Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 2

Lost themes of mission… shalom

In Toward the Twenty-First Century in Christian Mission: Essays in Honor of Gerald H. Anderson David Bosch (1993) points out that:

“The mission of the church, then, has all the dimensions and scope of Jesus’ own ministry and may never be reduced to church planting and the saving of souls. It consists in proclaiming and teaching, but also in healing and liberating, in compassion for the poor and the downtrodden. The mission of the church, as the mission of Jesus, involves being sent into the world - to love, to serve, to preach, to teach, to heal, to save, to free.”

Contentious or a true picture of holistic mission? I’m wondering if the depth of our understanding of shalom holds the key.

Jim Punton seems to make sense to me. I’ve just finished reading his paper “The Community of Shalom: God’s Radical Alternative“. It is a thorough exegesis of God’s purpose in Jesus and his missional heartbeat of shalom. Punton points out:

“Another concept as large as shalom is soteria which means ‘liberation into wholeness’, ’salvation’. It has a ‘from’, a ‘to’ and a ‘for’. Rescue, liberation, emancipation deliverance from a non-shalom situation - into shalom, experienced variously as new life, wholeness, freedom, health, well-being…”

He sees shalom as a central driving force, a useful way to consider the Christian community’s responsibility for social engagement, a way to reflect and to share in Christ’s mission. He asks some difficult questions of the church.

“God is dishonoured by the reasons for the plight of the needy, the oppressed and the outcast. With such as these, the hungry, the naked, the captives, Jesus entered into solidarity. Can we do less? Can we ignore our responsibility to incarnate the heart, mind, love, touch and word of Christ?”

It is sad that we as a church have allowed the concept of shalom to remain in the flower power ’60’s lexicon. It is sad that we as a church have allowed the concept of shalom to remain a cosy, oozey, nice-feelings-about-each-other concept. It is sad that we as a church have allowed the concept of shalom to remain a carved olive wood curio bought back by Holy Land travelers to sit on our desks, hang on our walls! What is really sad is when we work so hard at ignoring the concept, worried that the concept might in some insidious way be obscuring our true ‘church’ work, working up our apologetics to turn a blind eye to its centrality. Sad above all we ignore our responsibility and that in all our efforts we dishonour God.

It seems more and more people are understanding mission through the lens of shalom but equally, by and large, shalom is missing from the bulk of understanding of mission and remains a lost theme of mission.

Deeper shade of grey appears every Wednesday on theRubicon. Find past posts and a bio of Capt. Gordon Cotterill here.  

3 Comments to Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 2

1. I’m glad you brought this up! For too many years the gospel was distilled into this message: receive Jesus who died for you, have your sins cleansed, and live forever. All true, all crucial. But one of the gospel books (and I can’t remember the reference at the moment) says that Jesus preached the “good news” (ie.,gospel), and this is not at all what Jesus taught. He didn’t go around predicting his death (not publicly) and teaching others to say the prayer of salvation. So while all the above is true, and certainly emphasized in the writings of Paul, obviously the gospel includes more than spiritual salvation. The gospel of Jesus was the message of shalom: wellness, wholeness, equality, restored relationship with God and each other, peace, etc. We weren’t only saved for the future, we were saved for the present. The gospel isn’t only about what happens when we die, it is about creating justice and peace for all of us here, too - the commencement of the Kingdom which will be perfected when Christ returns.
   Jesus summed up his mission when he read from the Isaiah scroll:
   “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18, 19. I think we misunderstand the fullness of these words if we only put them in spiritual context.
Amy Reardon on June 8th, 2008

2. Just to clarify what I just said: Yes, of course, Jesus did pardon sin during his ministry, and that was an important piece of the gospel he taught. I’m just trying to point out the disparity between our gospel-in-a nutshell and his far richer, deeper message.
Amy Reardon on June 8th, 2008

3. Amy and Gordon:

   Yes, smugness is the enemy of shalom. But this variant of pride also it functions as an emotional protection against the realities of human frailty. No matter how much we do to better this world, there will always be more to do. (Never mind that what is good doesn’t originate in us anyway.)

   So we settle on what we can do and somehow start to think that it’s the best that is possible. And we forget that we’re supposed to at least try to see the world through God’s eyes.

   We’re okay, and that should be enough, right?!?

   Excuse all the “we”s. I’m not trying to speak for anyone else articulate the trap of complacency…which is quite embarassing.

   Anyway, resting in Him for me includes recognizing just how limited my perspective and capacities are…this does not however excuse sticking to a narrow version of justice.

   Thanks

   Andrea
Andrea614Regent on June 8th, 2008

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