The Rainbow Reaches the Suburbs
Greg Howse
Daniel was an African-American boy growing up in the inner city of Chicago during the late sixties. Even though
he lived in the inner city, his father wanted to make sure that the inner city did not live in Daniel. The father's
goal was to show Daniel and his seven siblings that there was a bigger world beyond their neighborhood in Chicago.
Every year Daniel's father took the family on an extended camping trip somewhere in the United States. Daniel was
always proud to place on their camper a sticker of another state visited.
Even when he was in grade school Daniel knew something was different about his family. They were always the
only African-Americans in the campground, no matter where they traveled. Daniel does not remember any overt acts
of racism, but it always fascinated him to be playing with all black kids one week and then all white kids for
the next three.
Daniel considered his family vacations a positive experience because his father never allowed the family to
look at themselves as a black family invading a white person's world. They were just an American family enjoying
a summer vacation with other American families.
Separation in Our Urban Centers
“BATTLEGROUND CHICAGO: The Germans and the Irish came first. Then the Italians and the Poles. White ethnics
were Chicago, really. They walked the beat, collected the trash, built the city. But Chicago's most controversial
migration happened later, during and after World War II. Hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks, fleeing enforced
segregation, moved in. And Chicago, after absorbing so many other newcomers, resisted. The stage, familiar in cities
both North and South, was set: standoffish whites and shut-out blacks.” [“Battleground Chicago,” Newsweek
(CXXV, 13), 26.]
The last phrase in that quotation from Newsweek is crucial for our understanding of ethnic, racial, and
cultural separation—“standoffish whites and shut-out blacks.” As blacks and other minorities have moved into the
larger American cities, whites have set themselves in a standoffish mindset, consciously or unconsciously protecting
their predominant piece of the American pie we call success. Whites eventually began leaving the city for the more
comfortable, serene atmosphere of the suburbs. Now we are faced with the tragedy of the inner city in America.
Who are the primary ethnic minorities in your community?
How would you assess the attitudes of your community toward each of these ethnic minorities?
On the following scale, rate your opinion of the phrase “standoffish whites and shut-out blacks” as descriptive
of your community.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Strongly Disagree: 1–3
Recognize Some Truth in It: 4–7
Strongly Agree: 8–10
Explain why you chose the rating you did.
Behind the Scenes
Consider the following statistics.
• Homicide is the leading cause of death for black males and females ages fifteen to thirty-four. [Carl C. Bell,
“Preventing Black Homicide,” The State of Black America 1990 (New York: National Urban League, 1990), 143–145.]
• Blacks account for 44% of all homicide victims, even though they make up only 12% of the population. [Ibid.]
• 99% of black homicides were committed by black perpetrators. [Ibid.]
• Infant mortality among blacks is twice as high as for white infants. [La Salle D. Leffall, Jr., “Health Status
of Black Americans,” The State of Black America 1990, 131.]
• In the ten largest urban centers, the high school dropout rate for black males is 72%. [Mark S. Hoffman, ed.,
The World Almanac (New York: Paros, 1992), 162.]
• The 1991 unemployment rate for black Americans was 12.9%—more than twice the rate for white Americans. [Marvin
McMickel, “Black Men: Endangered Species,” Club-Date (Aug./Sept. 1989), 29.]
• At the end of the 1980s, more than half of the African-American children were born to single mothers. [Andrew
W. Edwards, “The Black Family: A Unique Social System in Transition,” The State of Black Cleveland 1989
(Cleveland: Urban League of Greater Cleveland, 1989), 187.]
• In 1960, 78% of black families with children were headed by both a mother and a father—a figure that dropped
to 37% by 1990. [Andrew Billingsley, “Understanding African-American Family Diversity,” The State of Black America
1990, 89, 90.]
How do these statistics make you feel about the plight of our inner cities?
What would be some helpful responses of the church of Jesus Christ to this information?
The Chicago Tribune ran a series in the fall of 1994 entitled, “The Graying of Suburbia.” Louis Masotti
of U.C. Irvine wrote, “Just like people go through phases in their life-cycle, cities go through phases. Some can
no longer be what they once were. I think the inner-ring suburbs are much more like the central city than the next
ring of suburbs. The problems of the city have suburbanized.” [Laurie Goering, “The Graying of Suburbia,” The
Chicago Tribune (September 4, 1994), sec. 1, p. 6.]
The inner-ring suburbs are the band around the city that in places stretches ten miles or more outward. They
are “mature communities,” distinct from those farther out. People are moving out of this inner-ring for a variety
of reasons. Some move to keep their jobs as their companies move. Some see that housing values have peaked and
are on the decline. They see racial or class change as imminent. And they see the school systems faltering.
Suburbanites keep moving farther out from the city because they want a new house, good schools, good jobs in
a safe area, safe streets, an acre lot, a three-car garage, and a big deck for entertaining. Some want to avoid
contact with other races.
The popular term for this migration to the outer-ring suburbs is “suburban sprawl.” This is very worrisome for
city officials who see money fleeing from the aging inner-ring communities for the trendy, wide-open spaces of
the outer-ring suburbs.
What are the exclusive neighborhoods in or around your community where people move to escape urban problems?
What do you think are the best arguments for moving away from the heart of town?
What do you think are the best arguments for staying close to downtown?
