Ten Ideas for Living Intentionally in the Suburbs

I received the following from Chris Smith of Doulos Christou Press and resonated so deeply with it that I wanted to share it.

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Ten Ways to be the People of God in Suburbia
by Chris Smith

In response, to Brian McLaren’s call for urban churches at the Mayhem gathering last weekend [in Cincinnati], my friend Mike Bishop has been stirring up some conversation on "suburban ministry." Here's my response to that conversation, ten ways for those called to suburban ministry to be in the people of God in radical ways in suburbia. This list is meant for people to chew on and not all of its points may be applicable for all suburban missional church communities.

1) Live with others from your church community

Whether you share your home with another person or family, or whether you have several families that have homes in close proximity or both, sharing life together is perhaps the most powerful (i.e., going against the grain of suburban culture) way to be the body of Christ in suburbia. If you can't live together, at least find a way to share resources (power tools, lawn mowers, children's clothes/toys, etc).

2) Work Less!

One of the major powers that enslaves suburbia is the idolization of the career. There are many ways to pay the bills that do not involve a 9-5 job, and even within a 9-5 job, there are ways to work less (turning down promotions, taking unpaid leave, etc.) Working less will free you to serve your church community, your family, your neighbors, etc. It will also spur creativity: finding a solution for working less, finding a way to "make ends meet" financially, etc.

3) Throw out the television

Another (and perhaps larger power) that enslaves suburbia is consumerism. You'll be amazed at how your desire for things ebbs as you take the TV out of the picture. If you can't bring yourself to kill the television, at least take steps to lessen its influence (get rid of cable, only use it for movies, put it on a cart that can be wheeled in and out of a closet, etc.) Throwing out the television will also stimulate your creativity.

4) Drive less

Suburban culture is also enslaved to the automobile. Find ways to loosen those bonds (much more difficult in suburbia than in urban areas). Share a vehicle with others in your church community (much easier if you are doing #1 above). Invest in a good bicycle. Walk. There was a segment on "60 minutes" a few weeks ago about how much we miss when we zip around in automobiles. Walking and/or biking will help you be more attentive to your surroundings

5) Have a garden / grow food

Suburban life is often very shut off from the food cycle (Food comes from the grocery store, of course!). Homegrown food is more healthy, it gives you a good excuse to be outside (see #7 below), and it provides you with a resource to share generously with your church community and your neighbors. Phil Kenneson outlines a number of horticultural lessons for the people of God in his intro to LIFE ON THE VINE that are additional benefits of this practice.

6) Get to know your neighbors / listen for their needs

To be human is to be poor. Or in other words, everyone has needs. The challenge of suburbia is that there are many more ways to conceal that poverty, and similarly that it will take more effort to get into a position where a neighbor can reveal their needs. Be intentional about building relationships. Share meals, play poker, have block parties, whatever it takes.

7) Be outside as much as possible.

Another temptation of suburbia - fueled by individualism - is that of the house as an impenetrable fortress. Dissolve this temptation by eating, playing, relaxing outside. This practice is also one avenue to interact with your neighbors.

8) Do not fence in your yard

All apologies to Robert Frost, but fences do not make good neighbors, and in fact they often keep us from making good human neighbors. This is a corollary to #7, the fence is a major component of the impenetrable fortress syndrome; it protects our privacy and keeps out our "evil" neighbors. It often is a statement of distrust. If you must have a fence (to corral a dog for instance) make it as low and as permeable (i.e., not blocking off the view) as you can get away with.

9) Take a stand against the greed of mega-corporations

Whenever possible, resist buying from domineering mega-corporations (e.g., Wal-mart, McDonalds, Starbucks, and others). These corporations destroy local economies and have little or no concern for the environment. Buy as much as you can from businesses that are as local as possible (family-owned businesses are preferable to local chains, local chains are preferable to regional chains, and regional chains are preferable to global corporations.)

10) Utilize and support non-commercial public spaces (parks, libraries, colleges, etc.)

This point is another corollary of #7 above. We must utilize and show our support for these public spaces, lest they be conquered by the powers of individualism (by becoming private property) or by consumerism (by becoming commercial or industrial property). This is also a wonderful way to foster relationships with our neighbors.

Comments

[bc]

wow that is powerful

thanks for posting, will

[hamo]

not rocket science as usual!

thanks will

[Maria]

Thanks, Will. What a great summary! BTW, I enjoyed your book, and intend (yeah, yeah, we know where that leads...) to post a review one of these days.

[Steve McCoy]

Thanks for this Will. Blogged on it.

[Ann]

I've printed this out. I try to live this but you can't have too many reminders. Kingdom stuff doesn't seem to come naturally.

[paul soupiset]

this is good. i passed this along to our community.

[James K.A. Smith]

11. Move.

[Chris Smith]

James... LOL!

Seriously though, moving is what I did, but like Will and Lisa, I recognize some failure in that.

I've been reading and thinking a lot about the desert fathers and mothers recently and realizing that wherever we are there are temptations that need to be faced and wrestled down in order that our desires might be formed into the way of Christ. Part of the impetus of my move out of the suburbs was an unwillingness to deal with these temptations. The piece that Will posted -- written not long after I moved to an urban place -- was a prayer of sorts that others would have more courage than I did in grappling demons like consumerism, isolationism, etc.

