"I became more and more Christian, and he became more and more Kensington you know?"-from a conversation i recently had with a sweet older lady up at a bible college that exited to the burbs in the 70's, I recently talked to about her and her brother who passed away some time ago, who stayed in the neighborhood, became a drunk, while she moved further and further out of the city.
I will refrain for the moment from saying to much about this quote which reveals much lest i sin, but that it breaks my heart, that evangelical faith has whole heartily, and with abandon embraced and went into her side lover, the suburban middle class ethos.
May you Lord raise up a generation of very 'kensington' people who are very, very 'christian'!
That is certainly heart-breaking. Sadly, as you know, it's a sentiment shared not just by the elderly, but by so many young people too. However, through various interactions with students, I'm finding that God is stirring in the hearts of this young generation. There are so many in the late teens/early 20's crowd that seriously want to know what it means to follow Jesus in the places that his followers have largely abandoned. That gives me much hope.
ReplyDeleteSounds judgemental to me... Not you, the lady you spoke to.
ReplyDeleteB.D. Being judgmental about what 'kensington' is , (could be other places, that is just what we are talking here) is not exclusive to Christians.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to judge those who define what people are like by the old school method of your race and family background. If we had a life long of negative and positive experiences with groups of people from different backgrounds and neighborhoods and we mainly stuck to our own tribe to the exclusion of these other groups (and of course we all have to some extant), we would also carry this baggage of prejudice.
I just want to vindicate this woman, who to me was more exposing more the air she breathed in evangelicalism and also just the realities of living in America, than a any particular overly judgmental spirit she fostered. Indeed she had a great heart for the neighborhood, and did not want to leave it and was excited to hear about what was going on there that was gospel. In fact mixed it up in the mess of peoples lives more and probably loves Jesus more than I do.
A.A. I fear that many 'newcomer's' can simply bring with them their values of personal peace and affluence, and militantly take over neighborhoods. I fear that while many large chunks of of the urban landscape will improve, with the transition happening demographically, and ideologically among younger people in general to live in the city and conserve, I still see the masses of unaffluence, unthought, and unreached people being segregated to and sprawled out in areas where no will will plant churches.