lifeasmission
exploring the mystery of life and mission as one and the same
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Archive of "suburban" Category
Todd Hiestand is My Hero
It was just over 3 years ago that I “met” Todd. I was in Norway studying and writing my masters thesis. In my search for resources, I came across Todd’s blog and was excited to find someone else who was thinking about missional living in suburban contexts. We developed a collaborative friendship in the blog-o-sphere and I finally got to meet him face to face when his church community, The Well, in suburban Philly, was hosting a small seminar with Al Hsu regarding “The Church & Suburbia.”
Through our respective church communities, Todd and I are both affiliated with Ecclesia, a missional church planting network which gives us even more opportunity to interact.
Todd is living the dream as a bivocational (or bioccupational as he prefers) pastor and draw some income from doing web design. I have always admired his work with crafting wordpress themes and when I saw some of his latest work on the blog of one of his friends, I jokingly told him to send me the zip file. He took me seriously and 30 minutes later, I am enjoying the beautiful goodness you see before you (unless you’re reading this through a reader – if you are, do yourself a favor and click through to check it out).
Anyway, Todd didn’t ask for any money, but I am gonna give him some anyway cause he’s my hero!
For the sake of your own soul, you should get to know Todd. For the sake of your blog, you should hire him to rock your world.
Cultural Gravity (Part 1)
Try to jump and hang in the air for 10 seconds. How’d you do? You either failed, cheated, or are reading this from the moon. You are a captive of gravity. It pulls at you, refusing to let you wander off.
Culture is a lot like that. The various elements of the culture we inhabit pull us toward some sort of center. Culture, in all of its various forms: language, architecture, customs, expectations, rhythms, etc., creates a sort of reality for those who live in it. This is what I am calling cultural gravity.
Cultural gravity cuts two ways – it simultaneously frees and binds. As regular gravity gives us the ability to walk around and explore our immediate surroundings, it also binds us there, making any desire we have to explore our not so immediate surroundings extraordinarily difficult. Analogously, cultural gravity is what enables us to authentically enter a particular time and space – to know it personally and deeply. But it can also trap our imaginations and stymie us intellectually and creatively. The longer we live with in a particular brand of cultural gravity (geography, tradition, denomination, etc.) the harder it will be to enter new ones with any degree of receptivity or discernment.
Anyone who has ever lived cross-culturally has experienced this tension. It is why new cultures can be hard to adjust to and why we may have a hard time (or outright fear!) returning to the culture we came from.
As one who has had some varied over-seas experience and has moved from the suburban mid-west, to urban So. Cal, to some blend of suburban/urban culture in the midsouth, and now lives outside of Chicago, these are some thoughts I have been having.
In Part 2 I plan to offer some reflections on what I think cultural gravity has to do with missional churches.
Missional Suburban Living Meets Poor Urban Intentional Community
My friend Matthew beat me to it, but a few weeks ago he, his intern Ben Kaplowitz, and I traveled up to Philly together. We were there to take part if a day-long seminar on what a missional engagement of the suburbs is all about and it was a helpful discussion. Contrast of contrasts, we had the good fortune to stay with Chris and Cassie Haw who live as part of an intentional community in one of the shadiest neighborhoods I have ever been in in Camden, NJ. Added bonus – Chris co-authored Jesus for President with Shane Claiborne and as I was just finishing leding a group through the book, we had some good discussion. Be sure to check out Matthew’s post on the trip.
Christian Escapism
Disclaimer: This post is not (really) about cars.
On the heels of that last post, I thought I would throw this out there and say how glad I am that most of the folks in my life seem to be those who are really trying to press into the full implications of what following Jesus means and looks like right here and now. They are not, for the most part, Christian Escapists – those whose value for Christ primarily has to do with their get-out-of-hell-free card. They want to live out lives of discipleship for the sake of their neighbors and the world.
Anyway, that being said… I caught this in a parking lot the other day, read it, kept walking, and went back to take a picture once my internal annoyance-o-meter reached its peak.
This bumper sticker perfectly illustrates the degree to which a subtle neo-gnosticism has seeped into how we understand the Christian faith. The idea of gnosticism is simple: eternity has nothing to do with here and now. Therefore, for example, I can “have my treasure in heaven,” and live however the heck I want.
I am reminded of my friend Wess’ post, “How Do We Look for the Theology of a Church?“ One of his suggestions was to check out the cars in the parking lot on Sunday morning. Now, this may not be a perfect gauge (and Wess doesn’t suggest that it is), but in terms of a non-gnosticized version of the Christian faith, it is a valid point. That point being, if we understand the good news of God’s Kingdom as something we get to participate in and live out for the sake of the world here and now, then guess what, it will envelop every aspect of our lives, including (perhaps especially including) the economic dimension.
The gospel aims to get a grip on not just our hearts, but our whole lives. Imagine the visible impact of church communities which aimed to live well below their means because of their rejection of consumerism and materialism, or, even better, because they so badly wanted to experience the blessing of sharing and giving – of living lives unencumbered by extravagance and luxury. That seems like a way of being the church that is more worthy of a crucified and risen Messiah.
