Integrative essay

Agents of Shalom

 Agents of Shalom.  We hear this phrase a lot around Calvin and Cornelius Plantinga not only advocates this shalom in Engaging God’s World, but he also incorporates it into the written “Calling” of Calvin College that is posted on the website for all to see (8, 9).  Calvin has, and will continue to teach us how to grow in our relationships with God, each other, and the earth, all of which have been tainted by sin and abandoned by shalom.  If we are to be “agents of shalom” in these fallen relationships, how should we go about redeeming them?

What even is shalom?  Plantinga says in his book:  “shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, all under the arch of God’s love.”  In simpler words, shalom is when things fit the way they are supposed to (8). 

It is quite apparent that the world is not in a state of shalom.  What with the ravaging wars, natural disasters, poverty, starvation, species extinction, homicides, suicides, divorce—it is clear to see that our planet is anything but peaceful.  In order to get a picture of shalom, we have to go back to the Genesis account of Creation when God created all things good, the way He wanted them to be.  The picture of Adam and Even in the garden, taking care of each other and the plants and animals all the while directly communicating with and glorifying the Creator of them all, is the way things were supposed to be. 

Not only is glory something we give to God, but it is also something we can receive from Him.  In The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis says, “either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity.”  After the initial instinct of seeing “fame” as a direct link to pride, Lewis explores what it really means for us as Christians to receive glory from our Father in heaven.  He gives the example of the joy a child exhibits when he receives affirmation from an elder.  Lewis concludes that the “fame” side of glory “is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures--nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure...a child before its father...a creature before its Creator” (7).  Shalom in our relationship with God should include a childlike wonderment and be worthy of a final “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

In The Screwtape Letters: XII, Lewis writes from the perspective of Screwtape, an experienced devil, who is scheming with his nephew, Wormwood, to lead a new Christian (the patient) down the wrong path, away from his newfound faith.  Screwtape writes about the patient having a “spiritual state” that is “much the same as it was six weeks ago” and how he has a “dim uneasiness.”  As Christians, we need to be aware of the tricks and games the devil plays with us as well as with others so that we can help each other retaliate (6). 

Lewis also points out in Man or Rabbit how necessary it is for every man to explore what he believes (3).  It’s important to realize that even though our friend is a good person, he is not going to heaven unless he has accepted Christ as his Savior.  Our responsibility as Christians is to lead our brothers and sisters to Christ and quite often to keep that seed growing.  God originally created us to care for each other and to help each other flourish.  Plantinga uses the term perichoresis; the persons within God show each other a divine hospitality.  Plantinga suggests that we introduce this element into our relationships with each other; we should “make room for others and then help them flourish in the room we have made” (9).  

C.S. Lewis also gives plenty of wisdom about how to achieve wholeness and delight in a relationship with the opposite sex.  In Have No ‘Right to Happiness,’ Lewis expands on the statement, “a man has a right to happiness,” said by a man who recently left his wife to be with another woman.  The man’s statement indicated not only that he had a legal, but also a moral right to leave his wife and pursue a sexual relationship with another woman; and this is not something that Lewis or I agree with.  Lewis says that this man’s behavior was one of “cowardice” and “an offense against honest…good faith…gratitude…and common humanity.”  If the man claims to have been happy with his previous wife at one point in his life, and if that happiness managed to wear off over time, the chances of him being happy with this new woman for the rest of his life are poor.  And if that happiness continues to wear off in all his relationships, then perhaps happiness cannot be found in sex alone (2). 

Lewis suggests that there are more aspects of male-female relationships, beyond Venus (sexuality); he calls this love “Eros.”  He says that “sexuality may operate without Eros or as part of Eros,” whereas sexuality within Eros is a by-product.  A successful marriage needs more than Venus because what Venus really desires is “it (sex)…for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus,” whereas Eros wants to be with one specific woman and wants her herself, with or without sex (5). 

We can see how this Eros is necessary in Lewis’ Meditation in a Toolshed in which he gives the example of a man falling in love and being blinded to the woman’s flaws.  This experience seems absolutely ridiculous to outsiders, since they are not infatuated with this woman as he is; they are able to see her brokenness by looking at her and not along her.  If he doesn’t come to this realization until after he has married and had children with her, he might be in trouble.  In order to have a well rounded relationship, both members need to look at it while looking along it (a realization Lewis had while looking at and along a beam of light, and realizing that his view changed depending on where he was standing relative to it).  The two lenses complement each other and protect the pair from unrealistic views and expectations of each other so they can enter into the marriage safely (4).   

