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Reaching the Global City · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. I am.
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I'm really thrilled you are joining us today.
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If you are listening to this right now while sitting on a
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crowded subway, or maybe you know you were stuck in bumper to
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bumper traffic on your morning commute, you are in the perfect
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setting for today's conversation.
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We are taking a comprehensive deep dive into some absolutely
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staggering source material. We are looking at an excerpt
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from a book called Biblical Missions, Principles,
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Priorities, and Practices by Mark Tatlock and Chris Burnett.
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Specifically, we are going to unpack a chapter they titled
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Reaching the Global City. Right.
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And we have a very specific goal for our time together today.
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We want to extract the absolute sharpest insights from this text
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and evaluate every single one of them through a rigorous,
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historically Protestant lens. We want to see how a thoroughly
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biblical understanding of God's absolute sovereignty, total
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human depravity, and the absolute sufficiency of
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Scripture dictates how a Christian should view the
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concrete jungle. Yeah, that is the mission.
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And to kick this off, I want to hit you with a demographic
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reality from the text that totally, I mean, it totally
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stopped me in my tracks. It changes everything about how
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we view the globe. The authors cite economic data
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analysts who note that a century ago, only two out of 10 people
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on the face of the Earth lived in an urban area that is just
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20% of the global population. But by the middle of the 21st
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century, of their same analysts project that 7 out of 10 people
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will be living in cities, 70%. Yes, 70%.
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And here is the fact that should completely rewire your brain.
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Standard population projections show that virtually all global
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growth over the next 30 years will be located in urban areas.
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All of it. We have spent a century
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picturing international missions as someone hiking through a
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remote malaria infested jungle, but the data is screaming at us
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that the world is moving to the apartment building down the
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street. That paradigm shift is massive.
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What is so fascinating here is how missiologists are
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interpreting this totally unprecedented migration.
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The text quotes a church planting network leader in Dubai
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who frames this reality in a highly specific, urgent way.
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He states that we are transitioning into a fourth era
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of the modern missionary movement.
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In this new era, the focus is entirely urban and the
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leadership is both global and not bound by traditional
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vocational missionary roles. I mean, if we connect this
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demographic explosion to the Great Commission, the
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implications are staggering. Jesus Christ commands his
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followers to make disciples among unreached peoples, and the
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reality of our current century is that those unreached peoples
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are leaving their isolated villages in massive ways and
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moving directly into sprawling megacities.
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And here's the critical problem. They are moving into cities that
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are currently completely devoid of a viable functioning gospel
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witness. Which means the focus of
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missions absolutely must shift to the urban landscape.
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It is a matter of sheer obedience.
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The people are gathering in the concrete and steel centers of
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the world. And if the church is going to be
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faithful to the command of Christ, the church must go where
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the people are. We are looking at a scenario
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where the primary target of missions is no longer a rural
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outpost. The target is the high rise
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apartment building, the crowded slum and the massive public
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transit systems of places like Tokyo, London or Mumbai.
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Spot on. But as we evaluate this urgent
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need, we have to maintain our theological bearings.
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Our methodology for reaching these massive populations cannot
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be driven by pragmatic marketing strategies or corporate growth
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metrics. It must be driven by rigorous
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biblical theology. That is precisely what we need
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to establish first. We cannot just rush into the
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city with a clipboard and a ten step growth plan.
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We need a theology of the city. The authors, drawing on the work
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of Rodger Greenway and Timothy Monsma, present a framework they
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call A Tale of Three Cities found in Scripture.
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They break it down into the city that might have been, the city
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that will be, and the city that is.
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Let us tackle that first one, the city that might have been.
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To understand this, the authors take us all the way back to
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Genesis 1.28, the cultural mandate.
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This is where God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply,
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to fill the earth and to subdue it.
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I read that and usually just think about agriculture or
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having kids. But the authors argue that
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fulfilling that mandate inherently, logically leads to
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the creation of civilization and by extension, the building of
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cities. It really is mind boggling to
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consider what a sinless humanity could have accomplished with the
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resources and abilities our first parents possessed.
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Without the curse of sin, without physical death, and
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without the linguistic barriers that God imposed later at Babel,
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these cities would have been places of unimaginable peace,
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staggering beauty, perfect worship, and total glory to God.
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I try to picture it using an analogy.
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I like analogies we have in mind.
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Imagine a master architect who drafts A flawless blueprint for
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a glorious, self-sustaining skyscraper.
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It is designed perfectly for human flourishing, but right
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after the foundation is laid, a catastrophic earthquake strikes
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the site. The ground splits, the steel is
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shattered, and the builders are severely injured.
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That earthquake is the fall of man.
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Because of the total depravity resulting from that fall, the
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city we see today is not that perfect blueprint.
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Instead, as the text quotes, the city stands out as an aggregator
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of evil. But surprisingly, the authors
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say it's still acts as a point of hope.
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How does an aggregator of evil also function as a point of
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hope? That earthquake analogy
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perfectly illustrates the Reformed doctrine of total
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depravity as it applies to human culture.
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The Westminster Confession teaches that through the Fall,
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humanity became dead in sin and completely defiled in all the
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faculties and parts of soul and body.
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This means that every single cultural endeavor, every
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technological advancement, and every societal structure
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produced by fallen humanity is tainted by that original
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rebellion. Right.
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So the city, being the most concentrated, dense expression
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of human culture, naturally becomes a massive aggregator of
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evil. The rebellion against a holy God
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is multiplied and amplified by the sheer volume of sinners
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living in such close proximity to one another.
