Let Us Rise Up and Build

INTRODUCTION

Where in Scripture do we see evidence that the body of Christ really can be effective in holistic ministry in the city?  To answer this question, we must first ask: “What are the marks of truly effective urban ministry?”

1. Are the systems of a city being confronted and offered real potential for change?
2. Are the poor and exploited of the city provided the vehicles by which they can bring about change in their situation?
3. Are the middle class and the powerful given opportunity to join in common cause with the poor to confront the systems of the city and seek their transformation?
4. Is there a spiritual transformation that is going on in that city, or are the changes only social? Are both the lives of that city’s poor and of its powerful being changed by God?

Therefore we must ask ourselves: “In Scripture, is there any example of an urban ministry which exhibits these four marks of truly effective ministry?  There are examples in Scripture of many ministries that significantly address their cities, but one example of a city ministry stands head and shoulders above all others.

This ministry confronted the city’s systems and saw significant transformation occur.  This ministry organized the people of that city – both its poor and its powerful – to reverse the destructive directions of that city.  A result of this ministry was a profound spiritual transformation, not only of the city itself, but also of an overwhelming majority of its people.  This ministry of presence, prayer, practice, and proclamation exposed the lies of the powers that would have exploited that city, and it engaged the people in creating for themselves a new vision of what it meant for them to be “the city of God.”  This vision was so profound that it altered for all time the self-understanding and mission directions of the Jewish people.

The ministry was that of Nehemiah.  The time was 445-433 B.C.  The city was Jerusalem.  The memoirs of Nehemiah’s ministry, which became the Old Testament Book of Nehemiah, provide us with the best textbook has ever been written on how to undertake and transform urban ministry successfully.  Let’s examine that textbook to discover how to do ministry God’s way!