As we can see, and so Lewis notes in The Four Loves, “falling in love is something that happens to us, and being in love is something we do.”  Lewis describes marriage using the metaphor of a garden.  In order for a garden to grow, it needs to be weeded regularly or else the weeds will choke out the plants beyond the point of recovery.  Constant weeding out of the evils of distrust, anger, and temptations that so frequently threaten a marriage as well as constant watering of scripture, prayer, and compassion will keep the bond between a husband and wife strong (5). 

Another relationship that has been tainted by sin and is in desperate need of shalom is our relationship with the earth.  The two ways God reveals Himself to us are through general and special revelation; general being Creation, and special being scripture.  If all Creation is tainted by sin, the only way we can get a perfect picture of God is to redeem it, and every time we do something harmful to the earth, it’s like tearing out a piece of scripture.  Therefore, as Christians, it is our duty, says Plantinga, to have “responsible dominion” over the earth and its flora and fauna (9).

Often times, the dominion that God gave us Homo sapiens is misinterpreted.  Let me suggest we look back at the ancient Hebrew word that was originally used in Genesis 26-28; this word is “radah,” and we have translated it to mean “have dominion” (1).  However, the word is also used in Ezekiel with a negative connotation when God condemns such behavior: 

              Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled [radah] them harshly and brutally." (Ezekiel 34:2-5)

Thus I think we should rule in such a way that the earth and its creatures benefit; if we take care of it, it will take care of us in return.  Now, I do not think that everyone has to be a vegan hippie living in a yurt with their own vermicomposting system, but I do think we need to make more conscious decisions about what we eat, throw away, and how we live.  This is what I believe true Shalom would look like in our relationship with planet earth.

                It is our responsibility as Christians to redeem the earth back to its original state of shalom, a mission that God began when He sent Jesus to die for our sins.  Once we have been justified by his blood, we need to also sanctify ourselves by striving for prime citizenship in the Kingdom.  We should not make this a extracurricular activity but instead incorporate it into everything we do so that being “agents of shalom” is our primary vocation (9).

 Works Cited

1.       Basden, Andrew. "'Radah' - For the Other." Index Page for the Frodsham Basdens. 20 Jan. 2002. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.basden.demon.co.uk/xn/radah.html>.

2.       Lewis, C. S. "Have No ‘Right to Happiness.”  God in the Dock; Essays on Theology and Ethics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970.

3.       Lewis, C. S. "Man or Rabbit." God in the Dock; Essays on Theology and Ethics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970.

4.       Lewis, C. S. "Meditations in a Toolshed." God in the Dock; Essays on Theology and Ethics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970.

5.       Lewis, C. S. The Four Loves. London: Collins, 1963. Print.

6.       Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters,. New York: Macmillan, 1944. Print.

7.       Lewis, C. S. "The Weight of Glory." Sermon.  Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England. 8 June 1942.

8.       Plantinga, Cornelius. "Calvin College - About Calvin - Educating for Shalom: Our Calling as a Christian College." Calvin College - Distinctively Christian, Academically Excellent, Always Reforming. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/about/shalom.html>.

9.       Plantinga, Cornelius. Engaging God's World: a Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2002. Print.

The Problem of Pain

The first statement in Lewis' chapter on human pain was "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."  I think this is a really powerful statement because so much of my spiritual growth has taken place during painful times in my life and it reminds me of a song that really helped me get through some hard times in my life called "Beauty from Pain" by Superchick.  Thy lyrics to the chorus are:

After all this has passed, I still will remain
After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

Sometimes our "deserts" can seem overwhelming and it can feel like God is just out to get us.  I've struggled a lot with resentment toward God for making me go through so much pain in my life while some people never have to deal with anything.  My school guidance counselor told me that God was putting me through those things to teach me something that would be really important in my vocation and maybe not as important in someone else's vocation.  This can seem really obnoxious-like, why can't God teach me patience by giving me an untrained puppy?  But I've come to find out that the things that you remember often come with some sort of extreme experience-good or bad.
     The other thing that stood out to me from this writing was "we cannot therefore know that we are acting at all, or primarily, for God's sake, unless the material of this action is contrary to our inclinations or (in other words) painful."  This seems to contradict what Lewis said in his Our English Syllabus when he was talking about how God gives us passions for certain things and pursuing those passions are often following his will.  These two contradictory statements left me in a very confused state and have me questioning what I'm doing here are Calvin.  I don't really know what to take from that statement.