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You see idolatry, greed and exploitation institutionalized.
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Exactly. However, the text points out
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something crucial the creation mandate to subdue the earth and
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create culture was never rescinded after the fall.
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Furthermore, the image of God in man, though severely marred and
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corrupted by sin, is not utterly obliterated.
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So the city still contains residual elements of beauty,
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order, and creativity that reflect the Creator, even while
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the citizens use those very things to construct idols.
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This is why the city remains a point of hope.
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It is an overwhelming concentration of image bearers
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who desperately need the grace of God.
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And if we look at the grand narrative of Scripture, God does
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not abandon the concept of the city in disgust.
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He sets out to redeem it for his own glory.
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And that redemptive arc brings us right to the second city.
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The authors discuss the city that will be.
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We jump from the first pages of Genesis straight to the very end
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of the Bible to Revelation 21 and 22.
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Here John gives us a stunning vision of the eschatological
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temple city coming down out of heaven to the new earth.
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We are told about the river of the Water of Life flowing right
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down the middle of the street, clear as crystal.
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We see the Tree of Life bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding
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its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the
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healing of the nations. So what does this tell you as a
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listener about your own future? It shows you that God's plan for
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humanity is not a return to a primitive, unpopulated garden.
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His design culminates in a bustling, thriving, glorious
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urban center where He dwells directly with His creation.
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The authors point out that this future city is essentially Eden
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realized, but it is Eden amplified.
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The tree is bigger, the family is much larger, and the glory is
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exponentially brighter. The absolute center of gravity
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for this eternal city is the full, unhindered presence of God
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Himself. But this is not just a real
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estate upgrade. The population of the city is
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entirely different from the original garden, right?
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That theological distinction is absolutely critical to grasp.
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The authors note that this future city will not be
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populated by simple, innocent, untested creatures who never
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knew the stain of sin. That would just be a reset
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button back to Genesis 2. Instead, this eternal city will
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be populated exclusively by redeemed sinners.
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The citizens of this New Jerusalem are people who
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actively rebelled, who are thoroughly dead in their
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trespasses, but who've been washed clean by the blood of the
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Lamb and adopted into God's family.
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The text references first Peter one point waiting to 21 to drive
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this home. This aligns Florida State with a
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reformed understanding of salvation.
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God does not just erase history, He achieves a far surpassing
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glory through the act of redemption of a chosen people.
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Yes, the Westminster Confession is so helpful here.
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It emphasizes that God from all eternity did by the most wise
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and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably
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ordained whatsoever comes to pass.
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This includes His sovereign permission of the Fall, ordained
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specifically so that He might display the supreme staggering
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riches of His grace in the salvation of His elect.
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The city that will be is the eternal monument to God's
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electing grace. It is a metropolis of former
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rebels who have been justified by faith alone, through grace
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alone in Christ alone, and who will spend eternity giving glory
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to the God who rescued them. This future reality should
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completely dictate how you view the concrete and steel cities
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around you today. Those modern skylines are
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temporary fallen shadows of the eternal reality God is actively
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building. I love that phrase temporary
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fallen shadows, because that brings us to the third category,
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the city. That is, we have to deal with
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the present reality outside our windows.
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The text takes us to Genesis 4 through 6, showing that within
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just a few generations of the fall, humanity began developing
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technology, culture, industry, and music.
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You see cane building a city. You see tubal cane forging
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instruments of bronze and iron. You see Jubal making the lyre
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and pipe, but all of this incredible cultural development
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happened right alongside horrific escalating depravity,
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warfare and violence primarily concentrated in those early
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urban centers. The authors make a very clear,
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unavoidable point here. These marks of culture and
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civilization are the products of sinful people, but there are
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people nonetheless who are made in the very image of God.
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When people gather in higher density areas, they naturally
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tend to have a vastly increased influence on wider society.
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The authors argue that to hide from the city or to ignore it
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because it feels too secular or dangerous is to basically
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surrender the cultural, political and economic high
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ground of society. So we need a working definition.
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The text defines the modern city theologically as a concentrated
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grouping of sinful image bearers.
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That definition alone shifts everything.
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It forces you to stop looking at a city as just a grid of
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asphalt, traffic lights and skyscrapers, and demands that
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you look at the millions of human souls living inside it.
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Applying that definition requires us to view our
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immediate surroundings through a strictly biblical lens.
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A Reformed perspective recognizes that every single
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person walking down a crowded sidewalk, sitting on the subway,
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or working in a corporate high rise is entirely bound by a
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sinful nature. They're totally unable to save
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themselves and entirely deserving of God's holy wrath.
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Yet simultaneously, every single one of them bears the imprint of
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their Creator and possesses an eternal soul that will exist
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forever. The text notes that high density
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areas have massive disproportionate influence.
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This is a sociological fact that we cannot ignore.
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The cultural norms, the financial systems, the
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educational paradigms and the political ideologies that shape
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the entire globe are forged in the Crucible of the city.
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Which means if the church retreats from the city, focusing
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only on comfortable rural or suburban enclaves, it leaves the
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central nervous system of global culture entirely in the hands of
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those who are actively rebelling against God.
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By engaging the city, the church is not trying to create a
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political utopia on earth. Rather, the church is placing
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the bright light of the gospel in the darkest, most influential
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places. We do this trusting that God
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will use the faithful proclamation of his Word to call
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his elect out of the darkness. To surrender the city out of
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fear or discomfort is to shrink back from the very fields where
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the spiritual harvest is most dense.
