This is the third post from the ‘Cowtown to Urban Hipster’ series chronicling our transition from small college town campus ministry to large metro area with multiple campuses and 100k students.

Jeremiah 29:4- 7 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Our ministry on the campuses in Portland is just part of what God is doing in the city. But beyond our occupation, the question remains of how are we going to live our lives.  How are we going to seek the “peace of the city” (shalom)? How do we enact Jeremiah 29 as followers of Christ in full-time ministry in a urban setting? What does this mean for where we live, where we send our kids to school, and how we interact with people and how we seek to bless the city? Will we put ourselves in position to reflect Christ to a lost and broken world?

All these questions are running through my mind at warp speed as we’re in Portland this month trying to figure out where we’d like to live in the area. Part of me longs for safety and comfort.  Which, in my mind, somehow translates to suburbs, although I don’t believe this is necessarily true. Part of me wants to live in a vibrant, challenging, artistic, pulsating part of the city, which sounds a little risky and has it’s challenges to our family life (cost of living, parking, crime, finding a decent school, etc.).  Sidenote: Please don’t take this as a bash against you if you live in the suburbs. It’s more about principles than specific location.

Bottomline, wherever I live, I don’t want to use the city and count it’s hassles as a necessary evil. I want to live in a way that serves the city. I want to bless the city and make it better.  This means knowing my neighbors and serving the school my daughter is at. It means not ignoring those less fortunate than me and it means learning from those that I share space with.

It means seeing the beauty of God’s creation in the souls around me.

If you were in my shoes, how would you decide where to live in the city as you seek to make Christ known to the 100K students in the area?

Part 1 here. Part 2 here. Don’t miss the comments.

Photo courtesy of rxb