Plantinga Ch. 5: Vocation in the Kingdom of God

     One thing that really stuck out to me in this chapter was the quote:  "Jesus invited all of his followers, including any of us today who believe in him, to participate in the kingdom as its agents, witnesses, and models."  I find that we as believers tend to focus on our actions and things we can do and say to show Christ's love to others.  However, notice that it also says "witnesses."  Witness is defined as "someone who sees an event and reports what happens."  I think we tend to look past this part of our calling because we don't really see the benefit of it.  Let me try to explain the importance of it using my experience in Guatemala on a "vision" trip as a model.
     On our trip in 2009, our team was challenged to look for visions of God's kingdom in our mission work and every evening when we had our meetings and worship time, we would discuss what we saw and figure out ways that we could take this back to our home towns.  I didn't really think that I would be able to learn much from these people, after all, they had next to nothing, what could they possibly have to teach me?  The first day we visited El Boqueron prison in Guatemala--home of one of the two top gangs in Guatemala, the Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly known as MS-13.  The other gang is the 18th Street gang.  These two gangs have a long history of violence towards each other including a massive prison massacre which caused the splitting of them into two different prisons because of the danger imposed from them being near each other.  At this maximum security (a lot less "maximum than U.S. prisons) prison was one of the most notorious MS-13 leaders called "Psycho" and his buddy "Diabolico."  The day before we arrived, an article had come out in Guatemala papers talking about how awful these two men are and what they did and where they were currently residing.  This article basically condemned these two men and their families to death because the other gang now knew where these two big leaders were. 
     We gave up our passports and were frisked before going into a large room with the gang members and some of their families.  I remember smelling lots of pot (which made most of our team basically high, just from inhaling it secondhand) and urine; the place was filthy and most of the men didn't have shirts on and were covered all over their heads, necks, and chests with tattoos.  Since it was family day in the prison, we set up crafts for the kids and sang songs and had time to socialize with the gang members.  While we were doing this, my youth pastor and another pastor who was with us went into Psycho's cell (we learned later what really happened) where he told them his story.  Psycho told them how this article was a death wish for him and his family and told them how he had recently realized his need for something more and had come to accept Christ.  He provided oil for our pastors to anoint him with and they prayed for him.  This big, muscular, tattoo-covered, gang member was kneeling on the ground in his own prison cell bawling his eyes out was fasting and praying to God.  Psycho also told them about a vision he had about being the voice of God to his gang. 
     This is only one example of God's scandalous grace.  There are many more people we met who were "embracing the pain of their past to repair the next generation."  Shorty - a former gang member from the streets who is now a pastor, and Tita - a former gang member, drug addict, and victim of abuse who started a school in Guatemala's most notorious slum, La Limonada.  My point is, that in even the seemingly ugliest places and situations, we were able to see incredible visions of God's Kingdom in action.  Not only can we learn from their incredible stories and deep faith in God, but we can also let this be a reminder to keep our eyes and ears open to our current surroundings so that we can see God's Kingdom around us.  Also, may we contribute our own Kingdom visions-and passionately act on them.  Dream big!

