Why is placemaking important for Christians?

Placemaking is important for all. It is part of a human mission in which all humans share. But, in this newsletter, I wish to consider why placemaking is especially important for Christians.

The answer lies at the heart of our most basic purpose, one that God envisioned for all humanity and especially for His people. As one might expect, I could, and should, elaborate fully, but in the interest of the brevity of a post, I will focus on a few basic explanations.

First, I begin with Great Commission. Matthew 28:18–20 records,

And Jesus, coming to them, spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that which I have commanded. And behold, I am with you for all the days until the completion of the age.”

This instruction is basically this: teaching disciples to perform all of Christ’s commands. Taken at face value, one might ask, just exactly what did Jesus teach, which the disciples were to obey and teach others to do likewise? Was it just the commands of Christ that Matthew recorded in his Gospel, and no other commands? Did Matthew mean to tell us that one could exclude all other teachings that are not in his Gospel, perhaps the ones that Paul, James, or other apostles recorded?

Without getting overly technical, it is safe to say, “to obey all” means to obey all that the pre-existent Word of God ever taught the people of God, and it does not limit the command only to the commands that Matthew recorded Christ taught his earthly disciples before His crucifixion. The “all” includes everything, and this is where place and placemaking comes into the conversation.

One cannot help but notice that the Bible begins with God creating a place (Gen 1:1–31). This makes God, a placemaker. Furthermore, one cannot help but notice that humans were created in God’s image (Gen 1:26–27), implying that humans are also to be placemakers. In fact, the imago dei is never defined in the text of Genesis, however it is contextually related to the purpose of humanity—to rule creation (Gen 1:26), which is then further clarifies as involving multiplication, filling of the earth, being fruitful, subduing the unfinished placiality of creation, and ruling creation.

Envisioned in the human mission is changing creation’s placiality, or human placemaking. Human placemaking has God’s placemaking activity (Gen 1:1–31) as a template. Placemaking is the only statement by God to humanity that appears in the first creation account, and the image and likeness of God will enable them in their placemaking activities (Gen 1:26–28). This is how the Bible first introduces itself to its readers, explain why humans were created and what they are to do.

One also cannot help but notice that the very next example of human activity reveals humans commencing in their placemaking project (Gen 2:4–25). In fact, the very last thing that the Bible records is that God’s place finally and fully realized on earth (Rev 21:1–22:5). Placemaking, is the context in which one reads the Bible, and thus placemaking certainly qualifies as part of the “all” of Matthew 28:19-20.

But, getting back to the opening question—why is placemaking important for Christians?—because placemaking is implied in the Great Commission itself (Mt 28:18–20). Placemaking still is the human mission that began in Gen 1:26–28, that still points toward the arrival of God’s in Rev 21–22, and that still is part of our mission today. Placemaking and humans belong together.

And since placemaking involves making locales with a sense of place that reflects God, then ethics, social justice, and kindness to one’s neighbor (to name just a few placial implications) are also as much a part of the Great Commission as are evangelism, Bible studies, prayer, and discipleship are. That is, assuming one wishes to obey “all” that Christ taught.

To summarize, Gen 1 passes through Matthew 28 on its way to Rev 21–22. At The Placial Project we aim to explore all passages, along with their implications, noting when and how placemaking reveals itself in the Bible.

To illustrate this, one can easily paraphrase the placemaking mission by many biblical metaphors: Christians are to be salt in the world (Mt 5); Christians are to do their work for the human mission as unto the Lord (Col 3:17, 23–24); good works, including placemaking works, are the mission to which Christians were saved unto; and so on.