An Embarrassment of Riches An evangelical concerned about Godıs kingdom answers the call to reveal the truth about Sodom. By Jeremy R. Del Rio, Esq Money is a singular thing ... equally important to those who have it and those who do not. John K. Galbraith, Economist Why did God destroy Sodom? Instinctively, we evangelicals think we know the answer. Its been ingrained in us since Sunday school, and popular wordssodomy, sodomiteexpress our notion of Sodoms fatal flaw. An informal survey of a dozen churchgoers this past month affirmed it. We believe God destroyed Sodom because of homosexuality and related sexual behaviors. But is the conventional understanding correct? Dr. Ray Bakke, theologian and urbanologist, challenged my own perceptions at a recent Leadership Summit. Although the Genesis account of Sodoms destruction refers to homosexuality and other passages reference sexual immorality, the Prophet Ezekiel identifies Sodoms greatest sin. Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezekiel 16:49-50, NIV) Arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned citizens failed to help the poor and needy. We know from the story of Lot that not even ten people cared. So God destroyed the entire community. Centuries later, the prophet Amos confronted Sodoms sister Israel about the same issue: For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.... They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.... Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. (Amos 2: 6-7, 13) Is there a city anywhere in America, or for that matter anywhere in the world, where the rich do not get richer as the poor get poorer? In New York City, the Capital of the World and home to some of its greatest financial institutions, gentrification in Manhattan and, increasingly, the outer boroughs displaces the middle class and renders upward mobility for the poor virtually impossible in their own neighborhoods. Yet how many evangelical leaders care enough to speak out against such injustices and the impact economic displacement has on families, education, domestic and substance abuse, and other social maladies? Some of our most outspoken voices rant about sodomy almost daily, and mobilize costly crusades against the politics of sodomites. Yet they rarely draw attention to Sodoms sin that so easily befalls us in America. In his book A Theology as Big as the City, Dr. Bakke recounts a conversation he had with a trustee of a leading evangelical college. Excited by Bakkes call for urban evangelism, the trustee confessed that he was nervous about the social gospel of social action, social justice and social involvement. He then described his home in a nice, safe, good, clean, suburban community where housing values increase and where ... his family can be secure when he travels. Dr. Bakke politely showed him his hypocrisy. Every reason youve given for living where you live is a social reason, he began. If those social reasons didnt exist youd leave. Youve committed your whole life and family to those values. The only difference between the trustees beliefs about systemic social justice and the unemployed migrant worker living in an overcrowded, crime-ridden shelter is the trustee has it, and the other doesnt. The trustees response: I never thought about it that way. Scripture speaks to their realities in 1,250 passages about cities and more than 400 that address poverty and economic justice. In contrast, the Bible mentions being born again just once. In the 1960s, evangelicals fled cities in a phenomenon that sociologists have called white fright, white flight. Dr. Bakke, then a seminary student in Chicago, was shaken. They were my people, the ones who had the right view of inspired, inerrant Scriptures, the right view of missions, the ones who believed greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. As they ran out, the rest of the world was running in. In 1900, only 8 percent of the worlds population lived in urban centers. By 2000, more than 50 percent had migrated into cities, most of them poor and dispossessed, searching for opportunity. Scripture speaks to their realities in 1,250 passages about cities and over 400 that address poverty and economic justice. In contrast, the Bible mentions being born again just once. Like the trustee, evangelicals as a group care deeply about the Great Commission. But go[ing] into all the world to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15) requires first reaching the entire world that lives in our Jerusalems (Acts 1:8). More than 120 languages are spoken in New York City every day. Dr. Bakke challenged those at the Summit to re-dig the wells of social and economic justice that run deep in American evangelicalism. That doesnt mean a mass relocation of suburban evangelicals returning to cities, but rather partnerships between urban, suburban, and rural Christians that transcend class and ethnic differences. Its an opportunity we all share to minister to Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40). What James called pure religion. (James 1:27) Think about it. Jeremy R. Del Rio, Esq., co-founded and directs Generation Xcel, a holistic youth development agency in Manhattan. For more, visit http://www.GenXcel.blogspot.com.
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