Recently I’ve seen a few posts on Facebook and Twitter that turn their noses up at suburbia as if it is some death trap we should all avoid lest we fall into complacency. I know at the heart of those posts are revolutionaries who don’t want the world wasting away in the day to day grind. But sometimes I wonder if it is merely the clichéd, media-hyped idea of suburbia that they are against instead of the actual location. Because the thing is, I know a lot of revolutionaries who live happily in suburbia. I think they would also live happily in the country, or the city, or a shack on the beach. I guess I am wondering if we should allow geography to determine who we are and what we are capable of. When we serve a God who is so massive he holds the universes in his hands, why do we limit ourselves because of the place we live? Surely God has put us in our current location for a reason, so why waste time making excuses because of geography? Maybe it’s time for a mental shift. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and have wasted so much time either being ‘trapped’ by my circumstance [insert current geography] or waste my time pointing fingers at other people who are not ‘enlightened’ enough to leave suburbia. In case you hadn’t noticed, a lot of people live in suburbia. A lot of people live in all kinds of locations and Jesus loves all of them. I’m pretty sure he loves all the lands he made too – all kinds of geography that can be used for his purposes. Here’s what I think… the suburbia people rage against is actually a state of mind – a state of complacency and material or reputational striving. It is not relegated to the suburbs alone. It is a human condition found in every village, town, city and nation on this earth. God asks us to renew our minds. He asks us to live free because he came to set us free. He asks us to follow him even when it looks strange and contrary to the world’s opinions. Are those things really dependent on our geography? This is not a punt for suburbia, by the way. I live in suburbia and I am very happy there but I love the city and country just as much. Maybe it’s because I grew up moving from place to place that I learned geography is just the place we find ourselves, while our minds, hearts and attitudes are the things we constantly carry with us – the things that makes us who we are. Let’s never use geography as an excuse to live restricted. Embrace the place you have been planted and LIVE.
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