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.
