{"id":4627,"date":"2015-04-17T02:59:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T02:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4627"},"modified":"2015-04-17T02:59:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T02:59:00","slug":"shalom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/shalom\/","title":{"rendered":"Shalom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God\u2019s restorative purposes over all of life, individual and corporate, public and private. This is the mandate of creation.\u201d[1]<\/a> How to change the word is a question that man has been trying to answer since the time of Adam and Eve. Hunter, in his book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World\u201d<\/em> seeks to answer why Christians have failed in their efforts to make the world a better place, and then looks at how we can live in a manner that will make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristianity is not, first and foremost, about establishing righteousness or creating good values or securing justice or making peace in the world\u2026 For Christians, these are all secondary to the primary good of God himself and the primary task of worshipping him and honoring him in all they do.\u201d[2]<\/a> Hunter asserts that the rules of the world cannot be changed, and that Christians cannot create a perfect world. The models for change that have been attempted throughout history are flawed, as power is at the root and breeds idealism, individualism, and pietism.\u00a0\u00a0 He asserts that change can only be accomplished through faithful presence. Faithful presence involves cooperation between individuals and institutions. Instead of desiring to change the world, we must desire to honor the Creator and love one another. It seems so simple. Yet, we work so hard to impact the world through activism even though history has demonstrated that it doesn\u2019t effect large scale, sustainable change.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy enacting shalom<\/em> and seeking it on behalf of all others through the practice of faithful presence, it is possible, just possible, that they will help to make the world a little bit better.\u201d[3]<\/a>
\nThe concept of shalom<\/em> has been one that I have been researching throughout this semester. It is the Hebrew spelling of the general Semitic term for \u201cpeace, wholeness, well-being.\u201d It describes the ideal human state, both individual and communal, the ultimate gift from God.[4]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> We live in constant tension, so the idea of enacting shalom<\/em> in our own lives and communities seems like an unreachable goal. Our culture seems to equate the pursuit of shalom<\/em> with selfishness. For many individuals, peace is most closely associated with vacation. Unspoken pressures constantly drive us forward. We rarely take the time to consider what shalom<\/em>, or well-being of the world, should look like.<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s book forced me to consider my own passion and pursuit to make a difference in this world. In my drive to identify my calling and to serve others, I have been guilty of neglecting relationships with others. I focus my energy and drive on the cause or mission. Thus, I become less effective and productive. When I neglect relationships with others, my sphere of influence shrinks. When I move too fast, I often fail to listen to the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit. My good intentions will not change the world. Hunter doesn\u2019t offer a single answer or model that I can follow to make a change within the world. Instead, he reminds us that we can most adequately face \u201cthe challenges of the present moment by maintaining the faithful presence within.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

I found Hunter’s book to be inspiring, but I believe\u00a0he discounts the impact that activism can have on the world and the fact that God does call some into this role. \u00a0His book is a great reminder that we must stay grounded in our faith and responsive to the direction of the Holy Spirit. \u00a0It is only then that we can truly create the impact on the world that God ordains through our work. \u00a0Without faithful presence, we will have no impact within our sphere of influence. \u00a0Through\u00a0faithful presence,\u00a0we\u00a0live and propagate\u00a0shalom. \u00a0“<\/em>Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me…”<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Hunter, James Davison (2010-03-31). To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (p. 4). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Hunter, James Davison (2010-03-31). To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (pp. 285-286). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Hunter, James Davison (2010-03-31). To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (pp. 285-286). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> Mark Allan Powell, ed., \u201cShalom,\u201d The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated)<\/em> (New York: HarperCollins, 2011), 942.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hunter, James Davison (2010-03-31). To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (p. 276). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God\u2019s restorative purposes over all of life, individual and corporate, public and private. This is the mandate of creation.\u201d[1] How to change the word is a question that man has been trying to answer since the time of Adam and Eve. Hunter, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[484,5],"class_list":["post-4627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dawnel-volzke","tag-hunter","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4628,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627\/revisions\/4628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}