"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 15:33)

God made His children to be the light of the world. As He has been moving us into cities, He has been preparing us to live in the great heavenly city (Revelation 21:2). Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the world people were flocking to cities at a rapidly increasing rate. It is estimated that 83% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, up from 64% in 1950. (1)

And while there may be longterm impacts of the pandemic on many of our cities, they will still be centers of creativity, innovation, and spiritual renewal.  In their book, Why Cities Matter, Stephen T. Um and Justin Buzzard point out that “History, suggests three overarching categories for understanding what leads people to create cities: they keep us safe, they keep us social, and they shape our understanding and awareness of the  sacred. To put it another way, cities are centers of power, culture, and spirituality.”

Now is the Time to Love Our City

God loves cities and instructs us to love them too. God makes clear to Jonah that He has great compassion on cities because cities are full of people. God caps off his conversation with Jonah by saying, “And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people...” (Jonah 4:11). God tells his people, through the profit Jeremiah, to seek peace in the city of Babylon even though they are exiles and captives there.

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.”  (Jeremiah 29:4-7)

The command to build houses, plant crops, eat, marry, have children, and increase in number are as relevant today as they were to the Jews in Jeremiah’s time. If you are a Christian you know your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Knowing our destiny frees us to seek the peace of the city where we live now. The verses in Jeremiah also make it clear that we must pray for our city. To pray we need to know our city’s strengths and weaknesses. We need to know our neighbors and their needs. When we know our city we’ll know how to pray for its peace and prosperity.

Memphis - The City Beautiful

(No matter where you live, this still applies to you and whatever awesome city/town/country you call home.)

There is so much to love about Memphis. The name means established and beautiful and  was the first city to create a City Beautiful Commission. In 1935, the Riverside Drive project was dedicated. At that time the City Beautiful Commission spent nearly one million dollars (the equivalent of almost 19 million today) landscaping the bluffs with crape myrtle, redbuds, magnolias, dogwoods, and climbing roses. Since that time, the city has often been recognized as one of America’s most beautiful and clean cities.

Memphis also has impressive industry for its size and is a world leader in express distribution, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, and healthcare. It’s the home of FedEx, AutoZone, International Paper, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—not to mention affordable housing, great neighborhoods, and amazing places to eat. The top tourist destinations are The National Civil Rights Museum, Graceland, and Sun Studio.

Here are some more fun facts to celebrate from the Memphis Travel website:

• Named for its Egyptian sister on the Nile.
• Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, made Memphis his home after his family moved to the city from Tupelo, Mississippi in 1948.
• Memphis was founded in 1819 by John Overton, Andrew Jackson and James Winchester. Prior to its official founding, the Bluffs of Memphis were occupied by a succession of Native Americans, traders and forts. It is situated on the edge of the widest part of the Mississippi River.
• The name Memphis means Established and Beautiful.
• Known worldwide as the "Home of the Blues & Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll - not to mention gospel, jazz, R&B, rap and soul. Close to 20 percent of the earliest inductees (24 of the 97) in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame have come from within a 100-mile radius of Memphis.
• Dream Destinations: 100 of the World's Best Vacations by Life Books ranks Memphis amongst the likes of The Vatican, Montezuma, Costa Rica, and Beijing, China.
• Home of historic Beale Street, whose musical offerings - as lively today as ever - have helped it to be voted the second most popular entertainment district in America following Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
• Home to Graceland, home of Elvis Presley, the second most visited private home in the United States next to the White House in Washington, D.C.
• Sun Studio, birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll, is located at 706 Union Avenue, just outside of downtown Memphis.
• Memphis is mentioned in more songs than any other city in the world - more than 400 according to Billboard Magazine.
• Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in 1952 in his hometown of Memphis.
• Home to 60+ tourist attractions.
  

There is also much struggle and suffering in Memphis. We have a long history of poverty and racism. We will look at those issues as we look at the needs of our city in Part 2 of The City Beautiful.

In the meantime, we can celebrate and pray as we seek to bless our city with an eye on the great Holy City that God has prepared for us (Hebrews 11:16).

The Center - Memphis’ love for this city inspired one of our core values.
‍

Resources:

Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church (Stephen T. Um and Justin Buzzard)
36 Reasons to Move to Memphis (Choose901)
Memphis Fun Facts (Memphis Travel)
‍

Footnotes:
(1) United Nations (UN) Population Division (2018) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision