{"id":10743,"date":"2017-09-28T12:54:24","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T16:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ben-sternke-live.prev17.rmkr.net\/?p=10743"},"modified":"2025-03-07T18:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:54:59","slug":"lament-as-mission-in-the-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/lament-as-mission-in-the-suburbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Lament as Mission in the Suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cReligion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.<\/strong>\u201c<\/em> \u2013 Karl Marx<\/p>\n

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Does mission count in the suburbs?<\/h2>\n

I was at a church conference, listening to an impassioned young pastor talk about the work he does in inner city high schools in his neighborhood:<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should be getting in on this. It\u2019s the greatest need in our city. Young men without fathers need attentive, compassionate, strong men to pour into their lives and mentor them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I listened to him with a mixture of admiration and annoyance. I admired how he\u2019d discerned local mission in his neighborhood and galvanized his community to action. Men putting their lives on the line for young men stirred my heart and excited my mind.<\/p>\n

But I was also annoyed (and feeling more than a bit guilty about being annoyed). What if my neighborhood doesn\u2019t have the same problems as your inner city neighborhood. Does mission in the suburbs count, too?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best place to live?<\/h2>\n

The city where I am living and planting a church<\/a> (Fishers, Indiana) was recently named the BEST place to live (in all of America!) by Money Magazine<\/a>, (based on factors that a magazine named MONEY would based it on: healthy economy, affordable homes, and a \u201chigh quality of life.\u201d).<\/p>\n

This is a very\u00a0<\/em>different environment from inner city realities described by the young pastor above.\u00a0So what does mission look like in the affluent suburbs?<\/strong> Should we drive 30 minutes to mentor high school teens in a more impoverished area? What does mission look like here\u00a0<\/em>in the suburbs?<\/p>\n

The hidden pain of the suburbs<\/h2>\n

My friend and co-pastor Ben<\/a> says that mission in the suburbs is more difficult to discern because the needs we see most quickly are those that contrast with the American Dream (poverty, homelessness, crime, etc).<\/p>\n

But the American Dream isn\u2019t the same thing as the Kingdom of God. The needs in the suburbs are just as pressing, but it takes some discernment to see them because they\u2019re hidden under the veneer of the apparent fulfillment of the American Dream.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our church<\/a> has been inhabiting and praying for our suburban city for three years now. And we\u2019ve noticed a glaring issue largely left untouched and ignored by the affluent, active culture of our city:<\/p>\n

There seems to be a deep well of unprocessed sadness, unfinished grief, sorrow, and relational pain<\/strong> that people carry with them on a day to day basis. One recent study suggests that loneliness is rampant, and it\u2019s just as dangerous to our health as obesity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And unlike poverty, homelessness, and hunger, most people who are chronically sad don\u2019t know it<\/em>. They can\u2019t identify what\u2019s actually haunting them.<\/p>\n

Affluence and activity numb us<\/h2>\n

Part of the reason we don\u2019t know we\u2019re sad is that the affluence and relentless activity of the suburbs insulate us from having to feel our pain. We\u2019ve generally got enough money and power to find a way to numb the pain if we ever start feeling it:<\/p>\n