Hopes and Needs in Pittsburgh

A couple nights ago I had a great meeting with the elders from North Way Oakland and East End. We talked a lot about what it means to be the church in the city. I asked each of the men there to talk about one sign of hope that they see in the city, and one sign of need. The answers varied greatly, which is representative of the fact that cities are complex. Also, there was a strong contrast between the hopes and needs in the city. That is representative of the fact that things are magnified in the city... sometimes things appear to be better than they are, and sometimes all is not lost even though the signs might lead one to think that. God is able to transform people and places. God is always moving and active in the city, even as many Christians are going to great lengths in order to distance themselves and their families from the problems and complexities of the inner city. I believe many American Christians have become caught up in comfortable, cultural Christianity, when God is calling us to go into difficult, complex places in order to advance his mission to reach the lost. We cannot reach the lost by isolating ourselves from the lost. I am NOT saying that every American Christian should be involved in urban outreach, because there is plenty of brokenness in the suburbs and in rural areas. I am saying, though, that brokenness in American society is largely concentrated in inner cities, and many Christians intentionally stay away from those areas for the sake of comfort and self-preservation. The point of being a Christian is not to be safe. Being a Christian should be dangerous. It should cost us everything. The gospel message is not about self preservation, fear, comfort, or isolation. God calls us to run into the arms of the broken, and in America they are living in the inner city experiencing the struggles associated with poverty. Before we go into the city, we must understand that the work is complex. We need to be in it for the long haul. I am hopeful that North Way will be able to love Pittsburgh well, and that we are committed to continuing to advance the gospel in the city even when things get tough. We live in the constant tension between hopes and needs.