CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM SANTEE?

CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM SANTEE?

My name is Brandon, and I’m relatively new to Santee. My wife, two kids, and I moved here from Illinois 11 months ago to start Rise City Church this October at Hill Creek School. Since arriving, the predominant question we answer is this:

“Why Santee?”

Early on, we’d jump right into answering this question with our list of reasons why we believe Santee is the ideal place to start a new church and call home…

// The city’s growth over the past 10 years and projected growth in the coming years…

// The emergence of new and established businesses…

// Wise, fiscally responsible city leadership with a vision of progress…

// The completion of the 52 and 125 making Santee accessible to any one is SD…

// The obvious family-centric attitude and community pride exhibited throughout Santee…

// The benefit of having everything you need all in one place…

// The new college coming to town in January 2014…

// The need for new churches considering there’s only 1 church for every 2,500 people in Santee.

From the get-go, the question, “Why Santee” was easy to answer in our minds. We could easily answer the question with a better question: “Why NOT Santee?” Why wouldn’t someone choose Santee considering all the wonderful things this city has to offer?

However, the more we field the question, the more we realize there’s more behind the question.

When people ask, “Why Santee,” they are not necessarily asking the question seeking answers substantiating our decision to move here. Rather, it’s more of rhetorical question asked with a dumbfounded attitude. The majority of people we interact with find it hard to fathom someone looking at the city of Santee with such desirability that they would actually move across the country to call this place they’re new home.

This consistent response brings to mind a similar question posed about Jesus early in his ministry: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

This was the question Nathanael asked Philip when he was invited to come and see the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote. Philip was essentially inviting Nathanael to come meet the long-awaited Rescuer promised by God throughout the pages of the Old Testament. However, Nathanael had a hard time believing the anticipated Messiah would come from such a place as Nazareth. How could the Promised One come from a small, insignificant village of no more than 500 people in northern Israel?

Nathanael’s question makes me wonder how the people of Nazareth would have felt if they heard this question because it’s loaded with stigmas and stereotypes.

Did it offend them? Anger them? Make them defensive?

Or perhaps - it elicited very little emotion or response.

Is it possible the residents of Nazareth began to own and identity themselves with the stigma deeply embedded in the question, “Could anything good come out of Nazareth?” because they constantly faced it from outsiders?

I ask this question because I wonder if the same thing has slowly happened to the residents of Santee throughout the years. When people who were born and raised in Santee ask me, “Why Santee?”- it’s almost as if they’re saying about themselves, “Can anything good come from Santee?”

Well, after living here for 10 months, I want to answer that question by declaring – “Absolutely! Something great can come from Santee!”

You see, my wife and I were completely unaware of the stigma of East County San Diego compared to the rest of the county when we moved here. Additionally, we had never heard the terms “Klantee” and “Santucky,” which pigeonhole Santee as a racist, hillbilly, and backwoods community. Rather, we moved into Santee with an optimistic attitude, and a belief that God has something unique in store for this place.

And thus far, our encounters with people in Santee only affirm our optimism and belief rather than validate the stereotype!  Santee is loaded with potential and filled with kind, welcoming, talented, and loving people.

Sadly though, there’s an underlying defeatist attitude in many that may not be recognizable for those born and raised here. Just as a fish in water likely has no idea what water is because it’s always wet – it seems like many that call Santee home have come to slowly think less of themselves because of outside perspectives, backhanded comments, and perpetual stigmas and stereotypes over the years.

I have no clue how those living in Nazareth responded to the predominant perspective that nothing good could come from their village. But, the fact is something good did come from Nazareth. Actually, someone great came from Nazareth! Jesus, a Nazareth resident, went on to provide a way for all mankind to have a restored relationship with God by dying on a wooden cross and rising from the dead. This feat changed the world, and on a much smaller scale, perhaps it also silenced the skeptics that badmouthed Nazareth.

My wife and I are proud to call Santee our new home. We have quickly fallen in love with this city. I guess my entire purpose in writing this blog is simply to champion the greatness of this community and bring to light that which we’ve observed in our short time here.

And from this observation, our prayer has become that our new church will point people to the man from Nazareth, and we’ll see lives transformed by His amazing grace. And as more and more people encounter Jesus, we believe the underlying sentiments that many Santeeans have come to embrace will be no more. A new reputation will emerge, and this city will become the city on a hill that Jesus described whose greatness cannot be hidden because it finds it’s identity in who Jesus says it is rather than what others say.

Can anything good come from Nazareth? Absolutely! 

Just look at Jesus.

Can anything good come from Santee? Absolutely! 

Just look in the mirror.