• What the Suburbs Have in Common with Hell

    November 15, 2006

    Yesterday I was listening to a great message by Rob Bell about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). He does a great job of contextually exegeting the passage so draw out the point of the parable and helping to work around how we often hear the passage because of our own modern lenses.

    One of the things he points out is that the rich man, in life, had effectively isolated himself from those he deemed of lesser value or worth or perhaps those he considered a danger. Lazarus, on the other hand, we are told, “longed to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table – ie. he wasn’t above begging or being regarded as inferior.

    In the next scene, we see the same two characters in there eternally fixed states. It is the rich man who ends up alone, and Lazarus who winds up at Abraham’s side, indicative of a great banquet. Thus, each got what he longed for. The rich man, wanting to separate himself got his wish, and Lazarus, longing to be in the presence of others, is eternally comforted at the heavenly banquet.

    We don’t need to read too much into the parable to see its significance.

    The suburbs are full of people just like the rich man from this story – people who console themselves with thoughts like “there’s noting wrong or sinful about having money, a nice house, or a nice car.” But they fail to wrestle with the subtle effects of this kind of lifestyle. When we separate ourselves from those of lesser social status, economic class, or simply based on race, we wage war on our own souls. When we isolate ourselves from people created in the image of God, no matter their class, status, or race, for the sake of improving or enhancing our own man-made image, we not only create a covert hell on earth, we set ourselves up for an eternity of it because we would find an eternity spent with the very people we sought to separate ourselves from in life unthinkable and unbearable.

    Related Posts

    1. 10 Ideas for Living Missionally in the Suburbs
    2. Truth Be Told, I am Scared to Death to Live in the Suburbs
    3. Lots of People in Hell Have Perfect Doctrine

    Posted in: bible, community, culture, Jesus, modernity, suburban

Recent Comments

  • Adam said...

    1

    Although I agree with the thought, there are good reasons why people “separate” themselves, not least of which is security.

    Although I live in Kearny, NJ, which is situated directly next to Newark, NJ, I would think twice before moving my family to Newark. Crime is a far more serious problem there.

    If I ever get climb above the working class into true middle class, I’ll at least move west within New Jersey for better schools and even better security. Or, I might just relocate to another state, like New Hampshire.

    Of course, if I ever fall into the suburbanite habit of driving to my white collar job in an air-conditioned SUV, park in the internal parking lot, and then drive home and park directly in my garage without once having to see a neighbor…then I’ll start to worry.

    11/19/06 3:40 AM | Comment Link

  • JR Rozko said...

    2

    Adam, thanks for your comment. I want to preface my reply by saying that I am not married and have no children, it’s just me and that gives me a certain amount of freedom in what I want to say.

    I appreciate that as a husband and father, you would want to protect your family from any sort of harm, that is only natural, right, and good. God, I think, is the same way.

    At the same time, God spared no expense, even giving his only son, that others might know freedom, release from oppression, healing, new life – salvation. Not only that, he calls his people, the church, to be his representatives on earth, being willing to put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of others. It is no simple matter, but inasmuch as we are called to live incarnational lives after the pattern on Jesus, this means being with (not temporarily, but in the sense of sharing life with) the poor and oppressed. Sadly, where they are is often where it is most dangerous and where we lest want to live.

    I am not advocating wanton disregard for safety or foolish decision making. What I am saying is that we need to ask ourselves, “What would have become of us had God played it safe?”

    Like I said, I don’t have a family of my own yet, but I hope that when I do, that God might give us the courage to decide together to be present with those who live in areas no one else wants to go so that they too may know the salvation which comes through Jesus Christ – even if it means risking our lives.

    Incidentally, another struggle for me is the burden I have for suburban Christians whose lives of comfort, consumerism, materialism, and individualism are an utter affront to the gospel Jesus came to announce – these people too are oppressed, just in a different way. I wrestle daily with how to liberate these sorts of people for the sake of God’s Kingdom and mission without selling out. This is a struggle in and of itself, but doubly so because it afford me the opportunity to not go to the sorts of places I described above.

    I don’t have it all figured out.

    11/21/06 12:08 AM | Comment Link

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