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But let us be honest for a second, especially with you
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listening right now. If you do not live in a major
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metropolitan area, or even if you do, it is incredibly easy to
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view the city as this terrifying, faceless monster.
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You think of the heavy smog, the endless soul crushing traffic
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jams, the rising crime rates, the deafening noise, and just
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the sheer overwhelming mass of humanity pressing in on you.
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It can make you angry, cynical, or worse, totally indifferent to
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the actual people living there. That is the natural human
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reaction. But the authors contrast that
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cynical reaction with how Jesus viewed massive, chaotic crowds.
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They point us to Matthew 9.3538. When Jesus looked at the
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multitudes pressing in on him, he did not see a nuisance.
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He did not see a faceless, annoying mob.
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He saw right through the surface level grime and chaos, the text
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says. He felt compassion for them
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because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
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The authors define that condition so clearly.
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To be a sheep without a shepherd means you are unprotected,
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unfed, and unled. They are wandering, hurting, and
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totally vulnerable. The text also brings in the
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Apostle Paul's experience in Corinth from Acts 18.
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Paul was in this massive, notoriously Pagan, completely
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corrupt commercial hub, and God told him to keep speaking and
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not be silent. Why?
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Because as God told Paul, I have many in this city who are my
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people. God has people waiting to hear
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the good in the absolute worst parts of the city.
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The mission is the redemption of those specific souls.
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That picture of Jesus seeing the crowns as sheep without a
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shepherd gets right to the heart of how we must understand the
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spiritual state of fallen man. Without the supernatural
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intervention of the Good Shepherd, humanity is completely
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vulnerable to the deceit of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
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They are spiritually starving to death, trying to feed their
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souls on the empty, hollow promises of urban success,
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material wealth, and fleeting pleasure.
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They are utterly unlead, following blind guides and
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secular philosophies straight into eternal destruction.
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When you look at a city skyline, you must train your mind to see
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beyond the impressive architecture and the bustling
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commerce. You must see millions of eternal
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souls who are currently under the just wrath of a holy God,
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yet desperately in need of the only available Savior.
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And the reference to Paul in Corinth is a brilliant,
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undeniable illustration of unconditional election at work
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in the real world. God did not tell Paul to stay
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and preach because the Corinthians were particularly
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receptive, intelligent, or morally upright.
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Corinth was globally infamous for its extreme, rampant
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depravity. God told Paul to preach because
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God had already chosen the people for himself in that city
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before the foundation of the world.
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The success of the mission did not depend on Paul's rhetorical
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eloquence or the natural inclination of the Corinthians.
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It depended entirely on the sovereign, unchangeable decree
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of God. This doctrine should give the
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urban Christian incredible, fearless boldness.
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You are not a salesman trying to pitch a product to unwilling
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buyers. You are the authorized herald of
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a king who is actively, invincibly gathering his chosen
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citizens from among the rebels. You are Herald, Absolutely.
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But gathering those citizens in a massive urban environment
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comes with some staggering logistical roadblocks.
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The authors do not sugarcoat the physical obstacles of engaging
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the global city. They describe these environments
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as dense, poorly planned, frequently flooded, yet
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economically booming. And then they share a specific
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data point that is just wild. They cite a recent study
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revealing that on average, citizens of Jakarta spend 400
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hours a year sitting in traffic. 400 hours.
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Think about that. I get annoyed when the drive
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through line takes an extra 4 minutes. 400 hours is over 16
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full days of a person's life every single year, just staring
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at the bumper in front of them in the sweltering heat.
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The authors stress that these logistical challenges are very
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real, very exhausting, and highly relevant to how a church
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actually functions. Those 400 hours in traffic act
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as a severe grinding barrier to the life of the local church.
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Think about what this means practically for gathering the
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Saints in a traditional small town setting, A church might
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easily hold a Sunday morning service, a Sunday evening
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service, and a Wednesday night prayer meeting.
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But if your congregation spending hours commuting each
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day just to survive economically, demanding that
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they navigate that same gridlock multiple times a week for church
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functions becomes an almost impossible crushing burden.
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The sheer physical and mental exhaustion takes a massive toll
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on family life. It leaves fathers and mothers
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too drained to effectively catechize their children, to
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cultivate a healthy marriage, or to practice basic hospitality.
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It forces church leaders to completely rethink how they
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facilitate Christian community. They cannot rely on the
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centralized church building as the sole hub of activity.
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They have to consider how to decentralize gatherings, perhaps
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utilizing homes or workplaces scattered across different
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boroughs, to overcome the severe friction of the city's broken
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infrastructure. This requires a highly
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intentional, creative approach to pastoral care.
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The elders must recognize that the physical toll of the city
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directly and severely impacts the spiritual vitality of the
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flock. And beyond the physical
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exhaustion, there is an even more insidious obstacle, the
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psychological and spiritual toll.
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The authors explain how individual sin combined with
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systemic organized rebellion entices people into highly
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destructive identities. People move to the global city
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from all over the world, seeking a better life, maybe for
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education or a better paying job, but the city ends up
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offering them a counterfeit sense of belonging.
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The text points specifically to urban refugees.
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This is a group we rarely think about.
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Unlike refugees in official UN sanctioned camps who might have
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some basic institutional support, urban refugees are
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often completely isolated. They are swallowed up by the
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city. They have minimal legal
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employment options and almost no educational opportunities.
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In their total desperation to find a community, to find
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somewhere they belong and are protected, they frequently fall
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into underground networks that promote illegal drugs, sexual
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rebellion or violent gang activity.
