GlocalNet

People often call the South the Bible belt and Texas the buckle on the Bible belt.  It isn’t true.  It once was, and I would like for it to be so again one day, for the moment it is not.  There are many Jesus followers here, many great churches, many people serving God and doing great things - but our metroplex is a long way from being where it needs to be.  Fort Worth was the wildest place in the U.S. from about 1870-1900.  Downtown Fort Worth was called “Hell’s Half Acre”.  Brothels, murders, rapes, gambling, drunkenness, beatings - all of it went on in high volume, until a group of believers banded together, began to pray for revival - and it came.  But, as in all great revivals, it didn’t stop at the door of the church - it went into the community and city.  The last known Great Awakening was the Welsh Revival - and so many people became followers of Jesus that literally bars were closed all across the country - it didn’t last forever, but it did last for a generation.  That is the best any group of people can hope for. Each generation has to make its own choice. 

Things are at a point of hopelessness, fear, and uncertainty in our country today.  God is not looked to as the solution - if anything he’s seen as part of the problem as people “without” Jesus look at people “with” Jesus and don’t always see a good representation.

Can a city be transformed by Jesus?  Yes, I believe it can.  Can it be completely transformed?  I don’t think so - until Jesus returns - there will always be sin and evil, but we can slow it, and expect God to bless us when we reach out.  You see it in the Bible in the story of Jonah, Daniel, and on and on and on . . . you see it in Acts 17:6 where the Gospel has “turned the world upside down.”  Prayer, conviction, and repentance are critical elements - but to move beyond personal revival or a church revival there must be more.  How must I see my city if I want to see renewal?
I must see my city through the eyes of God, and operate in the power of the Spirit.  Only God can transform my city - no human effort is sufficient.  It’s the old Bob Pierce statement, “May what breaks your heart Oh God, break my heart”.  When I see things through human eyes I see one thing, when I see my city through God’s eyes I see a lot more - and the only way to see changes is through the Holy Spirit working in my life and in my city.  I fear we are having the wrong conversation about the Holy Spirit - the conversation is, is he welcome or not and if he is what does that look like?  If he’s welcomed, we need him to not just perform personal miracles but to see entire cities transformed. 

I must see my city through the context of the world, and operate in the redemption of all people and the reconciliation of all things.  To separate the Gospel in terms of proclamation and action is wrong.  You can’t have one without the other.  If you do, you will never see transformation.  It isn’t enough for me to tell people about Jesus and ignore their plight - neither is it enough for me to serve people and not tell them why I serve them and who God has revealed himself to be. 

I must see my city as a living entity where everything is connected - otherwise one part of my city can be transformed while other parts are not.  A perfect example is governance.  I heard an African leader say on television the other night that the primary thing that kept Africa in poverty was governance.  It isn’t money; billions of dollars have flowed in.  It isn’t church planting - hundreds of thousands of churches have been planted.  The question must be asked how is the Gospel having an impact or not, on a nation, and why it isn’t? 

I must see my city as connected to the world.  The world has always been a network of cities - urban geographies - that are linked like never before.  I laughed my guts out the other night watching “Oursourced” a new sit-com about a guy from the US training people at an Indian Call center.  It is funny - but it’s true and we all know it.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas has never been true - but now more than ever what happens in Delhi affects what happens in Dallas and visa versa. 

I must see my city through the eyes of the masses and the eyes of the gatekeepers.  Both are critical and must be engaged.  Without transformed gatekeepers, nothing changes.  Without transformed masses you never get a movement. 

I have never seen a “city revival” where God moved in a powerful way and lives were touched so much that it changed the divorce rate, the economics, the governance - but I’d like to.  I’d like for it to be more than just something I read about from some other time and some other place.  Completely transformed?  I doubt it - sin will not be eradicated until Jesus comes - mine included.  Transforming - it must be. 

Part of the http://www.globalfaithforum.org is about how our local is connected to the global and implications for what we do here and how it affects everywhere else.  Businessmen and leaders will be speaking to this issue from Al Weiss of Disney, to Os Guinness and lots of others.  God has called us to a lot more than just make money and go to church.  May we get a vision of that?