As a recent first time home owner in the suburbs, I resonated with much of this chapter. When he discussed the history of suburbia, my 48-year-old house suddenly had a context. After reading about suburbia as a mixed bag of all that is good and bad about urban and rural living, I instantly thought of my garage AND my short commute. I felt smug when I read about people buying suburban homes with mortgages outside their budget; I was careful about how much house I bought. I also felt a bit of self-righteousness in the section on suburban diversity; my area of town is wildly diverse — racially, ethnically, AND socioeconomically.
This chapter gave me a sting toward the end, however. How does my Christian faith and a concern for God’s kingdom intersect with my otherwise responsible pursuit of the American dream? Even though my house is very modest at 1,200 square feet, since I live alone, I have almost double the average 718 square-feet-per-person of most Americans. And I have 10 times more square feet for myself than the average person in Japan who lives in just 170 square feet. Is all this space dedicated just to me actually a sign of greed and wastefulness in my life?
Also, as a single person, am I running the risk of cutting myself off from community by isolating myself in a home of my own? Even though I can afford to live alone, I am now responsible for all the tasks and chores involved in maintaining a home, potentially leaving me with less time and energy that I could be spending developing my gifts or serving people.
Even as I felt some personal conviction over this chapter, I did not feel indicted by the book itself. In fact, this chapter offers a lot of hope that my choice to participate so fully in this American ideal of suburban homeownership is fully redeemable by Jesus. The virtues of hospitality, stewardship, and generosity all came to mind as ways for me to incarnate Christ in the suburbs.
Once again, as in most areas of my life, intentionality is the key. Will I seek to glorify Christ as a resident of Suburbia? Or will I passively submit to the social and cultural forces that have dropped me into the land of plenty?
LINKS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT:
LL Barkat’s post on Chapter Two, “Charmed Big”
My post on Chapter One, “Suburbanruralite”
LL’s post on Chapter One, “Subfused”
Excerpt of The Suburban Christian
Al Hsu’s comments on Chapter One, “Discussing Suburbia”
Photo of my actual suburban house by some unidentified real estate agent
I’m having a hard time trying to imagine living in 170 square feet. My vegetable garden is bigger than that!
Ted — How right you are about redemption. The Lord definitely brings about good in all things, but sometimes it feels like a painfully slow process.
By the way, it’s never too late to start the second round of block parties. I think that is a wonderful idea you had.
I like your thought about redeeming a culture or situation. Most everything is redeemable, I believe. But it takes creativity and persistence in faith, and everything that goes with those things.
Charity, Great thoughts there. Your home is much like our own, except we have a mini-yard.
Once we had a barbeque and invited everyone on our block to come. We had a nice turnout. I wish I would have kept that going every year but we didn’t. It did seem to be a great time for connecting by those who came (we even had a tent of air, cushion the kids could jump up and down on which coincided with our church’s use of it; and I played some old time rock and roll on a CD player near my large, borrowed grill).
LL — My understatement is usually a poor attempt to be clever. I’m glad you liked the little tag line, though!
Spaghettipie — I would love to hear more about Dick Staub’s book. I saw it at Borders a couple of weeks ago on one of the new release tables. I was glad to see it there and intrigued by what it is about. Has the book offered you any take away thoughts for your life yet?
ESI — I once chose to live in a one-room apartment as a gesture of solidarity with people all over the world who live in such small spaces. I lived there for seven months and felt like the walls were about ready to close in on me. I think I would struggle in a place with so little space. Of course, this is a learned behavior. Hopefully I could adjust if I have to.
As to the wastefulness and greed in all our hearts — every time I start to judge someone for their excess, I think of all the books that line my bookshelves. Some people would see this as a waste, and indeed, sometimes my heart makes idols out of those books.
LL — Funny thing about all this square footage — it doesn’t feel that big. But in the little eco-quiz about reducing our footprints, I can never reduce my footprint more than a token, primarily because of all this space to myself. And the fact that I drive to work. (No sidewalks or bike paths betweeen here and there have left me in a conundrum.)
Marcus — Your point is well taken about adapting to the culture around us. This is very similar to what Every Square Inch was saying as well. Sometimes our choices are made for us, in a sense, by what is available. I chose to live in this area first, for a lot of important reasons, and this house was one of the few affordable ones to choose from.
I think there are lots of ways to own a home in the suburbs and still be countercultural as a believer. I am still working out the nuances of how that happens. Loving my neighbors, being a good community member, etc. are a place to start, but I think it goes deeper than that.
Stacy — You raise a good point abot making the most of whatever situation we’re in. Sounds a bit like Paul in Philippians, and DEFINITELY reminded me of Proverbs 30:7-9. “Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.”
Oh, and can I say I loved the little line about the unidentified real estate agent?
I envy your sense of understatement (underrealestatement?).
Enjoy your thoughts, as usual. I think you hit on the key in your closing – it is about intentionality and our hearts.
To LL’s point about culture transformers – I think we definitely should be. I’m reading Dick Staub’s Culturally Savvy Christian and I am even more convicted of the fact that our culture needs transformation.
Charity
The fact that you would do self examination on your heart is a wonderful testimony of God’s grace in your life.
One point about the comparison to other countries. It’s easy to admire the lesser living space that other cultures but I think in some cases, it’s that many other countries simply have less space per capita. This is true of Japan, (though not of Canada). The fact is as Mark correctly said, we have a lot of space in this country and a high standard of living so it’s not surprising.
Sometimes what constraints space consumption in other cultures is not virtue but other limitations. Regardless of our cultural background, we’re all sinful and tend to possess more than we need, even if it’s wasteful.
To Mark’s comment, I do wonder if it is okay for us to be part of the culture of where we live. I guess that to a certain extent it is hard to get around that, but I also think we are culture transformers (or could be).
To your concern about living in a house, I think I’ve probably said this before, when you were first considering buying a house… I do think it’s a wise investment for people, especially singles. In other cultures, it is often said that people have a high number of children as a form of pension plan. The house, for you is a wonderful pension plan.
But the numbers you worked out were startling! I look forward to hearing about how you continue to share your life, so those numbers work out with your faith.
Is all this space dedicated just to me actually a sign of greed and wastefulness in my life?
Charity, if so it is a societal greed and wastefulness. The reason we have larger houses in large part is that we have more space.
Where I live, lots are large and houses are small. Does my large lot mean I have been greedy in my lot purchase? No, our market just has room for large lots. Does our smaller house (1500 for four) mean I have some kind of moral high ground over people with large houses? No, our market just builds small houses for the retirees who move here.
Not that a large house or large lot can’t be immoral. Greed is immoral. But it is okay to be part of the culture in which you live.
The harder question, though. How do we as individuals deal with societal immoralities?
Charity,
I liked this post and the subject matter. I don’t think that having a house or even owning a large house is something to be ashamed of. Neither is NOT owning a house. I have been in villages where the people own very little, but show us a great deal of hospitality, and I’ve been in large homes where I have not felt at home. I think the focus should be on our character, and it seems that both environments have their challenges. Those with little can obsess about material things just as easily as those with much.
The trick is to not be so absorbed in our own lives, homes and jobs that we fail to see the needs of those around us.
Thanks for the thoughtful post, and the kind comment on mine. Grandparents are great. 🙂