A community of Shalom
In a post-modern world and its cultural context
Christians, in order to engage in effective mission and
the making of shalom will need (amongst other things):
A clear and compelling IDEOLOGY
A strong sense of IDENTITY
INTIMACY (‘koinonia’)with brothers and sisters
in the context of Christian community
To make an IMPACT – i.e. showing evidence that
God is involved in life changing activityspiritually, personally, socially, economically etc
CONTRASTING VALUES
Older/traditional
Contemporary
1.Life is hard
Life can be easy
2.You’re going to die
You can stay young and
keep looking/feeling
young for ever
3.You’re not that important
You are the most
important
4.You’re not in control
Above all else you must
stay in control
5.Life is not just about you
Life is mostly about
you and your
fulfilment
GHANDI LISTED SEVEN DEADLY SINS
1. Politics without principle
2. Wealth without work
3. Commerce without morality
4. Pleasure without conscience
5. Education without character
6. Science without humanity
7. Worship without sacrifice
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
• “The church gets into trouble whenever
it thinks it is in the ‘church’ business
rather than the ‘kingdom’ business.
Church people think about how to get
people into the church – kingdom people
think about how to get the church into
the world……The church needs
liberating from it has become in order
to be that which God intends.”
»
Howard Snyder – Liberating the Church
‘To be an active agent of the kingdom is our
highest calling. The kingdom generates new
forces of righteousness, justice and peace
through the means of servanthood and self
giving love….we begin to test things by a
biblical judgement and the church is slowly
led from conformity to community and
change…..The kingdom is within us and
among us; it is our standard, our calling, our
hope and our salvation. It is deeper,
stronger, more profound and lasting than all
our programmes, strategies, projects and
causes.” Jim Wallis – Sojourners Washington DC
The experience of community is in itself
extremely evangelistic. In a world starved
of relationships it seems that even the most
basic functions of community are powerfully
attractive. In those special times when the
congregation is able to achieve honesty
among its members and before God, there is
a qualitative experience of ‘koinonia’ which
seems to pervade most defence mechanisms.
It is not the kingdom of God but in those
precious moments the community becomes a
sign of the kingdom.
“First the new community should constitute a
challenge to the old. Its values,and ideals, its
morals and relationships, its sacrificial
lifestyle, its love, joy, peace – these are the
signs of the kingdom, and present the world
with a radically different alternative society.
Secondly as the world lives alongside the
kingdom community, some of the values of the
kingdom will spill over into society as a whole.
The salt, light and yeast metaphors which
Jesus employed are more dynamic, since each
implies the penetration of the old community by
the new.”
John Stott – Making Christ Known
“Shalom is an enduring vision….among the
eloquent spokesmen for this vision is
Jeremiah writing to the exiles urging
the validity of the vision even among
displaced persons: ‘I will fulfil to you my
promise and bring you back to this place.
For I know the plans I have for you,
plans for shalom and not for evil, top give
you a future and a hope…..you will seek
me and find me when you seek me with all
of your heart. I will be found by you,
says the Lord, and I will restore your
fortunes.”
Walter Bruggemman
from a Hebrew verb meaning ‘to bring to
completeness’ – ‘ to make whole’. It
suggests
health, wholeness and well-being in these areas:
INDIVIDUALLY – soundness of body, mind and
spirit, health of body and soul, being a ‘together’
person
BETWEEN PERSONS – relationships of trust, love,
mutuality, openness and respect, a caring concern
for the other person
IN GROUPS AND SOCIETY – being satisfied with
enough so that all may have enough, a commitment
to social justice- no one group standing ‘on the
neck’ of the other
IN THE NATURAL WORLD – living in
interdependence, having mutual responsibility, no
exploitation of the created order – no pollution
SHALOM:is God’s gift
is God’s vision which passes all understanding
is the total well-being God will for His whole
created order
is the fulfilment of His purposes
is the content of God’s reign
…………..and all through Jesus
Christ – the Prince of Shalom
Isaiah 9:6
SHALOM is God’s ultimate will that things will be as
they ought to be and working together as God intends
THEREFORE WHEN:
# the RULE of God is recognised
# the WAYS of God are learnt
# and God’s way of lifestyle is PRACTICED
…..….…then SHALOM results [Isaiah 2:2-4]
WHAT and WHO are the enemies
and blocks to shalom for:
a) young people you are currently
working with
b) young people generally in your local
community
c) young people in the wider context –
nationally and globally
What evidence will you cite?