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The city offers a counterfeit family that preys entirely on
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their extreme isolation. The desperate search for
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belonging is an inherent part of human nature.
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It is the vestige of our original creation, designed for
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perfect communion with God and with each other.
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However, because of total depravity, fallen humans will
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seek that communion in all the most destructive places.
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The Westminster Confession teaches that man, by his fall
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into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any
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spiritual good accompanying salvation.
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Therefore, an isolated, frightened urban refugee
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operating without the regenerating grace of God will
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naturally gravitate toward whatever community offers
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immediate physical security or social acceptance.
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They will do this even if that community is fundamentally
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destructive to their soul. The games, the illicit drug
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networks, and the sexually deviant subcultures act as
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false, counterfeit churches. They offer a twisted form of
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fellowship, a perverse strict set of rules, and a counterfeit
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sense of identity. They demand absolute loyalty and
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sacrifice, much like a false religion.
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The Christian mission in the city must recognize this harsh
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reality. We are not just offering a set
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of abstract academic theological propositions to neutral
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observers. We are competing against deeply
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entrenched, idolatrous communities that have thoroughly
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capture the affections of these isolated individuals.
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The local church must offer a truer, stronger, and vastly more
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compelling community, one rooted in the absolute truth of
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Scripture and the sacrificial love of Christ, to actually draw
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people out of those destructive alternative belongings.
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That intense competition for the affections and minds of the
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urbanite brings us to another massive challenge outlined in
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the text, the linguistic and cultural chasm.
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The core Gospel message itself is wonderfully simple, but the
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authors make it clear that the cross cultural proclamation of
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that message is rarely a simple task.
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They quote veteran missionary and missiologist Brad Buser, who
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gives a very stern, uncompromising warning.
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He says that undergirding any serious approach to sharing the
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Gospel cross culturally is the ability to think and communicate
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at a serious level of understanding in the language
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and culture of the person you are reaching.
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The authors explain that a faithful worker isn't just
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memorizing a new vocabulary list from an app.
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They have to learn the massive theological and worldview
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implications that the vocabulary carries in that specific local
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context. This is a critical juncture
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where sloppy theology leads directly to disastrous
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methodology. The text provides a perfect,
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terrifying example, translating the English word for sin into an
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Islamic or Buddhist context. If you just find the closest
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dictionary equivalent for the word sin in a predominantly
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Buddhist culture, you might end up using a word that implies a
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violation of karma, a failure to achieve inner enlightenment, or
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perhaps just a clumsy social mistake that is a complete
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catastrophic failure of communication.
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A biblical view of sin, grounded in Reformed theology, defines
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sin as any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law
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of God. It is high treason against a
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completely holy, absolutely sovereign Creator.
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It is a condition of total spiritual death and total
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corruption of the entire human nature.
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If you use a word that just implies a minor moral slip up or
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a failure to balance 1's inner energies, the listener will
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never ever understand the absolute necessity of the
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substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ.
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They will not see their desperate need for a Savior who
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steps in to bear the infinite, crushing wrath of God on their
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behalf because they simply do not believe they have offended
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an infinite God. Therefore, as the text
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forcefully argues, communicating the gospel requires long,
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careful, and highly repeated conversations.
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It requires dismantling the false world view, stone by
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stone, and replacing it with the authoritative truth of
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Scripture. You cannot rush this process.
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You cannot rely on dropping superficial gospel tracts that
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use words the local population completely misunderstands.
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You must achieve a serious, rigorous level of understanding.
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But let us look at the incredible upside here, because
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the authors point out that when viewed through a gospel lens,
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these mash of obstacles actually become unbelievable
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opportunities. The first opportunity to
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highlight is the concept of neutral territories.
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If you live in a closed, tight knit rural community, everyone
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knows everyone. Stepping outside the accepted
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religious or cultural norms can result in immediate severe
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social ostracization or even violence.
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But the city is totally different.
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The authors note that cities possess neutral territories
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where the open exchange of ideas can happen freely.
22:22
Think of a bustling university library, a crowded public park
22:25
or a loud coffee shop. The sheer diversity and
22:28
accessibility of the urban environment force individuals to
22:31
constantly wrestle with unfamiliar truth claims.
22:34
They are bombarded with different perspectives, which
22:37
forces them to decide what they're actually going to
22:38
believe. In practice, the authors argue,
22:40
this sets the table perfectly for a right spiritual harvest.
22:43
The absolute anonymity of the city, which can certainly lead
22:47
to the devastating isolation we discussed earlier, also provides
22:50
A providential protective shield for those who are quietly
22:53
inquiring about the gospel. In many parts of the world,
22:57
openly questioning the dominant state sponsored religion in a
23:00
rural village could instantly cost a person their livelihood,
23:03
their family, or even their life.
23:06
The tight knit nature of those communities rigorously enforces
23:09
strict adherence to traditional false religions.
23:12
But when that same person moves to a sprawling, chaotic global
23:15
city, that intense social pressure is heavily diluted.
23:19
They can meet a Christian in one of these neutral territories and
23:22
have a long, honest conversation without the immediate
23:25
threatening scrutiny of their village elders.
23:27
Furthermore, the constant daily exposure to different cultures
23:30
and beliefs in the city naturally chips away at the
23:33
assumption that they're inherited worldview is the only
23:35
valid option. This intellectual friction is
23:38
something God uses sovereignly to prepare the soil of the
23:40
heart. The Holy Spirit can use the
23:43
disorienting, confusing experience of urban migration to
23:46
strip away false earthly securities, making the
23:50
individual far more receptive to the absolute truth claims of the
23:53
Christian gospel. The wise, intentional worker
23:56
will deliberately place themselves in these neutral
23:59
territories, always ready to provide a defense for the hope
24:02
that is in them. And the people you are meeting
24:04
in these coffee shops or parks are often precisely the people
24:08
we think of when we talk about frontier missions.
