Nehemiah 11:3 – These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem…
Throughout the Bible, God calls His people to cities to do ministry, because ministry flows from the resources of the city out into the countryside and beyond. In Nehemiah 11, we see at least six reasons why God calls His people to cities to do ministry and today we’ll look at the fifth reason.
Five, cities are worth the effort to reach because they are ripe for the gospel. Despite the obvious difficulties in the doing of urban ministry, such as occurred in the days of Nehemiah all the way to our own day, there are many reasons, including the following, why cities are worth the effort:
- Jesus said that the harvest was ripe, and the workers were few, and that is especially true of cities.
- Because the city has a higher concentration of sin, it is exactly the kind of place that the gospel of forgiveness might be most easily understood.
- Because the city is more open to change than more established traditional areas, people may be more open to changes such as converting to Christ.
- Because cities make it difficult for large churches, the new opportunities to be a multiple campus and church-planting church that sends congregations out to various parts of the city is an opportunity for Christians to scatter on mission, just like the days of Nehemiah.
- Because cities are expensive and less charitable, the generosity of faithful Christians is a very visible demonstration of their true priorities and love for both Jesus and the whole city.
- From a city, outlying areas and even the world can be reached.
- The high concentration of innovators, emerging leaders, and highly creative people in the cities means that their conversion results in the ongoing reformation of the church for good.
How can you be praying for and being a blessing to the people and culture you live in?