My son is 25. By his age, I’d married, started a vocation, and bought a house in the city. We were broke, and interest rates were over twice what they are now, but we got by.
My son is single and doesn’t stand a chance of buying a house in Toronto anytime soon.
I just got an email from a father last week. He can’t make his family’s income stretch far enough to cover the bills. He’s decided to move to the States where he can buy a house. He can’t even afford to rent one here.
Living in Toronto offers numerous benefits such as access to excellent restaurants and coffee shops, a diverse range of cuisines, sports events, concerts, and other forms of entertainment. It also means you will be stretched financially. If you don’t live close to work, you will spend more time in traffic than is reasonable. The city comes with many benefits, but these benefits come at a cost.
Staying in the city is getting harder. I don’t blame anyone who decides it may be best to move somewhere cheaper. Christians are needed everywhere, and you may choose to live where it makes sense for you.
But I pray that many Christians will pay the cost of living in the city.
If you love cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, please continue to stay. Put down roots. Enjoy all that the city has to offer. Plug into a church. Pray and serve. You’re needed there.
If you hate the city, then enjoy looking down on those who live among concrete and traffic jams. You’re exempted from having to live in a place you despise.
But I’m not writing to people who love the city or hate it. I’m writing to a third group, and I hope they hear me.
If you like the city, but you’re not sure if you want to stay in the city because the cost is too high, I’d like to ask you to pray about staying. Why? Because it’s too easy to make decisions based on personal comfort and lifestyle. It may be that the place God can use you best is the place that is costly, that involves some sacrifice.
I want some pastors to pick up and move to where it’s a little more expensive to live. Some Christians in expensive cities should consider taking on a higher mortgage and a smaller backyard to support their local church. I want some Christians to tolerate slow elevators in tall buildings for the sake of the gospel because they believe that God can use them most effectively there.
No guilt. No moral superiority. You’re free to choose where you live. But we do need some to pay the cost of living in the city who could have a more comfortable life elsewhere. Everywhere needs more Christians, but it can be more costly to stay in the city, and I’m so glad some are willing to pay the price.