Ever since the Wall came down 25 years ago, Berlin has been searching for its identity. In the blink of an eye it went from a city divided physically but also in terms of economics, politics, and lifestyle. Since then it has been like two different groups of friends who are meeting for the first time, and are trying to figure out how to act around each other. The passage of time has brought more unity, but it is not yet a completed process. Complicating that fact is that suddenly representatives from 180 different people groups have arrived in Berlin, and even among each of those groups are multiple sub-groups. This has lead to a city that is convulsing and writhing about, trying to figure out what shape it should take. This is why former French culture minister Jack Lang said, “Paris is always Paris and Berlin is never Berlin.”
It has been interesting to watch this take place at the microcosm level in my neighborhood. In my district of Neukölln there is an unstated turf war raging between cheap Turkish restaurants and Middle Eastern hookah bars against trendy cafes and hip vintage clothing stores. The area has had Middle Eastern roots for at least 50 years, but now the hipsters are coming in like a virus and taking over everything. That’s what happened in Prenzlauer Berg, but now that area is wealthy young families with kids. So the poorer hipsters have come down to Neukölln. All I have to do is look out the window and I can see the battle playing out between the established and the new. My street is largely made up of the Turkish restaurants, shisha bars, and about 7 Spätkaufs (convenience stores). However, there are also 2 Italian restaurants (one cheap, one nice), an English bookshop, and a mall on the end of the street. In the last 7-8 months a French café also opened, where one cannot fail to hear English being spoken while one is passing by.
I am not very interested in who wins this battle. I will admit to enjoying the delicious high-end coffee, arts cafes and fair trade boutiques that have been popping up around here, but on the other hand Neukölln is not Neukölln without Döner Kebap. If they can find a co-existence together, that would be great. I am invested in the kind of change that runs deeper. I want to see the social problems that exist in Berlin such as homelessness, poverty, loneliness and hopelessness fade into the past. I want to see the needy taken care of, the foreigner exalted, and the broken-down uplifted. Namely, I want to see Jesus’ mission statement carried out here (Luke 4:16-20). I am also engaged in helping take the less than 2% of people in Berlin who believe in Jesus and seeing that become 5%. Only 5% of people in a city may not seem like much, but at 5% a tipping point in the culture and ministry efforts can be seen, which could propel Berlin into the 10% range and beyond. However, these are not easy tasks. Berlin is changing so fast that no single person or group could possibly keep up with it. That is why we partner and work with organizations that do a variety of different things and work all throughout the city. What no one person or organization can do alone can be accomplished via a collaboration of many groups coming from a variety of different backgrounds. We don’t all have the same gifts or do the same things, which is why we can reach far more people and understand the city far better by working together. I believe this is the unity that Paul is talking about in Philippians 2:1-4. When we have this unity and are working together, then I believe that great things can be accomplished for Christ in Berlin, and positive change that lasts can be brought about here.