only refer to the city, where they grew up, as all evil. These residents know better. There are good people all over the city. The problem is the church people have kept themselves isolated within their subculture of "good folks" from the South or the country.
In too many cases, churches have avoided, ignored, and openly abandoned the city. The rural worldview will not be adequate for a church with any real growth future in an urban world.
ENDNOTES
1 L. Schaller, The Seven-Day-a-Week Church, Abingdon, 1992, p.36.
2 W. L. Thompson, J. W. Carrol, and D. R. Hoge, "Growth or Decline in Presbyterian Congregations," in Church & Denominational Growth, Abingdon, 1993, p.204.
3 C. K. Hadaway and D. A. Roozen, "The Growth and Decline of Congregations," in Church & Denominational Growth, Abingdon, 1993, p.132.
4 K. Hadaway, Church Growth Principles: Separating Fact from Fiction, Broadman, 1991, p.24.
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