Some of you have heard me say this before but I'd like to say it again for the record; I hate camping! I hate the bugs, I hate sleeping on the ground, and I hate outhouses. I hate waking up in the morning in a puddle of my own sweat with mosquitoes buzzing around my ears. I hate it when it rains. I hate it when it's too hot. I hate camping!

Even after all of that, I do understand why many people love it. There are some good points to it. You're all alone with nature. You can gaze at the stars at night in wonder and awe at how huge the universe really is. You can paddle a canoe and go fishing. You can light a campfire and roast marshmallows in the darkness. You can witness the majesty of nature that God has created and as result, feel close to Him. For me however, all of the other stuff dominates the few precious moments involved with camping.

Why am I talking about this? I guess I simply want to make a case against the popular belief that you can only feel close to God in nature, and that it's difficult to experience God in the city. I love the city so much that I want people to recognize that God is in the city as well as in the country, and that we can find rest and rejuvenation right where we are; in the heart of the city.

'The Hand of God in the Heart of the City'. What does it mean? Why do I keep harping on it? Why do I think it's so important to have it on everything from our business cards to our uniform shirts? I want to take a little time to spell out why I think this motto is so crucial to us here at The GateWay.

An important question to ask in relating to this motto is "Does God really have His hand in the city or is the city a result of the sins of humankind?" One branch of Biblical scholarship has devoted much of its time in a continuing search for an anti-urban bias in the scriptures. Led by prominent figures such as Jacques Ellul in the 1970's, this school of thought left little room for the city to be anything but a hotbed of sin.

This thinking penetrated the church and manifested itself in many unhealthy ways. Many inner city churches traded in downtown real estate for property in the suburbs. Church bulletins began to only have pictures on their covers of mountains, plains, rivers and other nature scenes. Never did you see a picture of a person lifting his/her hands to God while standing on top of a skyscraper on the cover of the order of service. Over time, a seductive message was sent to much of the church that we needed to go into the country to find God. As a result, for the most part, the church became invisible in the inner city.

Only a couple of years ago, a very important historical event took place that went almost unnoticed. For the first time in the history of the world, more people were living in the city than in the country. And yet a huge majority of churches today are in the country.

A one-sentence description of Biblical history shows that "The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city". If we look at the book of Genesis closely, we can see that God does have a plan for the city. We can see that God's call on Adam and Eve in Gen.1: 28 to 'fill, rule and subdue the earth' was, among other things, a mandate to build a city. "The couple in the garden was to multiply, so providing the citizens of the city. Their cultivation of earth's resources as they extended their control over their territorial environment through the fabrication of sheltering structures would produce the physical architecture of the city. And the authority structure of the human family engaged in the cultural process would constitute the centralized government by which the life and function of the city, would be organized, under God. The cultural mandate given at creation was thus a mandate to build the city, and it would be through the blessing of God on man's faithfulness in the covenanted task that the construction of the city would be completed." (Roger Greenway, Discipling the City, pg.15)

As a result of sin in the world, God's original intent for the city was distorted. However, we see time and time again throughout the Old and the New Testament that God has a redemptive plan for the city. Therefore, He does indeed have His hand in the city and we can experience His presence here in the downtown core. We do not have to go to the country in order to get close to Him. We can do it right here. I know in my own life I experience closeness with Him all the time through the people I meet and the things I observe all around me.

So, now that we know God has a plan for the city, what does it mean to be 'The Hand of God in the Heart of the City'? My conviction is that God uses the people He has created to accomplish the desires of His heart. Therefore, we are literally the hands and feet of God if we submit ourselves to His will. Since we are in the heart of the city, we are able to fulfill our motto quite literally, if we seek His will.

Being "The Hand of God in the heart of the City" is a clear calling for all of us here at The GateWay. I believe strongly that we must make commitments to ourselves, to each other, to our clients and to God that if we can't carry out this motto that we will quit our jobs. We need to see ourselves as inner city missionaries that are called to be here by God to do more than just a job for a pay cheque. We are here to change the world, one person at a time!

I've concluded that there are 2 ways to fulfill this motto. They are to:

Both of these points are based on the fact that all people were created in the image of God, (Gen1: 27) and therefore all of us have Christ-likeness in us no matter what our personal belief system is. As a result, we can both be the presence of Christ to others, and experience the presence of Christ in others.

We are the presence of Christ in a whole bunch of different ways. The programs we offer, the food we serve, the smiles on our faces, the relationships we build, and the compassion in our hearts are all examples of being Christ's presence. People can simply see that we care for them and that they are worth something by the very fact that we are treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

However, experiencing the presence of Christ is something we sometimes miss. Again, as all people are created in the image of God, we can experience Christ through everyone we meet with. No matter if someone is a drug addict or a prostitute, there are still things that we can witness in them that can help us to be more like Christ, and become healthier people.

My wife and I once handed out bagged lunches every week to people on the street. We particularly loved seeing a native man whom I will call Fred, who lived on a grate at the corner of University and Dundas. He was an alcoholic, and was almost always intoxicated. He had very few worldly possessions. But every time Erinn and I handed him a lunch, his face lit up and he had the most beautiful smile towards us. He was very grateful that we would come and spend time with him and build a relationship. Fred was the presence of Christ to us because he taught us a huge lesson in gratitude. He taught us to never take things for granted, by showing us how thankful he was for the few things he had in life. My point is, if God has something to teach us, than even if He's speaking from a smelly hot air grate, we should take the time to listen to what He's saying.

So the next time you're in church and you see the bulletin cover with a nature scene on the front, ask them if sometime they can have a cover with a picture of some kids playing in the water sprouting from a fire hydrant on a side street, or a man with his hands raised to God while standing on top of a skyscraper. Because God is in the city as well as the country, and we need to never doubt it as long as we live.

Keep on being "The Hand of God in the Heart of the City."

Dion