2 of 2

There are enormous amounts of money here, and you don't think of it as rich. You think of it as within your grasp.

In the rural culture, people are always tied into the agrarian community, and there is a deep understanding of the nature of life in the agrarian community. You are not necessarily in control of your life. There are good years and there are bad years. People are maybe just a little more humble. Here, you are in control of your life, at least you think you're in control of your life.

How can Christians in the suburbs deal with these toxins you describe?

Well, one way is to be like the desert fathers and flee the cities. I wouldn't criticize people for doing that. There are people who can do that.

For most of us, though, we can't. We somehow have to bring monastic practices into the suburbs. But I don't think we have anything in the suburbs that would allow us to do that. Churches can't, because they're very programmatic. I think the monastic example is a good one to lift up and say, "This is how the monastics did it and the reason why they did it. How can we add that back into our lives?"

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also posted today is a review of the book.

Death by Suburb is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More about Goetz is available from his website. He is president of CZ Marketing. His article, "Suburban Spirituality" is available on our site.

Lauren F. Winner reviewed the book for Books & Culture.

Managing editor Mark Galli introduced Goetz in this Inside CT.

Other articles examining suburban spirituality from Christianity Today and our sister publications include:

Religion in the 'Burbs | An interview with R. Stephen Warner, sociologist of religion at University of Illinois at Chicago. (June 23, 2003)

The Bobo Future | "Bourgeois bohemians" wield inordinate power over how we think about consumerism, morality--and faith itself (July 25, 2000)

You've Got Mail | A letter Jesus might write to the suburban church of North America (Eugene H. Peterson, Christianity Today, Oct. 25, 1999)

The Cost of Living in a Suburban Paradise (Deborah Windes, Books & Culture, Jan/Feb 1998)

When Your Neighborhood Changes You | How three Twin Cities churches have adjusted to reach their rapidly changing community (Leadership Journal, Spring 2003)

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

July (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50