24:10
We have this ingrained assumption that you have to hike
24:12
for six weeks into the jungle to find unreached people groups.
24:16
But the text corrects that outdated assumption.
24:19
Unreached people groups are buying bus tickets and coming
24:22
directly to the city for work and school.
24:24
The authors define a specific demographic that is highly
24:27
strategic. They call them city tribals.
24:29
A city tribal is a person from a specific unreached ethnic tribe
24:33
who moves to the city, lives in a neighborhood with others from
24:36
their own people, but crucially, they return to their hometowns
24:39
regularly and maintain very strong ties with their tribal
24:42
relatives. This creates an unbelievable
24:44
strategic advantage. The authors point out that well
24:47
resourced Christian communities in the city can reach these
24:50
individuals right across socio economic lines.
24:53
If a city tribal comes to faith, they can be mobilized to take
24:56
the gospel back into their native regions, regions that
24:59
might be totally geographically or politically inaccessible to a
25:04
foreign passport holder. The phenomenon of the city
25:07
tribal is a brilliant, undeniable display of God's
25:10
Providence in the modern era. Think about the massive
25:13
logistical nightmare of sending a Western worker to a closed,
25:16
hostile country. They have to spend years just
25:19
learning an obscure tribal dialect, trying to blend in and
25:23
hoping they do not get deported or killed before they can even
25:26
share the gospel clearly. Now consider the superior
25:28
alternative God has provided through global urbanization.
25:31
That same unreached tribal group sends its brightest young men
25:35
and women to the global city to find construction work or attend
25:38
a university. They already know the tribal
25:40
language perfectly. They already understand the
25:42
cultural nuances implicitly. They already have the absolute
25:45
trust of their relatives back home.
25:47
If the local church in the city actively evangelizes and
25:51
disciples these individuals, equipping them with a sound,
25:55
rigorous biblical theology, they become the most effective
25:58
missionaries imaginable. They can travel back and forth
26:01
to their home villages without raising any suspicion from the
26:03
local authorities. They can preach the gospel in
26:06
the exact idioms and cultural frameworks that their people
26:09
will understand instinctively. This is a massive, unprecedented
26:13
opportunity for the established, well resourced urban church to
26:18
engage in frontline unreached people group missions without
26:22
ever leaving their own metropolitan area.
26:24
But it requires highly intentional cross cultural
26:27
initiative. As the text says, you have to
26:29
actively step across those socio economic divisions within the
26:32
city to reach the migrant worker pouring concrete or the
26:36
international student studying engineering.
26:38
You mentioned the established urban church, which brings up a
26:41
very surprising and frankly tragic obstacle within the city
26:44
itself. You might be listening to this
26:46
and thinking, well, I live in a huge city and there are churches
26:48
on every corner, so the job is mostly done.
26:51
But the text says that is a highly dangerous assumption.
26:54
They write that often the greatest obstacle to the spread
26:56
of the true gospel in a city is the bankrupt theology and
27:00
nominalism of the local congregations that are already
27:02
there. If the churches have abandoned
27:04
the authority of Scripture, or if they are just cultural social
27:07
clubs with no actual gospel witness, they actively block the
27:11
spread of the truth. An unreached person looks at
27:13
those churches, assumes that is what Christianity is, and
27:16
rejects it completely. Therefore, the authors argue for
27:20
a massive need for gospel revitalization.
27:24
Revitalizing a dead church is presented as a totally
27:27
worthwhile, necessary investment, right alongside
27:30
planting new ones. This is an area where a strict
27:32
reformed understanding of the visible church is absolutely
27:36
critical. The Westminster Confession
27:38
teaches that the visible church consists of all those throughout
27:40
the world that profess the true religion and of their children.
27:44
However, it also clearly states that particular churches which
27:47
are members of this visible church are more or less pure
27:51
according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced,
27:53
ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or
27:56
less purely in them. In many global cities you have
27:59
massive congregations that still bear the name church on the sign
28:03
out front, but they have completely lost the pure
28:06
doctrine of the gospel. They might preach A shallow
28:08
prosperity gospel, offering material wealth instead of the
28:12
forgiveness of sins. Or they might preach a hollow
28:15
theological liberalism that completely denies the bodily
28:18
resurrection of Christ and the divine authority of the Bible.
28:22
These nominal churches literally inoculate the city against the
28:25
true gospel. A spiritually hungry person
28:27
might attend one of these false churches.
28:29
You're a bankrupt man centered theology and conclude that
28:32
Christianity has no real answers for their sin or their intense
28:36
suffering. Therefore, simply planting new
28:38
churches is not enough. There must be a concerted,
28:41
courageous effort to revitalize dying churches, to install
28:44
faithful men in the pulpit who will preach the whole council of
28:47
God without flinching, and to restore biblical church
28:49
discipline. A revitalized church that
28:52
suddenly begins shining the bright, uncompromised light of
28:55
the true gospel in a neighborhood that has only known
28:58
dead Nominalism is an incredibly potent witness.
29:02
So assuming you reach these people, whether through a new
29:05
plant or a revitalized church, how do you actually provide true
29:08
community for them? Think back to that isolated
29:10
urban refugee we talked about earlier.
