Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

oppressed, the broken, and the poor, and the city is seen as the picture of our spiritual destiny and inheritance. The city played an important role in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus’ own ministry of kingdom proclamation was rooted in city work, and his proclamation mandate centered around Jerusalem. Furthermore, Christianity was birthed in a city, and spread through the Roman empire in the first century via the great urban centers of the time (in places such as Damascus, Antioch, Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and Rome itself). The ministry of the apostles after Christ were anchored in strategic outreach to the cities of the Roman empire, beginning with Jerusalem, moving to Samaria and Judea, to the very far flung corners of the Roman empire. Paul’s journeys, as recorded in Acts, were virtually totally urban in character, occurring in centers which proved to be the gateways to the larger Roman empire. Many of the same problems and opportunities connected with the cities of Jesus and the apostles’ day exist today in urban populations. The modern cities of the world are numerous in size, scope, and population, and serve as the national and world centers of government, education, health-care, information, entertainment, trade, commerce, business, industry, jurisprudence, the military, and religion. Anthropologists categorize cities in terms of their identity and focus. There are cultural cities (which lead the world in fashion, trends, and ideas), political and administrative cities (centers of worldwide decision making bodies, or those containing governments and their bureaucracies), industrial cities (noisy, blue-collar, factory centers host to central manufacturing industries) commercial cities (giant marketplaces or bazaars where goods and services are exchanged on worldwide basis), symbolic cities (cities where great historical struggles are fought, settled, and symbolized), and primary cities (those which combine all of the characteristics together). The modern cities of the world serve as magnets for the oppressed, the broken, and the poor. The Bible reveals a clear and compelling witness concerning God’s heart for the poor, and the trend of urbanization (and its concentration on the poor) represents the most powerful characteristic of modern times. The argument is logical and plain: if God is concerned for the

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