Well, the truth is that a bunch of people have tried to build something like this – and it had different names. But when it finally got assigned to us, this is what was available and how we felt like the Lord was leading. The logo seems like a natural extension of the “Saver” theme – but it was VERY specifically a clear instruction from God.
So it kind of goes like this: Jesus came to preach to whole cities:
- Matthew 11:21-24
- “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”
There are lots of examples of whole cities being judged, including the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans in the exact same way it was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians. Lots of examples of God sending prophets or men of God to a particular place to call for repentance and a return to God (Jonah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Amos, etc.). So there is some corporate responsibility for the state of things – that should result in a corporate effort to fix them (ex: the whole city of Ninevah repented for Jonah. Other cities didn’t and were destroyed, despite some good people.).
OK, that’s enough Bible. We think that technology is isolating people more and more. What we need is community. And the Christians were supposed to lead the way in loving their neighbors and caring for each other and self-sacrifice. And we haven’t done that. So some folks that are sorry about it and see the problem of “churchianity” are committed to turning this ride around. There are lots of ways to care for your neighbors, including just making some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and passing them out. But this is what we feel like God led US to do.
So we have CitySaver with a life preserver around a city – and we have CitySavior with the same logo, but with the Cross.
While a lot of what we’ve designed is cartoons and fun, the life preserver is a deadly serious thing. Maybe it is just decor to remind you of your sailing days – or maybe it’s deadly serious because when you need it – you REALLY need it!
It’s a comfort to know it’s there. Maybe even required equipment. And you can use it in the pool with the kids or float down a lazy river with it, but sometimes it’s your only hope for survival. We think the church actually is in more desperate trouble than are the cities right now. We are FAR from being One Body as Jesus prayed right before He went to that cross (John 17). We have over 50,000 denominations now and no sign of stopping. But what if had a way, outside the walls, without disrupting the boxes, of working together and getting to know each other. It might just become habit and people would realize that their Dad had other kids – siblings they’ve never met – that are right here in town! How could that change things?
And what about the secular, civic side of our lives? What if we could strengthen small businesses? Promote local musicians and artists and authors? Help tiny producers tell their story and sell to their local community. There are a lot of people that are only making ends meet because of their side hustle making quilts or selling firewood or making airplanes out of soda cans. These are our neighbors! Why not support them? Wouldn’t it reduce your carbon footprint if you bought more things from people in your own town?
And what if we had one local communication hub that everyone could access free? In fact, what if we took some of the revenue from CitySaver and built a WiFi mesh network over the city so it was an Intraweb? Kind of like at a big company or when you stay at a hotel and you can log on to their local area network and then the internet. What if every smart phone in town could access this shared communication source – even if the internet went out, or cell towers were down, or land lines were dead? What if your city’s “grape” – your CitySaver node – was on a local server with a battery bank and a solar power and could pluck loose of the rest of the internet and run autonomously? What difference could that make in a crisis? And maybe that sounds unnecessary in suburban America, but what about Uganda? Or vision isn’t just for America.
Sorry, got off topic. So the logo isn’t just a life preserver, it’s circling the wagons, it’s hugging a city and your neighbors, it’s setting a wall around our common ground. For the church it’s a crown of thorns or the Bride’s engagement ring and promise – if she’ll behave and start being a She/Her instead of a They/Them.
There are people at home, alone and isolated, depressed … or worse. If they are going to be stuck on their devices anyway, let’s try to point them toward neighbors they could actually meet – and hug. Let’s give them reasons to get out and help someone – or get together in the park. Let’s not wait until somebody from Parks & Rec or from a church has some event in the park. Let’s empower people to just HAVE an event in the park and call everybody out.