29:12
The text says the answer is building identity around the
29:14
Triune God and union with Christ.
29:17
The authors reference Ephesians 2.1122, discussing how the Holy
29:22
Spirit actively draws lost sheep together through the reconciling
29:26
work of the gospel. The massive problems of
29:28
partiality, which are so incredibly common and
29:31
destructive in a diverse city, are broken down.
29:33
Strangers and sojourners are formed into God's household.
29:36
The church becomes the only community that can actually
29:39
satisfy the needs of those created in God's image because
29:42
it finds its life in the originator of community himself.
29:45
The doctrine of union with Christ is the absolute bedrock
29:48
of Christian community. Without it, a church is just
29:51
another urban social club based on shared interests or similar
29:55
demographics. But Reformed theology insists
29:58
that when a person is regenerated by the Holy Spirit
30:00
and given the gift of saving faith, they are spiritually,
30:03
inextricably united to Jesus Christ.
30:06
They are in him and He is in them.
30:08
And because every single believer is united to the exact
30:11
same Christ, they are therefore organically, permanently united
30:15
to one another. This is the staggering reality
30:17
the apostle Paul is describing in Ephesians 2.
30:20
In the ancient city of Ephesus, the dividing line between Jew
30:22
and Gentile was a massive, impenetrable wall of hostility.
30:26
It was a cultural and religious partiality that seemed totally
30:29
insurmountable. But Paul says that Christ has
30:31
broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
30:35
The cross completely levels all human distinctions in the modern
30:39
global city. Those dividing lines might be
30:41
based on race, socioeconomic status, language barriers, or
30:45
fierce political affiliation. But when the Holy Spirit draws
30:49
the elect together, those earthly divisions are entirely
30:52
superseded by their shared eternal identity in Christ.
30:56
The wealthy investment banker and the impoverished urban
30:58
refugee, if both are genuinely in Christ, are now brothers.
31:02
They are equal members of the exact same household.
31:05
This kind of supernatural unity, which defies all the natural,
31:08
bitter tribalism of the city, puts the truth of the Gospel on
31:12
brilliant, undeniable display to the watching world.
31:15
The text moves from the grand theological reality of that
31:18
community to the practical boots on the ground reality of what it
31:21
actually looks like on a Tuesday night.
31:23
It involves sacrificial love and heavy burden bearing.
31:26
The authors state that while the weekly preaching of the word
31:28
should never be neglected, the regular meeting of small groups
31:31
or one-on-one meetings is just as vital.
31:33
This is where the real messy work happens.
31:37
Hidden sin is confronted, crushing sorrows are shared, and
31:40
precise gospel encouragement is given.
31:43
The authors highlight a very intense reality for believers in
31:46
persecuted context within the city.
31:49
When someone from a rigid anti Christian culture comes to
31:51
faith, they often lose their biological families and their
31:54
livelihoods completely. They are totally cut off, kicked
31:58
out and shunned. In those desperate moments, the
32:00
local church must step in and become their new literal family.
32:04
When the cynical watching city sees a diverse Christ treasuring
32:07
body functioning like a true family, the author's call it a
32:11
highly effective apologetic The practical application of
32:14
sacrificial love is the necessary visible evidence of a
32:17
true living faith. As the Apostle James argued,
32:21
faith without works is dead. In the context of the dense city
32:24
where people live in such close, inescapable proximity, the
32:27
authenticity of the Gospel message will be judged
32:30
relentlessly by the lives of the messengers.
32:32
If a church claims to hold the absolute truth of God, but
32:35
completely ignores the physical and emotional starvation of its
32:38
own members, the city will rightly view that church as
32:40
hypocritical and irrelevant. Confronting sin, sharing deep
32:44
sorrows, and bearing heavy burdens requires a congregation
32:48
to actively reject the superficiality that
32:51
characterizes so much of modern urban life.
32:54
It requires members to willingly, joyfully enter into
32:57
the messy, difficult, and often expensive lives of their fellow
33:01
believers. When a new believer loses their
33:04
family and their job because they publicly confessed Christ,
33:07
the church must be ready to open their own homes, share their
33:10
bank accounts, and provide the massive emotional support that
33:13
was just violently severed. This kind of radical, self
33:16
denying love is completely unnatural to fallen humanity.
33:20
Therefore, when it actually happens, the watching skeptical
33:23
world cannot explain it away using sociology or psychology.
33:26
They're forced to recognize that something genuinely supernatural
33:29
is occurring among these people. It visually validates the
33:32
incredible claims of the Gospel being preached from the pulpit
33:34
on Sunday. That brings us to the final
33:36
major piece of the text, Best practices for the Urban
33:39
Minister. The author's outlined 4 specific
33:42
things that are absolutely non negotiable for fruitful ministry
33:45
in the city. The first one is prayer directly
33:48
connected to the sovereignty of God.
33:49
The text points back to Matthew 9.38, where Christ, after seeing
33:54
the crowns as helpless sheep, tells his disciples to pray
33:57
earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.
34:01
The authors state that Scripture and church history show that all
34:04
great movements of God are absolutely soaked in fervent
34:07
prayer. They conclude that the faithful
34:10
worker understands that only God can bring light to the darkness
34:12
of the city and therefore cultivating a lifestyle of
34:16
regular, intense prayer is a total necessity.
34:19
But someone might ask, if God is totally sovereign, why do we
34:23
need to pray so urgently? That is the classic question,
34:25
isn't it? A Reformed view of God's
34:27
absolute sovereignty does not negate the need for prayer.