What do you think are the greatest problems faced by churches that serve the Lord in the inner city?
How do you think churches in the outer-ring suburbs could minister in partnership with inner-ring or inner-city
churches to help them deal with the deepening needs of their communities?
Kenneth Jackson of Columbia University observes, “In the United States we're a people rich in land and resources,
so we've thrown away communities like Pepsi cans. It's a process seen over the last century and a half in urban
areas. Now it's reached to the inner suburbs and is moving beyond them. The only thing that's new is its moving
outside the city.” [Ibid.]
Do you agree or disagree with Jackson that we are abandoning life in our cities and towns too quickly to escape
urban problems? Explain your answer.
How do you think you would recognize the leading of God if He wanted you and your family to serve Him in a city
as a salt and light to slow or reverse the decay?
Kingdom Extra
In Numbers 13:1–14:45 Joshua and Caleb resisted the report of the ten spies who were afraid to obey the Lord
because invading Canaan looked too difficult. Unbelief looks at obstacles; faith looks at God. Joshua and Caleb
were willing to do the unpopular thing and call the people to positive faith. They led the way into the future
by confronting a negative report and helping a new generation rise to serve God in faith. [Spirit-Filled Life®
Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), 212, “Kingdom Dynamics: Numbers 13:1–14:45, Resisting Popular
Opinion.”]
How can you rise up as a “Joshua” in your community, and encourage God's people to resist the popular opinion
that giving up on towns and cities is the smart thing to do?
What churches in your area have moved out of town? Why did they move?
What kinds of churches serve your downtown? Are they spiritually healthy?
What ministry opportunities would a downtown church have in your community that a suburban or rural church doesn't
have?
Faith Alive
Why have you chosen to live where you do: inner city, inner-ring suburb, outer-ring suburb, or in a rural area?
What are your images and impressions of the inner-city?
Are your feelings based on experience, what you have seen in the media, or what you have heard from others?
What role do you think each of the following should play in restoring our inner cities?
• Government
• Business
• Private enterprise
• The church
Acts 1:8 is a mandate from the Lord Jesus to be witnesses to Him, starting at home and moving progressively
farther out until the entire earth has received this witness. Your Jerusalem could be an outer-ring suburb or the
inner city. It is your comfort zone.
Judea is a place that is slightly different geographically, but is culturally the same as your Jerusalem. Move
on to your Samaria, a place that may be geographically close but culturally different. If Jerusalem is an inner
city, Samaria could be an outer-ring suburb, or vice versa. Now we are being stretched. From Samaria we go to the
ends of the earth, the nations.
An interesting phenomena is that the nations are coming to our major inner-cities. For many of us, going to
the ends of the earth may be a call to go back to the inner-city to meet the nations face to face.
What nations are represented in the urban center that is closest to you?
What would be some creative ways of reaching those ethnic groups with the gospel?
Behind the Scenes
In an article entitled, “A New Look At America,” Time reported the following information about foreign-born
people groups living in American urban centers. [“The Numbers Game,” Time Magazine Special Issue (Fall 1993),
14–15.]
• More than 100 languages are spoken in the school systems of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Fairfax
County, Virginia.
• 32 million people in the U.S. (13%) speak languages other than English at home.
• In 1940, 70% of immigrants came from Europe. In 1992, 15% came from Europe, 37% from Asia, and 44% from Latin
America and the Caribbean.
• American cities where more than half the population is foreign born —
Hialeah, FL—70%
Miami, FL—60%
Huntington Park, CA—59%
Union City, NJ—55%
Monterey Park, CA—52%
Miami Beach, FL—51%
What do these statistics suggest about outreach opportunities in our urban centers?
How could your local church effectively respond to these needs?
How could your church interact with ethnic churches in the nearest urban center in each of these areas?
• Worship
• Evangelism
• Youth activities
• Missions opportunities
Kingdom Extra
In teaching kingdom life and principles, Jesus leads His followers to think, live, and pray that His kingdom
come to our entire planet (Matt. 6:10). In Matthew 13, His parables illustrated the kingdom's global expansion.
As His disciples began to minister, He told them to preach everywhere: “The kingdom of God is at hand.”
Then, before His ascension, the King gave the Great Commission. This climaxing command to go to all nations directed
that their teaching and preaching seek to bring all nations into His kingdom (Matt. 28:18–20). Prophetically, He
forecast that the end would come only as “this gospel of the kingdom” was preached “in all the world as a witness
to all nations” (Matt. 24:14). “Nations” means “people groupings”—today, about 22,000 on this globe. [Ibid., 1464,
“Kingdom Dynamics: Matthew 28:18–20, Commissioned Under the King's Call.”Part II]
How does the aim of this “Great Commission” (“all the nations”) apply to reaching people in our inner cities
and suburbs?
How could you have a ministry to an individual or group of people who came from another country?
Faith Alive
How would you describe your “Jerusalem” comfort zone?
How far away is your “Samaria” and who are the people who live there?
What are the natural points of hostility between your culture and that culture? How can you demonstrate your
willingness to break down the walls of separation?
What is your inner response to the idea that God might call you to cross borders and go to other nations in
the inner city?
From Race & Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds, Winning the Harvest by Jack W. Hayford with Greg Howse and Michael Posey. Copyright 1996 by Jack W. Hayford.