[James K.A. Smith]

Chris: Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I don't think the primary problem with the suburbs are their unique "temptations." I think it's more a question of justice: suburban development has incredibly adverse effects on all sorts of levels--social (atomism), political (the rise of "family values" [see Robert Fishman, _Bourgeois Utopias_), racial, and environmental [see Kenneth Jackson, _Crabgrass Frontiers_]. So my concern with the suburbs is not regarding their "spiritual" environment, but rather the material consequences of the built environment.

[Chris Smith]

I certainly understand the "incredibly adverse effects" of suburbia, but I tend (a la Walter Wink, Marva Dawn) not to make a sharp distinction between the material and the spiritual. The injustices in the built environment that you speak of have arisen from human fears, prejudices, etc that are things that we would address with spiritual language.

I believe that God is reconciling all things, even the deepest ugliness and brokenness of urban, suburban and rural places. Thus, unless I'm misreading you, I don't think the Christian response to suburbia is to flee. On the contrary, it seems that the only hope of seeing some of those structural injustices begin to dissolve, is the rooted presence of radically faithful communities of Christ-followers. And, in yet a different light, that hope is the origin of this list of ideas.

[James K.A. Smith]

I appreciate this thoughtful discussion. We live in messy spaces and I appreciate your effort to think about these matters as we inhabit this "time between times."

I agree that God is redeeming--and calls us to redeem--social structures. However, that does not mean that all configurations of social structures will be redeemed. In fact, redemption of certain social _structures_ might actually be redemption _from_ certain _configurations_. So affirming God's redemption of the material does not require affirming that God is thereby interested in preserving certain configurations. I think we need a nuanced distinction between structures and configurations. Let me try a couple examples off the top of my head: (1) God is interested in redeeming economic structures; that does NOT thereby mean that God is interested in redeeming capitalism (a particular configuration). Rather (I would argue) redemption OF economic structures will entail redemption FROM capitalist configurations. (2) God is interested in redeeming human sexuality; that does NOT thereby mean that God is interested in redeeming prostitution (a particular configuration of sexuality). If you'll forgive me for sounding so polemical, I think trying to redeem suburbia is a bit like trying to redeem prostitution.

Further, [though I might be misunderstanding you here] I don't think the injustices of the built environment of suburbia are the result of some supervening (or undergirding) "spiritual" meanings. For example, the built environment of suburbia and exurbia is unjust because it promotes a culture of automobility that is poor stewardship of natural resources; it is unjust because its built environment (isolated homes on spacious plots, with back-deck retreats) fosters a privatization and insularity that corrodes the common good. Etc. These are contingent, historical configurations that could have been otherwise--and _should_ be otherwise. Following Jesus while comfortably inhabiting these environments--no matter how "intentionally"--seems to foster the injustice.

I don't have any self-congratulatory confidence about moral purity in this regard (hell, I still pay taxes to a nation-state that expends a huge bulk of its budget on state-sanctioned murder known as the "war on terror"). But maybe what we could learn a little from Thoreau? Or at least Wendell Berry.

[James K.A. Smith]

By the way, Chris: I hope you take my comments as those of a friendly critic. I have a sense that we're "on the same team" here, with shared concerns, and might just have some disagreements about strategy. My hunch is I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

[Chris Smith]

James, Funny, I was just starting to starting to say something similar about sharing much common ground.

Maybe it's the ascetic in me, but I'm generally opposed to the Church "living comfortably" regardless of its locale. Just doesn't seem to fit with the call to "deny ourselves".

I'm pretty sure I agree with your analysis about God's redemption, and to clarify, when I say that God will redeem the suburbs, I mean that God will bring his righteous and just shalom among the people there, and the bringing of that shalom will (eventually?) destroy the injustices of the built environment, which for many is what defines suburbia. But this vision of God's redemption holds true regardless of where one is located.

I hear what you're saying, but I guess I'm just hopeful that when a church actually sees itself as a real community and the real incarnational presence of a just God in a particular place, we will start to see some of those contingent, historical configurations start to be otherwise as we agree that they should. I've had a taste of it here in our urban neighborhood (murder and abandoned housing capital of Indiana), and if God can use the church to start to bring his transformation amidst the rampant injustices here, cannot God do likewise in suburbia?

[Will]

Sorry I have been so checked out of this conversation. Nice dialogue. I will comment more fully as time allows.

[Steve McAlpine]

Going back to the burbs of Perth (Hamo territory)in a few weeks to church plant after a year in an urban setting. Thanks for the pertinent and challenging ideas

[Amy]

A bit off topic, but I think Frost's whole point was that people put up too many fences or walls. So actually, you probably agree with him. :)

[Bill]

James, what social structures do you think God is interested in redeeming? Do you believe that God's desire is for every person to live in an urban environment?

[Ariah Fine]

This is an excellent post. It should be preached from every suburban pulpit around.

It was a pleasure to meet you at the CCDA Conference. Thanks for doing the work your doing.