Place and Space Central to the biblical story
Jesus came and pitched his tent in the neighborhood. He was located in a geography that wasn’t incidental to his message or ministry. All of this has changed in modernity, where place is increasingly irrelevant. We even have some gurus telling us that with the Internet place is no longer important—we can meet people anywhere at any time in the virtual world.
Place does matter
Life in the fast lane.
In that world-view, mobility and anonymity are essential so that individuals can recreate themselves in empty space without accountability or authority.
Then I met Fred
His little cardboard message; "Make America Kind Again"
Place spirituality, on the other hand, helps us recognize that we live in a territory that is full of history, meaning, heartache, and joy. Jesus was incarnate in a concrete time and place in history; he was not an abstract, cultureless being in some kind of spiritual space. And today the Spirit is leading the church back into the neighborhood, into concrete territories to recognize what God is doing there.3
Roxburgh, Alan J.. Introducing the Missional Church (Allelon Missional Series) (pp. 77-78). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
