What are some of the unique challenges of suburban churches?I have planted in the pristine and very affluent suburbs of Atlanta, and in the slums of Buffalo. The people are very different in the obvious ways, and each community is unique. Yet, I also found them remarkably similar in some ways. In both cases, there are idols that they serve and those idols hold them hostage. The human heart remains the same, it just seems that the idols have change based on your geography.
What are some common mistakes churches in the suburbs make?
I think there are probably several.
First, they assume that nice shiny clean people have nice shiny clean lives. When you work in an urban context, you can sometimes see the sin and trouble with greater ease. It is better hidden in the suburbs. Thus, we think that people need sermons on how to improve their lives. They don’t. They need messages on how to be transformed by the gospel.
Second, the suburbs are community killers. Many churches make the assumption that because people have moved to a setting that has back decks instead of front porches that they don’t want community. I have found that they do — they just do not know how to seek and receive it. Life transforming suburban churches can and must lead people to deeper community even when the culture pushes against it.
Third, some pastors hate the suburbs. If you hate the suburbs, stop whining about it and move into the city. I have done both and find them both in deep need of the gospel. It is trendy to mock the suburbs — I have done it myself, calling them the “vast suburban wasteland.” Well, it may be, but everywhere is a wasteland without Jesus. So, if you are called to pastor in the suburbs, dig deep and engage its culture — look for bridges over which the gospel will travel and expose the idols that the gospel must destroy.
Do you think suburban churches are selling out to consumerism instead of making disciples? If so, in what way?
Of course. And so are urban and rural churches. Consumerism is the bane of our world, not the bane of the suburbs. People who think that there is not consumerism in the city have never lived in a real city.
I lived among the poor and they want their needs met just like anyone else — that is not a suburban thing, that is a depravity thing. The difference is that in the suburbs people have the means to express their consumerism outwardly.
So, your church, my church, and churches all over the world are selling out to consumerism instead of making disciples. That is why we need to keep preaching the gospel and calling people to the ideals of the missional church. We don’t want any church anywhere to see itself as simply a vendor of religious goods and services. But, that is what happens to churches that are unintentional about their mission. The suburbs just make it more obvious.
How can we live more missionally in suburbia (any practical suggestions)?
I am not sure I would say it is much different in the suburbs than in the city or in the rural area. Let me suggest a few applications that might differ in the suburbs.
First, I think churches in the suburbs need to reconsider and discover again the nature of the biblical gospel. To many, the suburbs mean success. I live in such a place — people move to my area because it is where the other successful people are moving. It is no closer to downtown that 5 other suburbs I could list, but it is the go-to place on the north side of Nashville. Thus, it attracts people who value success. Obviously, a biblical gospel calls us to weakness and not strength. In the midst of the celebration of riches and opulence around us, we hold up a gospel of self-denial, poverty of spirit, and forgiveness of sin.
Second, we want to be counter cultural and push for community. Much of the suburban situation is built around keeping you away from people. I can have my dry cleaning picked up, my groceries delivered, and my lawn mowed every week — and I never have to leave my house. (I have neighbors that I never see unless I intentionally see them.)
But, for us, we see that the church and its believers are sent on a mission. So, my family can be stalkers. We being cookies to all the new neighbors (our neighborhood is new). We invite people over for barbecues. We blow off dangerous amounts of fireworks and invite everyone over. If the suburbs push against community, we push for it.
Children are also a great point of connection. We built the swing set in our yard that their kids want to play on. We have a zip line they can swing down and break their legs. We have the tire swing in our yard (and, it is quite a tire-swing if I do say so myself). So, if you are looking for the kids, they are at my house– and the parents follow.
http://thesubtext.org/2008/09/29/ed-stetzer-an-interview/