What is it like to
step out of the security of one's "comfort zone" and into a world that is
filled with uncertainty and pain? What is it like to leave one place, where
"love for neighbor" is preached in word, but ignored in deed, and to go to
another place, where there is a desperate need for "love for neighbor" to
be lived-out? Ever since God called me into his kingdom, the idea of "love
for neighbor" has become an increasing part of my life - it could never be
any other way. Since that time, God has worked in my life - not only
to change values and replace old interests with new, but also to reinforce
attitudes and build a consistency in my desire to do what characterizes a
disciple of Christ Jesus. As a result, I find myself in circumstances I could
have never expected, even just a few years ago - circumstances that he alone
could have brought into existence.
One of the ways
that God has made a complete change in my life has to do with my attitude
toward living in a large city. More than half of my life was spent out in
the country or in relatively small communities - not necessarily in total
isolation from other people, but out where there was plenty of room, independence
and the ability to be "outdoors in God's creation." Yet God has taken me
out of what I would have called "my environment" and brought me into a place
that, years ago, I would have never been willing to live. Along the way,
he has changed my entire perspective, to the point that I couldn't imagine
being anywhere else. God has moved me into the heart of the inner city, and
at the same time, he has moved the inner city into my heart. I have
discovered that, though the effects of sin may be more visible here in the
city, the city is also part of God's creation.
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Back to: "Living in the city... Serving in the city"
Dennis Hinks ©2001