Sinful Cities

We have been called to follow Christ, and we have been placed in a city or a geographical region, in a workplace, a church, a civic organization, in order to bring honor to the name of the Lord. Titus 2 says:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

So, no matter where you might find yourself today, in what short-term or long-term condition of life, you can glorify the Lord right where you are.  You have been placed in a community, within a group of people, and God desires to use you to make a statement for Him.  Imagine how our cities, towns, and counties would be impacted if we live our lives in the way He instructs us.  We can call on God to use us right where we are and yield to the leadership of His Spirit to produce the fruit He desires.

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There's a passage I came across in Jeremiah 29, where the Lord gives His people direction - the Jews
were held captive and taken to Babylon, and through the prophet, the Lord spoke:
4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

So, the Lord is saying to the people that they were allowed to be taken to Babylon for a purpose, that they were to live their lives according to His plan, and even though they were strangers in a strange land, they were to pray for the peace of the city in which they lived.  In this world, we are aliens and strangers, but we are called to live our lives and to pray, I believe, for the cities in which we live.

The list of Most Sinful Cities for 2016 has been released by WalletHub, and it should come as no surprise that the municipality known as "Sin City" is #1 in the survey - that's right, Las Vegas came in first.  But, how does one measure the sinfulness of a city?   WalletHub says they did it by taking "the 150 most populated U.S. cities" and then using "27 key indicators of evil deeds."  Cities were measured in 7 different categories, "1) Anger & Hatred, 2) Jealousy, 3) Excesses & Vices, 4) Avarice, 5) Lust, 6) Vanity and 7) Laziness."  Las Vegas was #1, San Jose (CA) was #150.

So, here are some examples:

To measure "Anger and Hatred," one of the indicators selected by the researchers was "Violent Crimes per Capita." For "Jealousy," one was "Thefts per Capita." For "Excesses and Vices," an indicator was "Excessive Drinking" - Montgomery was actually tied for 144th in that category.  The category of "Avarice" was measured by, among other criteria, "Charitable Donations by Income" - Montgomery was tied for 147th, meaning that was among the highest, the most generous.   All in all, Montgomery was 85th nationally, and the "least sinful" among the four cities in Alabama on the list.

Montgomery did well in the overall "Avarice" category, placing 144th, but in the "Laziness" category, it placed 2nd nationally.

You had a panel of researchers that analyzed some questions relative to the data.  According to WalletHub's summary, some of the questions included: "To what extent is sinful behavior innate versus influenced by your surroundings?"  Another was "What makes some cities more sinful than others? Laws? Culture?"

A glance at some of the comments indicate that there was a thread among some of the experts that sinfulness is defined by cultural norms.  You do have to hand it to WalletHub to actually point out behaviors that could be considered "sinful" - that shows some moral clarity, there.  But, it is misguided to say that societal norms are determined by the democratic whims of the masses. For instance, permissive sexuality seems to be more accepted these days, but the Bible's position against adultery, fornication, and homosexuality, just to name a few, has not changed, despite the trend of society to embrace these harmful behaviors.

I do think that the overall spirituality of a region can affect the practice of sinful behaviors. Just for fun, I compared the top 5 in the WalletHub survey to the survey released last January by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society regarding the most and least Bible-minded cities in America.

The #1 WalletHub city, Las Vegas, was 95th out of 100 metropolitan areas in the Barna research.  #2 in sinfulness, St. Louis, was barely in the top half of Bible-mindedness, at 46.  Cincinnati was third in the sinful rankings, 35 in the Bible survey.  #4 sinful was Orlando, which was 63rd in Bible-mindedness.  And the #5 city regarding sinfulness, Springfield, MO, was actually just outside the top 10 in the Bible survey, at #11.  The #1 Bible-minded area, Chattanooga, TN, was 37th in the sinfulness survey.

So, any correlation might be considered non-scientific, based on these surveys, but we know that worldview can shape attitude, which is related to action.  It is important to recognize that we have to make sure that our definitions of right and wrong correspond to those found in the Bible.  Try as they might, humans don't have the right to change definitions of sinful behavior just because they may be "outdated" or are no longer the "majority opinion."  God's Word is a prescription for living a satisfying life, a life that pleases Him and reflects His nature.