Man or Rabbit

     In Man or Rabbit, Lewis discusses the question, "Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?"  Lewis suggests that often what people really mean by this question is more like, "I don't care whether Christianity is in fact true or not.  All I'm interested in is leading a good life. I'm going to choose beliefs not because I think them true but because I find them helpful."  This is the approach that many take toward religion these days; they don't bother figuring out why something they believe in is true, they just believe in it because it is convenient for them.  Lewis says that our desire to "find out what reality is" is on of the things that "distinguishes man from animal.," and when man doesn't quench that desire, he is not being "fully human."
    This reminds me of what Francis Collins (geneticist who lead one of the groups in the Human Genome Project) warns against in his book The Language of God.  He says that we have to be careful in only letting God exist in the aspects of realities that science can't explain.  Lewis was mainly talking in his paper about non-Christians being guilty of choosing to remain ignorant of Christianity because they don't want to deal with the hard questions.  But I think Christians are also guilty of not knowing why they believe what they believe and letting God take over when we don't have the answers to the same hard questions.  We need to be careful of this ignorance as well.  Yes, God is the answer, but we need to go beyond that and figure out why we believe in Him.
     Lewis says that the man asking this question is not really asking if he can lead a good life without believing in Christianity, but instead "Mayn't I just avoid the issue, let sleeping dogs lie, and get on with being 'good'?"  But how is a man to do good if he doesn't even know what good is?  For he cannot truly know what good is without investigating the possibilities-including Christian beliefs of good and evil.  Lewis says "He is like the man who won't look at his bank account because he's afraid of what he might find there."  This man is in the state of "dishonest error" and this dishonesty will "spread through all his thoughts and actions" and does not deserve God's grace.
     A good life will do us no good without Christ in our lives.  The man who remains ignorant and doesn't even bother to figure out anything about God is condemned to hell.  There's no nice way to put it.  This is a harsh reminder to us as Christians to reach out to our non-Christian friends and challenge them to find out for themselves what they believe to be true.  That is, if we want to see them in heaven.
    

The Inner Ring

     Lewis wrote this paper for the oration at the University of London in 1944.  Although things today are a bit different, "Inner Ring" still exists today the same (if not more) as it did back then.  People today are so driven toward success in school, their families, their workplaces; don't get me wrong, goals are important to have-but only if they're for the right reasons.  Lewis addresses this unwritten and unorganized system of hierarchies into which no one is actually formally admitted. 
     Lewis talks about how one intrinsically knows when he is outside or inside this ring, but it gets confusing when one lies on the borderline.  These rings exist everywhere in society and often one notices that when he makes it into the ring that "there was a Ring yet more inner."  Lewis says that "in all men's' lives at certain periods and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside."  These inner rings are unavoidable and can exist as good or evil.
     Lewis talks about the danger of what I think we call today "peer pressure" within these groups.  A man of good moral character may exist outside the ring but once he enters he chooses to follow suit of those withing the ring, thus making poor decisions in the eye of the group.  I myself am guilty of this.  Although I have always been blessed with very good friends who are strong in their moral behavior and relationship with God, there have been a couple times when I chose to go along with a different group.  For example, my roommate last year (who is no longer at Calvin) was a little bit (sometimes a lot bit) of a partier and I, coming from a small, Dutch CRC town and a private school where I very much avoided that side of things, was naiive to all that was going on.  One night I went out with her and some of her friends and went to a hookah lounge (I had no idea what that even meant) and although I had previously decided I was never going to smoke any substance, I set aside my moralities in order to look cool.  Now, I know there are far worse things to do than hookah and I will admit I kind of enjoyed it (but will never do it again for the sake of my lungs), it is still an example of what the inner ring does to you. 
     This is not a very serious example, but if I would have continued to hang out with that group of people, who's to know what other moralities such as those related to alcohol, drugs, and sex I would have set aside.  Every time you get into one of those "inner circles" it's like peeling off another layer of an onion, and once you get to the middle, there's hardly anything left (this is using the onion example in a different context than what Lewis originally had...)
     However, Lewis does say that these groups can be good.  Close friendships with people who share similar interests with you are important.  However, it is the intent of the group that makes it good or bad.  For in the Inner Ring, "exclusion is no accident; it is the essence."  Lewis makes the powerful statement "The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it."  I think that we need to be aware of what we are striving for and for what reasons.  We need to be careful in who we choose for friends, but we also need to sometimes reach out to people who we might not like because that is the only way the Ring can be broken.
    