What implications arise for the church
– God’s shalom community?
GOD’S SHALOM COMMUNITY – THE CHURCH –
HAS THREE PRIMARY TASKS:
MAKING REAL GOD’S REIGN IN
IN THE WORLD
TO ENGAGE IN MISSION ON
GOD’S BEHALF
TO BE A WORSHIPPING
COMMUNITY
As a community of God’s shalom community,
brought together in and through Christ, we make
real God’s reign in the world when we live as:
His NATION – therefore are we primarily
Christian or British?
ALIENS, PILGRIMS and STRANGERS in a world
that is hostile and opposed to God’s rule and
reign in Christ
As a DISTINCTIVE people who do not conform
either to the norms of the world and its culture
or to anything that denies or defies the
Lordship of Christ
Sharing
in
Christ’s
mission
and the
making
of
shalom
will
involve
God’s
people
in;
Challenging people to repentance,
faith and discipleship
Witnessing to Jesus’ love &
friendship
Penetrating the world in
every aspect of its life
Making known the good
news of shalom
Declaring God’s
forgiveness
Counselling and
supporting
SHALOM
Demonstrating
and making real
God’s kingdom
Building Christian
community
Loving those who will not,
cannot love us
Healing in body, mind
and spirit
Befriending, serving, feeding
and sheltering others
•SOME TENSIONS IN WORKING FOR SHALOM
•Genuine brotherhood/sisterhood not easy to
achieve
•God’s vision V human and sinful nature
•Shalom community is God’s vision – may not be
what others consider to be the ideal
•How can the shalom community represent God to
the world if it is ‘over zealous’ on not conforming
to the world? Tension between being ‘in’ the world
but not ‘of’ the world
•Can God’s people ever be a community that is
wholly and entirely Christian?
REMEMBER
New methods, new strategies or
structures will neither fulfil God’s
purposes or meet the needs of
people unless there is a continuing
and radical renewal of trust in
Christ as Lord within the community
of God’s people
The ‘poor’ in the O.T. (Hebrew) – each of the
words translated as poor has a spectrum of meanings.
Poor is an inadequate translation!
The poor are described as those who are;
# Oppressed, downtrodden and humiliated
# Powerless and diminished
# Yearning and insistent
# Defenceless and open to exploitation
# Needy and in want
# Subjected and dependent
# Diminished and impoverished
# Destitute and bereft
# Dispossessed and evicted
THE ‘POOR’ IN THE NT – [GREEK]
– are described as;
# The manual worker struggling to survive
#The one reduced to ‘meekness’
#The one brought low
#The beggar
#The weak
#The leper
#The heavy laden
#The widow
#The fatherless
#The destitute
#The common people
TRUST YOUR QUESTIONS !
Why is life so different in ‘white’ communities than
in others?
Why, in this nation, are there so many who are
described as ‘poor, deprived, exploited and
unfulfilled’?
Why is there such a gap between the haves’ and the
‘have nots’ – in this nation and globally?
Why are a disproportionate number of black young
men in prison than those who are white?
Why are there so few genuine links between white
churches/denominations and their black counterparts?
“ The God who has revealed himself in Jesus makes
it very clear in His word (to those who welcome His
revelation), that our response to poverty is a
crucial test of the reality of our faith.
It is impossible to really know Jesus and be
indifferent to the plight of the poor.”
As a Christian, professional youth and community
worker you are:
•A disciple of the most radical of Lords
•Called to be a servant, a witness and a herald
•A member of a ‘called out’ and distinctive community
•A member of a profession with a code of conduct –
working in either church or secular contexts
•A member of a number of different communities
THEREFORE – what challenges and tensions
can be anticipated as you seek to make
shalom among young people and communities