Every day that I wake up I am burdened and saddened by the amount of people in this world who need Jesus yet are blind to experiencing his saving grace. Even now as I sit at a coffe shop in the middle of San Jose I pray for all the people here who do not call Jesus their savior. It is rare that I find someone who calls Jesus God in this place and I am sure it would be even less if I were sitting in San Francisco. So, I would like to offer a few reflections from my trips to San Francisco and provide some suggestions on how to pray for, not just San Francisco, but so many of our American cities.
First, as Christians we need to recognize that humans being want to ultimately live for themselves. This is the definition of sin: when we put ourselves in the place of God. I tend to think that many people who come to large cities, especially if they are not Christians, are into living life however they want. They generally have a lot of money (Because you need it to live in the city). They perhaps want to be in the party scene. Or, as is the case with so many people in Manhattan I have found, they want to see what the city can do for them. Those are of course charicatures of the city, but in general we as people want to live for ourselves. We need to pray that God would break and humble our own hearts as well as people in the cities.
Second, there are all sorts of temptations that come with the city. I imagine there is all sorts of trouble and debauchery to get involved with if you live in the city, and especially San Fran. As I walked down Haight I caught wind of several people smoking marijuana and who knows what else. The city is filled with eccecltic people who need Jesus. We need to pray fervently for their salvation.
Third, we need to realize that people in the city NEED JESUS and the freeing power of the Gospel. When Christianity first started to spread in the first century it spread first and foremost in THE CITIES! Rodney Stark did a great job of chronicalling this phenomenon in his books The Rise of Christianity and Cities of God. The Gospel spread because people were living so close to one another that there was constant contact with other people. Once people were converted the good news spread quickly, almost like a virus. If someone gets sick and they are living in a city filled with people there is a good chance that other people will get sick also. If the missional code can be cracked in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Chicago then the Gospel will spread like wild fire. Especially in cities like those where the urbaness is compact.
We need to pray for our cities. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit does an amazing work of revival among the cities. We need to pray the God raises up people with a heart for the city and a desire to enter into the mission field. We need to pray especially for the cities where people don't want to go. I specifically think of San Francisco and New York. Those are two cities that I love and want to see people come to know Jesus. Imagine if people caught a vision for those two places and those cities became known for their spiritual ferver rather than lostness! We have a big God with whom all things are possible!
San Francisco is for sure a lost place. There are not many Christians there. And that is precisely why we should pray for the city. That is precisely why we should pray about living there and transforming it fort he sake of the Gospel and the Glory of God!
No comments:
Post a Comment