As a Christian, it's tempting to view cities as very dark places with a heightened propensity for sin. While this may be occasionally true (or even frequently true, depending on your city), the reality is that the Bible's view of cities is incredibly positive. God loves cities desperately and calls many of His people there. We should recognize this view and consider to what degree God is calling us individually to cities.

God's great concern for cities is seen clearly in the book of Jonah. It ends with Jonah sitting outside the city of Ninevah in the scorching heat. God causes a plant to grow and give Jonah shade, but then causes it to wither the next day. As Jonah roasts in heat, he thinks he would prefer death.

God's reply is illuminating: "But God said to Jonah, 'Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?'

'It is,' he said. 'And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.'

But the Lord said, 'You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?'” (Jonah 4:9-11 NIV)

I think Jonah felt well-rebuked (once again). Jonah placed his own vindication above the spiritual and earthly lives of the Ninevites. God's deep compassion for everyone in the city and all their resources is evident. He actually did nurture them, tend them and make them grow even in their rebellion from Him. And He knew the best way to reach them.

The reality is that cities are cultural centers. As cities go, so will all the surrounding communities, even today. Cities are the cultural gardens of thought and ideas; therefore Christians absolutely must be at the center of them in order to influence the direction of society.

Furthermore, cities are the core of cultural veins and professions. For instance, if you go to a village, you will evangelize a few lawyers (which is important too!), but you won't reach the legal profession: such veins can only be tapped in the city.

All of this is evident in Saint Paul's missionary journeys in the New Testament. When Paul and his compatriots went to a new region, they didn't preach in villages or rural areas. They planted the new church community in the city, oftentimes preaching in the city center, and then moved on. Clearly, God calls His people to cities for the growth of His Kingdom and for cultural renewal.

Finally, all of the truth I've articulated is not normative truth: there's no way to say, with Biblical justification, that every Christian is called to live and minister in cities. But I believe it is safe to say that many of God's people are called there, whether they face up to it or not. With Jonah as our less-than-stellar example, we should not let our prejudices, preferences or predispositions prevent us from facing up to wherever God might be calling us.

One last personal note: this should not be surprising, but God's methods are always the most effective for His purposes. Five years ago, I visited Athens for a week and climbed to the tope of Mars Hill, where Saint Paul preached to the then-pagan nation of Greece in Acts 17.

As I looked over the city, and over the nation as well, I was struck by the power of God through one man. Because He called one person to the center of a city, the whole nation, and eventually a whole empire and then a whole continent, came to common faith in the true God and His redemptive work through Christ on the cross. Unlike Jonah, we should never question Him because of our pride or comfort.

Let's love cities; let's be the best citizens of them we can be so that when their citizens see us, they see our Father. Who knows what revival could come from that!