Why LA Matters!

Los Angeles is the most influential city in the world.  There, I said it. Let the discussion begin!  

When my family lived in the Washington DC area I was often asked,  “ How does it feel to live in the most powerful city in the world?”  On the surface it seem to be a logical question.  Yes, Washington DC is in fact the most powerful city in the world!  The center of government for the most powerful economy and military in the world naturally would be considered the most influential.   But is it?  Something inside me said, "I don't believe that this is true."  

Curiosity started me on a journey to discover where in the world is the most influence created.  What cities in the world have the most influence?   Of course, when we think of power or government we think of Washington DC, Moscow, or more recently Beijing.  When we think of finance or money we think of New York, London, or Singapore.  When we think of arts and culture we think of New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vienna, Rio, Moscow, and Hong Kong to name a few, and to not intentionally leave any of your favorites out.   

But it leads to a question of; what city influences all these other cities? What city actually plant seeds of culture throughout the world with film, music, and all sorts of media?   This city is arguably Los Angeles.  LA, The City of Angels.     When I first had this discussion with a close friend of mine a few years ago while living in DC he said, "Well of course with Washington DC because that's where all the laws are made.  That is where all the lobbyists are. That is where foreign leaders come to do business for their governments and all kinds of diplomatic relations."  But when we peel the onion back even further and asked who puts our lawmakers in power? Who are the very people that vote to send these elected officials to Washington?  What drives the lobbyist to lobby for certain companies that we as American consumers consume products from? The answer once again is the influence that comes out of Los Angeles.  

You see ,the films we watch, the TV shows, the music we listen to, the clothes we wear are all impacted by the products that come out of the film, TV, and music industry. The way we view family; “The Modern Family”  The way we view marriage, relationships between a man and a woman, and even how we view hope and fear are greatly influenced by the media we consume.  How kids respond to their parents and how parents respond to their kids.  Have you noticed how the Disney channel and others tends to typecast the family?  In many cases the father is a bumbling man with little influence in the home, the mothers want to be younger, and the kids run the house.   Nielsen Research estimates that the average American consumes an average of 5 hours per day of TV.  5 hours!  This means the average 40 year old American has spent about 8 years of their life consuming influence from media.  We have heard it said, "We are what we eat."  What if we become what we consume in the media?  Whether we like it or not we are being transformed every day by some form of influence. 

We don't only see the influence of Los Angeles in our country.  Think of the continuing popularity of David Hasselhoff in Europe , Michael Jackson in Japan and many other examples.  Even long after they seem popular in America.   

So why is this important?  It is so important because I believe that the most important mission field for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in the world today is in cities like Los Angeles.  With Los Angles being the most important.  In fact, for much of the last hundred years of North American missions, the cities of the greatest influence have been among the most ignored areas.  While we have concentrated our time, talent, and money sending missionaries to foreign fields in areas of great need, physical need like Africa, the areas of the greatest influence have been, for the most part, neglected.  This is in no way meant to discount the amazing churches that are in Los Angeles, and in other cities of influence.  My desire is to draw attention to the reality that if we truly want to change the world for Jesus and show the world the love of Jesus, the cities that have the most influence must get more of our missional focus.

There is no doubt that the need is huge everywhere and many of those with great need live in other countries.  So it may be easy to dismiss Los Angeles as a mission field because of the material wealth and high standard of living compared to most of the world.  We should be very cautious of this line of reasoning as even Paul went to the most influential cities and risked his life to get to Rome, which was the most influential city of his time.  

So I encourage all of you today to stir up your own personal curiosity as to how you can use your time, talent, and financial resources to make the most impact. 

To be continued……….

Written by Rod, Dallas, Texas

Follow his journey here