Viva la Vida & Urban Integrity

In 2008 a British alternative rock band Coldplay released a single entitled Viva la Vida (Live the Life). My kids and I became aware of the song as the Discovery Science Channel used it on commercials to advertise their upcoming season. At first glance it sounds very political with hints of revolution and Napoleonic regret, but there are some definite Christian ecclesiastical metaphors that apply to the modern evangelical church. The band, albeit reared in Christian homes, do not profess a personal faith in Christ, but the lyrics have some Christian overtones. I’m not the first to make these connections- you can read others’ blogs about their more enlightened pontifications. But as an urban church planter, I think there are some good thoughts in Coldplay’s lyrics that speak to our missionary method.

The entire Old Testament narrative moves directionally from a garden in Eden (Gen 2:8) toward the realization of a messianic urban center- Jerusalem (the only city that Jesus cried over- see Luke 19:41-44). If you know your church history, you’ll remember that the Christian church was born on the streets of Jerusalem after the disciples became possessed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). The apostle Peter preaches a message about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection that gets supernaturally translated into all languages, and about 3000 Jewish families accept Christ as Savior and Lord and start the first Christian church. “I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing.” After inclusion of non-Jews in Antioch and other cities, the New Testament narrative moves directionally from Jerusalem toward another urban center- Rome (Rom 1:15). If you remember, the apostle Paul spends his emotional and physical energy working toward arriving in Rome to deliver the message about Jesus Christ’s atonement for the world. “Roman Catholic choirs are singing.” Fast forward a few years to an elderly apostle John stuck on a small island where he is given a vision of yet another urban center, a new Jerusalem, not built with human hands- a vision to be realized only after the current metaphysical system has been judged and burned (Rev 21:2).

Church history tells us that shortly after the second century C.E. (Christ’s Era), the Roman church aligns itself with the political establishment and begins to assert itself as a ruler of earthly kingdoms (ie. the Holy Roman Empire). “But that was when I ruled the world.” Over time the institutionalized church endorses leaders who become more and more blatantly sinful in lifestyle and decision making. Even though political gains were made for Christianity as a philosophical system as crusades were waged against anti-Christian nations and heretics were burned for their nonconformity to ecclesiastic edicts (“my missionaries in a foreign field”), it would seem that the medieval period was a dark blot on the advancement of Christianity as a personal celebration of Jesus as Lord. Reformation came and went, and the Christian church today is left splintered and wounded, pondering strategies for future ecclesial conquests. Truly, “the old king is dead, long live the king.”

So what does the biblical narrative and church history have to do with the modern church and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida? If by Christian we mean political influence, it would seem that we are truly living in a post-Christian era. I think there is some perspective gained by looking at the church today through these cold eyes. Today’s church must spread not just by force but by loving service on a street level. Today is the day for the church of integrity, “an honest word” for church planting. Urban churches will flourish as Christians “sweep the streets I used to own”. And as they serve the city in love through their sweeping ministry, they must share the news that there is yet an unrealized city- the bride of Christ- that is yet to be revealed. Don’t look to Jerusalem or Rome, don’t look to Moscow or Atlanta, and don’t look to London or Sydney for a perfect model of a Christian city. These can become a good mirror of the New Jerusalem, but the perfect city and the perfect church is being made by Jesus himself on another level. Our missionary method should incorporate an urban theology, but that theology must be based on the heavenly city where the true church will viva la vida forever.