In the last year I’ve had the privilege of traveling in my country and out of my country, to big cities like Los Angeles and London and smaller towns like Caldwell Texas and Cinque Terre in Italy. I have observed a paradox of proximity. The farther apart people live the more likely they are to know each other. Conversely, the closer together people live the more likely they are to be strangers.
Walk the streets of a densely populated city like LA or London – almost any time of day or night – there are people everywhere and they are all strangers. Walk the streets of a small town like Caldwell or Cinque Terre – where people may live miles apart – they all seem to know each other.
Where in the paradox do you live? Who has God sent you to reach?
- If you’re in a densely populated city, are you finding that presence alone is enough to build relationships?
- If you’re in a sparsely populated area, are you able to build relationships just by showing up?
Whichever reality you’re in – how are you’re working with relational environment, not against it, to be effective on mission?
I find this to be exactly true. Here in Toronto it’s not enough to have a presence. You have to do something that’s worth giving attention to. For example, we’ve been hosting art shows for social good. That’s how we build relationships. I barely know the people in my own 5 unit building (we’re working on that though!).
Conversely I remember as a kid in a small town of 10,000 with huge back yards I knew almost everyone in my neighbourhood.
Paradox indeed.