“The church has to be everywhere there are people but the people are moving into the city faster than the church. If you love what God loves, you will love the city.” -Tim Keller
People are moving. Cities are growing. The growth of cities today is like never before. This has been called by experts “the decade of the city.” (Read more here) Cities matter, and from what we see in the story of Jonah, God cares about cities.
God says in Jonah 3:2… “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
Why? From the story of Jonah it’s clear to see God’s heart for people. In cities, progress is made and trends begin. The arts, music, and fashion flow from the city. So a good question to ask is “what impact does the message of the gospel have on people in the city?” Instead of running from the city like Jonah did, we should be running to the city to influence those with the message of Jesus Christ. Tim Keller has been a huge influence for me on the need for more churches in the city and he says that the Apostle Paul’s main strategy to evangelize the world was to plant churches in major cities (Read more here). So, why San Diego? It’s the 8th largest city in the US and it’s the 2nd largest in California. After talking with people, over and over again, someone knows someone in San Diego. I remember sitting on my couch as we were processing whether we were supposed to go to California. That whole month my wife and I saw commercials advertising to come visit San Diego. It was one of those weird things that we looked at each other and said, “is this a sign?” As we explored more, it was. We couldn’t get away from it. People we talked with, things we listened to, San Diego kept coming up. God is sending us to San Diego. Yes, it’s a “cool city,” but more importantly it’s a lost city. People need the hope of the gospel. We know the mission, and by God’s grace, we are ready to step into “that great city.”