I keep a clipping collection from various journals and newspapers, catalogued into different files. Christian presence in secular life is one subject of interest. The articles often deal with Christian proclamation of what we are, not just what we say. The press becomes an independent observer’s sightings of a city, set on a hill, a candle in the darkness.(1)

One such article is a perfect case study for modern, urban mission. The headline appeared in the Toronto Star, dated January 7, 2008 in the ‘World’ section. It looked at different developments in the current Kenyan unrest over elections, and read, “Churches pray for end to bloodshed – but clergy’s moral authority challenged as some blamed for causing rifts in nation”.

The information on which they reported included:

• A significant prayer rally on Sunday Jan. 6, 2008, bringing together a large group of Roman Catholic, Protestant and Charismatic Christians from across Kenya.(2) This was the first time the church in Kenya had been heard from since the bloodshed began nearly two weeks earlier.
• What attracted the Toronto Star to this report were the grass-roots voices of the common Christian, voices which urged, ‘an immediate end to upheaval that exposed both economic and ethnic fault lines throughout the country’.
• Among the positive quotes included were:
  • “Around here, tribes don’t matter” (3)
  • “It is right to pray for salvation”
  • “Some Christians have known each other for years and don’t know which tribe the other is from.” (4)
  • “I think we were all disappointed by these developments. It doesn’t make us less worshipful. Currently we just don’t have a leader in Kenya with the power of Desmond Tutu or Martin Luther King Jr. We really need one.”
• Yet, there were accusations of ‘unholy alliances” between the Church, state and the political opposition.(5) Kenyan columnist, Gakuu states, “Clerics who for decades rose above the din of politicians ‘with awed authority’ are today widely seen as political partisans, guilty of taking sides. The churches were silent when we really needed them. They are trying to save face, but it is already too late. We are a bit, more harsh with our church leaders because they are precisely the ones who are supposed to stick their neck out on the question of justice and honesty. That is their mission.”
• Other concerns expressed by the reporter were:
  • Some churches are now dividing by tribe into individual churches
  • The Muslim Minority involvement with opposition leader, Raila Odinga confused issues and made the tribally partisan position of some Christians more apparent.

This report made me immediately ask several questions:

How would the church in our city do in a similar period of struggle? What should be the role of the Urban Church in addressing the issues of the country in which we live?

How do we as urban Christian leaders facilitate presence? Is it through a strong, prophetic voice of justice from outside the political system, a reasonable, ethical voice from inside the system, or a lobbyist approach?

What does it mean for us to, “... as we have opportunity, do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”(6) How do we manage goodness to the community around us and to the Christians in our midst, with justice, yet without undo bias?

What about the voice that the press asked for — a ‘Desmond Tutu or Martin Luther King Jr.’ — and the grass-roots voice that made it a story in the first place? Is one better than the other? What implication does our choice have on the way we disciple churches/mentor leaders?

1. Matt. 5:14-16
2. No actual numbers reported
3. Within the church
4. The thing which caught the reporter’s attention was that the church was acting positively, and in unity, rather than being bound by tribal division. Christians were responding through friendship, not simply being friendly.
5. Before the election
6. Galatians 6:10