A Place to Lay My Head
After 4 months of getting to know Memphis, living with various people and in various places, and living out of a suit case, I have found a place to hang my hat – at least for the next year.
here for more pictures (not my stuff in the house)
Here’s what metropolitan Memphis looks like
Downtown Memphis is actually to the west of “the loop” between the Mississippi River and 240. Inside the loop is generally referred to as midtown, though it has more specific designations in certain parts. To the east of the the loop is Germantown, Cordova, and Collierville. Piperton, where our church community has purchased land for some future use is a little more east than Collierville. I considered living in virtually all of these places.
Living subversively in a suburban context is something I care deeply about and feel like a good portion of my life will probably go to, but for a smattering of reasons, it doesn’t seem that now is the season for that. I mentioned a slew of factors in the decision making process in my post about being scared to live in the suburbs and I don’t really think that any decision I would have made would have been THE right decision, but here’s why I am pretty excited about this place.
1) Location. This house puts me within walking distance (less than 1/2 of a mile) of coffee shops, restaurants, shopping, the largest park in the city, the playhouse, and the only theater I am aware of in Memphis that shows Indy films. Here’s a little map I started to put together of all the stuff I can walk to easily. There’s a ton more that is easily within biking distance (1-3 miles) such as the YMCA where I’ll work out and my bank.
2) Set-up. The house is perfectly set-up to invite others to explore intentional community. There are 3 huge bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms on the 1st floor as well as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment with its own kitchen and a separate entrance on top.
3) Neighborhood. The neighborhood is both racially and socio-economically diverse and by virtue of living here I will be part of the “Tucker-Jefferson Neighborhood Association,” an active group which aims “to maintain and improve the dignity and integrity of the residences and businesses in the area, to preserve the diversity of the area, to insure orderly an compatible land use in the area, to encourage homeowners living in the area to improve their homes, and to work together on problems and issues of certain concern.”
4) Opportunity. Living Hope is a primarily white, affluent, suburban church that is asking God how we might engage and be a blessing to urban Memphis as well as to where we are. Having more people move into urban parts of the city will inevitably be a big part of that.
I am truly grateful to have found this place and am really looking forward to having a context to engage on a more constant basis.
Truth Be Told, I am Scared to Death to Live in the Suburbs
Update: Just after I posted this, I happened to come across a few relevant posts on this subject. Be sure to check out David Fitch’s – “The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity,” and Joe Thorn’s, “I Love the Suburbs” on a brand new blog about the gospel in the suburban context, SubText.
I hear people talk quite frequently about the “dangers of the city” and how unsafe certain parts of town are. But if I were being honest, I would tell you that I am far more scared to live in the suburbs than I am to live virtually anywhere else.
By design, suburbs are places of isolation, disconnection, and compartmentalization. Their very existence is predicated on cultural values of materialism, consumerism , and individualism. All of this makes it much harder (not impossible mind you) to follow the way of Jesus – a way of simplicity and interconnectedness with those on the margins of society.
I bring this up because I will very soon need to decide on a more permanent place to live. I have been looking in mid-town which is more urban, racially mixed, threatened by crime and violence, accessible to pedestrians, affordable, and artistic. All of this most naturally appeals to me.
But, I have also been looking in the Germantown/Collierville area which is suburban, predominantly white, relatively free of crime and violence, necessitates a car to go anywhere, more expensive, and culturally bland.
Complicating these basic dynamics are factors such as these…
– most of the folks at Living Hope are suburban people thus I feel I should live among them
– I am a young adult pastor and mid-town is more attractive to young adults
– we gave bought land and are discussing the potential of building a gathering place on it even further east from urban Memphis in Piperton
– the idea of our church planting or having more of a presence in urban Memphis is something we are discussing
– currently, the people I am aiming to really share life with live predominantly in suburban Memphis
– it maybe the case that more of our folks would head toward mid-town if a few more folks blazed that trail
… and I could probably list more. I have been basically paralyzed by this decision of where to live and why. Maybe I can just rest in the fact that no matter what, I am looking to rent and not buy, which ties me down probably for a year at the most. On top of this, where ever I wind up, I am seeking to be there with the express purpose of taking Jesus’ command to love my neighbors literally and seriously. So, whether in mid-town or the burbs, I am sure there will be folks who are hurting and in need, and I find some solace in the primacy of this calling.
So there ya have it – with all the transparency I can muster, the suburbs scare me. I would much rather live in a place where I could be shot or robbed than in a place that has the potential to chip away at my soul and spiritual sensibilities every so slowly and subtlety. I welcome your thoughts.
Hi There…
Hey, I'm JR - welcome to the blog.
I'm just an average guy trying to shape his identity around God's dream for the world and his place in it. This blog is a place for me (and you!) to reflect on and discuss all that might mean. Looking for a bit more on me? Check out the about me. Peace.
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