Called to the Gates of the City

One of the most discussed stories in Christian leadership circles so far in 2025 involves a previously unfamiliar Canadian scholar named Wesley Huff, an expert on the esoteric topic of biblical manuscripts. Huff was a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, the most listened-to podcast in the world. An internet search will lead to how a young and obscure 33-year-old Christian academic was invited on Rogan’s widely popular and, at times controversial, podcast. While Rogan is known for relaxed and deep conversations with guests from all perspectives, he is not known to be a Christian.

The overwhelming consensus among thoughtful Christian listeners is that Huff delivered a masterclass on how to talk about our faith before a spiritually curious but skeptical world. Huff was humble, engaging, and well-prepared. Obviously brilliant, Huff nevertheless spoke in down-to-earth, non-academic ways that ordinary listeners could understand. He expressed curiosity about Rogan’s own thoughts and spiritual questions. Huff was a respectful and likeable conversation partner despite Rogan’s crude language. Weeks later, many people are still talking about the episode.

I share this matter because it offers an outstanding example of how Christians are called to engage in secular spaces well with faithful intention. While it is highly unlikely that you or I will be presented with such an extraordinarily large audience as Huff, it is a certainty that we will daily find ourselves at the boundary where Christ and culture come together. Such intersections are found in everyday contexts such as conversations with neighbors, commerce at the grocery store, and committee meetings at work. Does it occur to us that these are the very places where we live out the exhortation heard at the end of worship on Sundays: “Let us go forth in the name of Christ”?

It is my continual prayer that the Spirit will help us be attentive and responsive to all the social spaces of daily life where He desires us to bring blessing. When we find ourselves in such spaces, my fervent hope is that our common life at St. John the Divine will have equipped us with a kind of “confident humility” to shine forth with the light of Christ just as Huff demonstrated. Indeed, the goal of all our gathering in worship and growing as disciples is toward this end.

A helpful biblical image illustrating the touch point of faithful engagement with wider culture is the city gate. Mentioned 350 times in Scripture, gates were passageways between fortified, walled cities and the social world beyond. In ancient Israel, city gates functioned as the meeting place where city elders discussed civil affairs and negotiated economic exchanges. The city gate was where legal matters were adjudicated. To “sit in the gate” implied prominence in the community. The virtuous wife in the Book of Proverbs is blessed in having her husband known in the city gates (Prov. 31:23). In the Book of Ruth, the righteous elder Boaz takes his place in the city gate of Bethlehem to settle the legal question of who will be the “kinsman redeemer” of the Moabite Ruth and thus marry her. And Jesus himself appropriates the image for himself when he says, “I am the gate” (John 10:9). It is Christ who represents the ultimate connecting point between God and the world.

To state the obvious, St. John the Divine is unusually endowed with many members who have significant cultural influence in the city. Our gifts and relationships touch all realms of civic life, including the economy, politics, the non-profit sector, healthcare, the arts, social organizations, neighborhoods, and religious life. Is our social influence fully activated as Christian influence?

As we work on developing a clear Christian formation pathway for all members to grow as disciples, a central question I want us to ask is this: How well are we equipping our members for self-understanding and self-confidence as those blessed to occupy our God-appointed places in the “city gates”? In other words, how do our “Grow” ministries shape a “Go” culture?

I have often shared that central to our vision is a future where more and more members embrace being intentionally missional as Christ’s ambassadors for the sake of their neighbors, fellow citizens, and the city. What a privilege to be among those God has chosen for this time, in this city for humble witness to our Lord’s grace and power! What an opportunity we have to take our place in the “city gates” where Christ’s church meets the world. As we walk into his future for SJD, what might this look like for you?

Wisdom Worth Pondering

“The world has never been truly disenchanted. We modern people have simply lost the ability to perceive the world with the eyes of wonder. . . The point cannot be overstated: the world is not what we think it is. It is so much weirder. It is so much darker. It is so, so much brighter and more beautiful.” 

- Rod Dreher, Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age

Rector's Book Recommendation

Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age, Rod Dreher (Zondervan Books, 2024)

I have been a long-time admirer of Dreher’s books and particularly appreciate his latest work. This book is less about Christian belief than it is about the profound human need to make sense of experiences beyond the objective and rational. Given the seeming paradox of our age wherein more people profess skepticism of religion but openness to spirituality, Dreher’s Living in Wonder offers caution and encouragement about how “to test the spirits, to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). I highly recommend this engaging and readable book.