1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Justice - A People For Others | Page 5

surrounded by some fortification or wall. Most ancient citiesnumbered only about 1,000–
3,000 in population.
Challenge Point: Considering the five “attitudes”, answer the questions below:
- Which attitude do people you know generally take? Which attitude do you generally take,
and why?
- Consider “Attitude 5”: How can you stand out from the prevailing culture of today’s society?
- Harvie Conn writes:
“Perhaps the best analogy to describe all this is that of a model home… On a tract of
earth’s land purchased with the blood of Christ, Jesus the kingdom developer has begun
building new housing. As a sample of what will be, he has erected a model home of what
will eventually fi ll the urban neighbourhood. Now he invites the…world into that model
home to take a look at what will be. The church is the occupant of that model home,
inviting neighbours into its open door to Christ. Evangelism is when the signs are put
up saying, “Come in and look around”… In this model home we live out our new lifestyle
as citizens of the heavenly city that one day will come. We do not abandon our jobs or
desert the city that is… We are…to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which”
God carried us in exile (Jeremiah 29 v 7).”
Is your church community a model home, as described by the quote above?
What can you do to make this increasingly the case?

Wednesday
Psalm 48
Today and tomorrow we will be considering the Bible and the City.
The Bible denounces many cities as places of violence, oppression, and unbelief. The
prophets in particular denounced the urban life of Israel (e.g. Micah 3 v 9 – 11: “Hear
this…you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who
build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a
bribe…and her prophets tell fortunes for money”).
It is, however, only because the Bible assumes the city is something good, something
which God has made, that the denunciations are so vehement. The Bible’s attitude is
never, “It’s the city, so what do you expect?” but rather, “Cities aren’t supposed to be like
this.” Cities are now broken by sin, just as families and churches are. But we don’t discard
family life — we seek to renew and restore it by God’s grace. The same should be true for
cities.