Eros

     In C.S. Lewis' book The Four Loves, he addresses four different kinds of love.  Our assignment was to read the section titled Eros, that is, the love between the sexes.  Lewis does a good job of looking at this kind of love from different angles.  One would expect this passage to be all about sexual attraction, but Lewis says "sexual experience can occur without Eros, without being 'in love,' and that Eros includes other things besides sexual activity."  Not too long ago, marriages were arranged early on in life between two children; they never had Eros in their relationship.  Lewis says "the times and places in which marriage depends on Eros are in a small minority."  I think this is important to note because, especially this day in age, we put so much emphasis on finding one's "soul mate" or a girl falling dramatically in love with her "knight in shining armor."  This "falling in love" may happen (I wouldn't know) but it doesn't last.  This part of love is a privilege some people get to experience for longer than others. But Lewis points out that "falling in love happens to us" but "being in love is something we do."  I think that if we are always in the state we are in when we first fell in love, marriage is going to be a huge disappointment because we will realize that our partner is indeed not perfect.
      Another thing that Lewis says that I think is important is that "sexual desire wants it, the thing in itself;  Eros wants the Beloved."  Often a man thinks he wants a woman, but really, he only needs her to get what he really wants-sex.  Lewis compares this to a packet of cigarettes, for "one does not keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes."  Eros is so much more than this "by-product" of sex; in Eros,  a man desires one particular woman and sees within her what is admirable, not just what he can get from her physically.  Lewis even says that "Eros, without diminishing desire, makes abstinence easier."
     Another thing that we talked about in class is the role of the man and woman in the marriage and I really liked the comparison Lewis makes with a husband being to his wife "what Christ is to the Church.  He is to love her as Christ loved the Church--and give his life for her."  Unfortunately, I don't know what it's like to have a father or a husband (working on that...) who is a strong leader in the household.  My mom had a rough time in high school and settled for the first guy she could get (I do still love my father, although I don't like how he treated my mother).  My father did not take the initiative and their marriage fell apart.  I'm not saying that all marriages with this problem fall apart, but without the husband taking this role, there is a greater strain on the relationship.  I've learned from my mother (and my grandparents who have been married over 50 years (:  ) to not settle, and to work hard in my relationships.  I think it is really important for us to figure out exactly what we want in a husband (or a wife) before we even start dating because it can be so easy to end up in relationships that don't work out.  There are going to be problems in every relationship but it's how you deal with them that determines if it's going to last.
    Finally, Lewis gives us the beautiful picture of what love should be:  "Eros never hesitates to say, "Better this that parting.  Better to be miserable with her than happy without her.  Let our hearts break provided they break together."  No one is ever going to get that fairy tale happy ending.  There are going to be many struggles.  A person whom you love is going to stick by your side while you're going through life's storms and come out stronger with you on the other side.  We need to want to be with that person "for better or worse, in sickness and in health...etc."  These vows are more than just words--the sickness and the "worse" are for real going to come.  "To be in love is both to intend and to promise fidelity."
   

Learning in War-Time

Lewis addresses an issue in this book that I have spent a lot of time thinking about.  Why am I spending all my time and money at Calvin when the rest of the world is starving and dying without knowing about God? 
     The first point that stood out to me is stated as "The war creates no absolutely new situation:  it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it."  Lewis goes on to say that "If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure the search would never have begun."  If we are going to wait for the whole world to be fed and at peace before we pursue an education, it is simply never going to happen, because we cannot create for ourselves heaven on earth-it will never happen. 
     Also, I would like to point out that by attending Calvin (although opposed to those who believe/get caught up in the Calvin "bubble") I don't think that we are ignoring the pain of the world.  We all know that attendance at Calvin does not make you a Christian and does not isolate you from the pain of the world.  There are many ways we can respond and reach out to people in the Calvin community AND beyond without even leaving the Calving campus.  If we look at the incident that happened last year in NVW with the pop bottle bomb, we know that the media is ready to pounce on Calvin if they receive any evidence of foul-play.  This puts a lot of pressure on our community.  But I think that we can show the love of Christ through things like that by the ways we respond to criticism from the outside as well as the ways we take care of each other within our community.  In the same way, Lewis says that "Christianity does not simply replace our natural life and substitute a new one: it is rather a new organization which exploits, to its own supernatural ends, these natural materials."
    Lewis goes on to talk about our "upbringing, talents, and circumstances are usually a tolerable index of our vocation."  If God wants us to do something with our lives, he will provide the resources and opportunities to get there.  He often leads us by putting certain passions in our hearts-sometime this appetite is for more knowledge-and "God makes no appetite in vain."  If I have an overflowing passion for biology, that's probably a good indication that God is calling me to study biology.  "The learned life is, for some, a duty."
     Finally, I really like the quote "The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.  Favorable conditions never come."  Sometimes you have to dive into something you don't have the resources for and pray that God will provide the rest that you need to finish.  If He doesn't provide, then maybe you're doing the wrong thing.