34:30
It is actually the only valid logical foundation for prayer.
34:34
Think about it. If human beings possess the
34:36
unfallen free will to simply choose God on their own,
34:39
evangelism would just be a matter of clever marketing and
34:42
highly persuasive rhetoric. We wouldn't need to pray, We
34:44
would just need better advertising budgets and slicker
34:47
presentations. But because we hold to total
34:49
depravity that natural man is completely blind, spiritually
34:52
dead, and actively hostile to God, we know that no amount of
34:56
human effort or smooth speaking can regenerate a dead soul.
34:59
Only the Sovereign Lord of the harvest can RIP away the
35:02
spiritual blindness. Only the Holy Spirit can reach
35:05
in and replace a heart of stone with the heart of flesh.
35:07
Therefore, prayer is the most logical, essential, and
35:10
necessary action for the Christian.
35:13
We are pleading directly with the only One who actually has
35:15
the authority and the supernatural ability to save.
35:18
When Christ commands us to pray for laborers, He is graciously
35:22
inviting us to participate in His unstoppable sovereign plan.
35:25
The city is massive, intimidating, and spiritually
35:28
incredibly dark. If you try to tackle it relying
35:31
on your own strength, your own charisma, or your own
35:33
strategies, you will burn out rapidly.
35:36
A robust prayer life is the constant daily acknowledgement
35:39
that salvation belongs entirely to the Lord and we are
35:42
completely dependent on Him to grant the increase.
35:44
The second best practice the authors list is maintaining a
35:47
very high view of the Word of God.
35:49
They stress the absolute sufficiency of Scripture.
35:52
The text points out that urban congregations are often highly
35:55
educated. You are preaching to doctors,
35:57
lawyers, university students and business executives.
36:00
The people in the pews have the tools and the intellect to
36:03
verify the pastor's claims. Therefore, the pastor must
36:06
preach competently, compellingly, and faithfully to
36:10
build the congregation's absolute trust in the
36:12
authoritative truths of Scripture.
36:14
The goal is to give believers A comprehensive biblical worldview
36:18
so they can handle the immense, intricate challenges of urban
36:22
life. The authors take a very hard
36:24
stance here, stating that any mythological strategies that
36:27
seek to minimize the role of teaching and preaching in urban
36:30
discipleship must be completely rejected.
36:32
Preaching is non negotiable. The absolute necessity of
36:35
preaching is grounded firmly in the conviction that the Word of
36:38
God is the primary means of grace by which the Holy Spirit
36:41
calls and sanctifies the elect. The Westminster Shorter
36:44
Catechism asks a brilliant question.
36:46
How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
36:49
The answer is that the Spirit of God makes the reading, but
36:52
especially the preaching of the Word and effectual means of
36:55
convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up
36:58
in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.
37:01
You simply cannot substitute expositional preaching with mere
37:05
dialogue, community, social action, or therapeutic
37:08
counseling, while those things have their proper place.
37:11
The authoritative public declaration of thus says the
37:14
Lord, is what actually pierces the heart.
37:17
Heart. In an urban context where
37:18
congregations are constantly bombarded by highly
37:21
sophisticated secular philosophies and aggressive anti
37:24
Christian media, the pulpit must provide a rock solid,
37:27
comprehensive biblical worldview.
37:29
The pastor cannot rely on emotional manipulation, funny
37:32
anecdotes or shallow motivational speeches.
37:35
He must expositionally unpack the text, demonstrating exactly
37:39
how the ancient, eternal truths of Scripture applied directly to
37:42
the severe ethical dilemmas of the modern workplace, the
37:44
aggressive politics of the city, and the unique hidden
37:47
temptations of urban life. Minimizing preaching in the name
37:50
of cultural relevance or conversational appeal is a fatal
37:53
error that will inevitably starve the sheep.
37:55
The third best practice deals with having a clear discipleship
37:58
plan. Specifically, they call for
38:00
discipleship without legalism or licentiousness.
38:03
The authors tackle a really delicate balance here.
38:06
They explain that reading the word is not just an intellectual
38:09
exercise, it is a direct call to radical obedience.
38:12
But, and this is crucial, they warn that asking people to evade
38:16
Christ in their own strength prior to regeneration will
38:19
totally short circuit the discipleship process.
38:22
Let us pause on a theological term here that often gets thrown
38:25
around the ordo salutis for those of us who do not read
38:29
Latin every day. You were essentially talking
38:30
about the logical order of how God saves someone, right?
38:34
Why does getting that specific order wrong totally ruin
38:37
discipleship in the city? The order salutis, or the order
38:40
of salvation, is vital for healthy biblical discipleship.
38:44
The authors are warning against the massive, devastating error
38:47
of confusing justification with sanctification.
38:50
If you tell an unregenerate, spiritually dead person in the
38:53
city that they must first clean up their life, stop sinning, and
38:56
obey God's law in order to be accepted by Him, you are
38:59
preaching a false, damnable gospel of works.
39:02
You are laying a crushing burden on them that they cannot
39:04
possibly carry, which leads directly and inevitably to the
39:08
utter despair of legalism. Regeneration, being born again,
39:12
must precede obedience. A person must first be given new
39:15
spiritual life and be justified solely by the imputed
39:18
righteousness of Christ through faith alone.
39:20
That is, Ephesians 2.8 to 9. We contribute nothing to our
39:24
justification. But as Ephesians 2.10, Allah
39:27
immediately follows. We are created in Christ Jesus
39:30
for good works. True saving grace is never
39:33
sterile. It always produces the visible
39:35
fruit of obedience. The authors reference Titus 2,
39:39
which clearly states that the same grace that brings salvation
39:41
also actively trains us to renounce ungodliness.
