sub·urb (ˈsə-ˌbərb) n. A usually residential area or community outlying a city.

Or, as the Urban Dictionary puts it:

• The suburbs are devoid of all soul, and is comprised of many, though certainly not only, boring people. Most people’s justification for moving to the suburbs is that “the schools are better” for their children.
• The endless sprawl of identikit mass produced housing that surrounds most towns and cities in the western world. Lacking the rural tranquility of the countryside and the spirit, history and community of the inner cities they are designed to induce a life numbing stupor into it’s inhabitants to keep the ‘prolls’ under control.
• Monotony of race is only superseded by monotony of architecture and planning.
• The future ghettos of America, akin to the phenomenon of Paris. This is in part due to the modern second White Flight, as wealthy and middle class whites, particularly young whites will head to the cities seeking excitement, and will thus gentrify neighborhoods and push poorer residents outwards, leaving the inner city core wealthy and Caucasian.

There’s not a lot of love there, and for myself I’ll admit that moving to the suburbs felt strange and somewhat insidious initially due to what, in hindsight, was really fear of the unknown. Small towns I knew, cities I knew, but there are sets of cultural assumptions in suburbs that differ from both, and you go through a minor culture shock when you enter that world. But enter it I have, and my family intends to stay and make ourselves useful. So what does that mean? What are the implications of following Christ into the suburbs?

Two books have helped greatly in stoking our imaginations. The first, On The Side Of The Angels by Dr. Joseph D’Souza and Benedict Rogers, discusses social engagement from a Christian perspective at a broader level, talking about local, national and international engagement of a variety of issues. The second, Justice In The Burbs by Will & Lisa Samson, provides a more practical glimpse at what choices and changes are necessary to live transformed in suburban America.

The first step is knowing your area. Get to know where the problems lie, and who is doing what already. Talk to local churches, non-profits or government agencies and find out what they are dealing with on a consistent basis. Read the local paper. Just this past week I discovered that there is such a racial disparity between my suburb’s schools and the one next closest to the city (from 7-8% up to over 30% non-white) that they are actually fostering an ‘exchange’ program of sorts, to allow students to engage with racial and cultural backgrounds not their own. Go on prayer walks around your neighborhood, and study the history of the area. Prayer and historical study can give deeper insight into why things are the way they are in your area, and will help focus your attentions. Find someone to work alongside with, and get your hands dirty.

This first step is a long one, and you may be on it for some time. By learning from those already doing you can avoid many of the pitfalls that well-intentioned foolishness make us prone to. Much of this wisdom will then carry over to new areas, perhaps needs that you find are not being as well addressed.

Serving in the suburbs is strange and hard. Unlike the inner cities, suburbs tend to bury their troubles, so that it takes time and effort just to uncover what needs there actually are. Despite the stereotypes, the immigrant, the impoverished, the addicted and the homeless are often present in the suburbs, and require the love and sacrifice that they do elsewhere. They’re just harder to find.

This is slowly changing. Many immigrants are first settling in the suburbs, rather than starting in the cities and moving outward. The ‘inner’ suburbs are often as needy as the inner cities, but with less of a support structure. Not to mention the fact that the extravagant debt lifestyle that propelled many suburbs is facing internal collapse, and will likely be reshaped in coming years. As the immigrant and non-white populace continually grows, there will come the choice to work things out or perpetuate white flight, perhaps this time back to gentrify the cities.

Serving the suburbs is sacrificial – it takes time, money and assumes choosing servanthood over a host of other, more ‘preferable’ activities. In Justice In The Burbs, the fictionalized tale of a family’s transformation parallels the journey that Will & Lisa Samson describe. There will be frustrations. There will be strange choices, such as not operating a lifestyle of debt, perhaps using larger homes to house more people than your immediate family, or transforming large lawns into gardens.

Finally, your activities do not need to end with the suburbs. Prayer is not locked to a locale, and the cost of financially supporting a child through Compassion International or a missionary through Gospel For Asia (to name two reputable ministries) is trivial and far less expensive than most imagine. In On The Side Of The Angels, we are admonished to pray for those abroad who are in situations of forced conversion, or are attacked or killed for their faith. Locally though, we are asked to embody the love of Christ in speaking up for those without a voice. This means decrying anti-homosexual violence in our communities, supporting immigrant families as they adjust to their new surroundings, and welcoming Muslims, Mormons and Buddhists to our schools and communities.

In closing, reflect on this poem taken from the close of a chapter in On The Side Of The Angels:

Let us open the clenched fist, and extend the open palm;
Let us mourn, until others are comforted,
Weep, till others laugh.
Let us be sleepless, till all can sleep untroubled.
Let us be frugal, till all are filled.
Let us give, till all have received.
Let us make no claim, till all have had their due.
Let us be slaves, till all are free.
Let us lay down our lives, till all have life abundantly.

For more resources on living The Way in the suburbs, check out subtext.

About Jordan Peacock