39:45
This process of sanctification is progressive, messy, and
39:48
lifelong. The Urban Disciple maker must
39:50
patiently walk with new believers, continually pointing
39:53
them back to their justification as the sole fuel for their
39:56
sanctification. This careful theological balance
39:59
avoids both legalism trying to earn salvation through strict
40:02
obedience and licentiousness, claiming salvation while happily
40:05
and repentantly continuing in sin.
40:07
The final best practice is having a robust ecclesiology.
40:10
The authors argue for the absolute necessity of formal
40:13
church membership and church discipline.
40:16
They state that the most fruitful urban churches are the
40:18
ones that take these things highly seriously, helping
40:21
believers see their identity as a family united in Christ.
40:24
Referencing Ephesians 5.23 and Colossians 2.19.
40:29
They issue a very strong warning against missionaries who go to
40:32
the field without ever experiencing a healthy,
40:34
functioning church back home. When that happens, the
40:36
missionaries idea of what a church should be is shaped
40:39
entirely by the cultural demands of the city rather than by
40:42
scripture. To prevent this, they stress the
40:44
massive need for the missionary or church planter to be
40:46
connected to, mentored by, and firmly held accountable to a
40:50
healthy sending church. Ecclesiology, the doctrine of
40:53
the Church, is very often the absolute weakest link in modern
40:56
missiology. Many modern Christians view the
40:58
Church just as a voluntary association of like minded
41:01
believers, an optional support group for personal piety.
41:05
But the Westminster Confession, relying entirely on Scripture,
41:08
elevates the visible church as the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus
41:11
Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no
41:15
ordinary possibility of salvation.
41:17
Church membership is not just casually adding your name to a
41:20
mailing roster. It is a formal, highly
41:23
significant covenantal submission to the spiritual
41:26
oversight of appointed elders. It clearly defines who is inside
41:29
the family and who is outside. Without formal, recognized
41:32
membership, biblical church discipline, which Christ
41:34
explicitly mandated in Matthew 18, is functionally impossible.
41:38
How can you remove someone from the fellowship if they were
41:40
never formally recognizably a part of it?
41:42
Furthermore, the author's warning about culturally shaped
41:45
churches is brilliant. If a missionary's ecclesiology
41:48
is pragmatic rather than biblical, they will inevitably
41:51
build a church that just mirrors the corporate structures, the
41:54
political action committees, or the entertainment venues of the
41:57
city rather than the holy household of God.
42:00
Strict accountability to a faithful sending church ensures
42:03
that the new urban plant remains firmly tethered to historical
42:06
orthodox doctrine and biblical practice, regardless of the
42:10
intense cultural pressures of the city.
42:12
As we wrap up this deep dive, the authors provide a brilliant
42:15
concluding thought. Looking at the Roman blueprint,
42:18
they point out that when the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to
42:20
Rome, which was the absolute largest, most influential and
42:23
most intimidating city in the ancient world, he structured his
42:27
letter in a very specific way. He spent the 1st 11 chapters
42:31
laying out incredibly dense, glorious, high level theology.
42:34
And then he followed all of that massive theology with an urgent,
42:38
highly practical call in chapters 12 through 16 for
42:41
sacrificial hypocrite, free love.
42:43
Theology first, then practice. Paul's letter to the Romans
42:46
proves definitively that you do not dumb down the message for
42:49
the city. Rome was the absolute center of
42:52
global intellectual, military and political dominance.
42:56
Paul didn't send them a collection of light hearted
42:57
moral stories or tips for a better life.
43:00
He sent them the most rigorous systematic exposition of total
43:03
depravity, unconditional election, justification by faith
43:07
alone, and the absolute sovereignty of God ever written.
43:10
He understood that the massive, intense challenges of the global
43:13
city require an equally massive theological bedrock.
43:17
But he didn't stop with academic theory.
43:19
The soaring theology of chaters 1 to 11 is the necessary engine
43:22
that actually drives the radical self sacrificing ethics of
43:26
chaters 12 to 16. The global church today needs
43:29
that exact same blueprint, a mind thoroughly saturated with
43:32
the high theology of God's sovereign grace, inevitably
43:35
producing a life poured out in genuine hypocrisy free love for
43:38
the urban neighbor. God's people must walk joyfully
43:41
in gospel motivated obedience, acting as salt and light in the
43:45
darkest concrete jungles, holding fast and preaching the
43:48
truth until they finally received that new eternal city.
43:51
God is actively preparing for them.
43:54
That summarizes the mission perfectly.
43:57
As we close our time today, I want to leave you, the listener,
44:01
with a final thought to Mull over.
44:03
We talked about those 400 hours of gridlock in Jakarta, or maybe
44:06
the hours you spend squeezed onto a subway train.
44:10
Think about your own daily routines in the city.
44:11
What if the long, frustrating hours you spend sitting in city
44:14
traffic, or the time you spend riding crowded public transit
44:18
shoulder to shoulder with strangers are not a frustrating
44:20
waste of time at all? What if those specific,
44:22
seemingly mundane moments are the precise, sovereignly
44:26
ordained path God laid out for you from before the foundation
44:29
of the world, just so you could intercept a city tribal sitting
44:31
next to you? Someone who has never once heard
44:33
the true name of Jesus. Think about that massive reality
44:36
the next time you are stuck in gridlock.
44:38
Thank you for joining us on Reform Thinking.