“The righteous are informed of the cause of the poor, but the pervert of none of this wants to know” (Proverbs 29:7).
? Shalom?has become a popular term in some evangelical circles, especially throughout the debate on “justice for the oppressed. “What exactly is the word Shalom? Tim Keller has certainly written more on this subject than he imagines, there is also an interesting (and excellent) book by Greg Gilbert and Kevin De Young titled?What is the mission of the Church? Of course, all positions in the discussion have their supporters and detractors.
- More important than American pastors.
- What does the Bible teach?For example.
- We read in Ephesians 2:14 that he is our peace.
- Referring to Christ.
- In Numbers 6.
- 24-26 and Isaiah 9.
- 6.
- We find that the Lord is our Shalom.
- In Isaiah 9.
- 2 it is used in the context of light.
- In Ezekiel 37.
- 26 it is used in relation to a future spiritual blessing.
- Interestingly.
- Shalom appears in Hebrew about 250 times.
- But not once in NT.
- However.
- It has a Greek equivalent.
- ? Eirene?(RAY eyes not).
- The word eresnic ?.
- In modern language.
- Means peaceful.
- Is found in Luke 2.
- 14.
- Acts 10.
- 36 and Romans 1.
- 7 where it is used as a greeting; in Philippians 4.
- 7.
- It is used to bless God’s people.
- Ninety times it is used in NT.
- It is used in the same way that Shalom is used in TA.
But we can’t stop there. Shalom is also used in an unusual way; it is mentioned in the context of the war in 2 Samuel 11. 7, tearing down the towers in Judges 8. 9 and in terms of punishment in Isaiah 53. 5. It is a difficult word to understand, if we are honest, because it has a very broad meaning in the scriptures, I always try to be careful when people insist on an imperative meaning and try to particularize it and apply it only to the debate around the poor and the poor.
Tim Keller defined shalom as follows
“The entanglement of God and man with all creation to create prosperity and universal fullness. We see, in Psalm 104, that God made the world a garment with billions of entities woven to compose the beauty of all that is created. and rip all the fabric?
In other words, shalom needs revision, goes further and emphasizes three types of shalom:
1. Physical Shalom
When all parts fit into a body, we understand it as ‘physical Shalom’ so, for example, if you have cancer, you lose that physical Shalom.
2. Psychological Shalom
When the mind, conscience and passions tell me to do something and I do, I experience a psychological shalom. When we want to do something and the consciousness says “no,” and yet we do, we lose the psychological shalom.
3. Social Shalom
When those who have affinities face synergies throughout the community, we can see that there is an interconnection, however, it breaks when people feel excluded from society, they actually experience a rupture in social shalom.
Now, it is very clear that there is a collapse of the shalom, as Keller defines it, in the Niddrie community, without a doubt. Certainly it does not take a theological genius to draw the line between original sin and the terrible physical, psychological, the social and cosmological effects it has caused in our world. The real question arises when we ask ourselves, “What should we do with the collapse of the shalom in our communities?”Should we simply ignore the events around us, as some do, and simply proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ?Or should we seek the well-being of our community, look for ways to ease pain, and return some shalom to our neighbors?As a church, shouldn’t we look to make Niddrie a safer, happier and more peaceful place to live?Or shouldn’t we try to remain faithful to the great commission that is responsible for preaching Christ and making disciples?Is there a satisfactory way to proceed?
These questions are not new to people who regularly read my writings. We must say, first of all, that the NT does not give us any direct order in relation to the action to repair any of the previous “Shaloms”. Timothy, for example, was challenged to continue preaching the Word “in time and out of time. “In Ephesians, we read that the main gift given to the church; preachers, teachers, apostles, etc. , were all Ministries based on the Word. In Judas, we have the challenge of fighting for the Gospel, Romans is clear in showing that only the Gospel has the power to transform every believer and therefore society. The answer, of course, is to preach the gospel first. Yes, we care about each other, we love each other, we feed and receive strangers (those who are not part of the covenant community), but it is the result of hearts that express faith through love (Galates).
For example, in Niddrie, I preach Christ to M. X. , who has a history of alcoholism, steals and mistreats his partner. He comes to Christ, what happens?
All these things are the result of the work of the Holy Ghost in the life of a person who first heard the Word of God; it’s the gospel above all. Thus, shalom is not the result of personal evangelization, but the witness of the Spirit of God working in a person and in a community. We must certainly pray for the shalom of our communities, but we must remember that without a return to the faithful. and fearless proclamation of the gospel, these places and people will remain in darkness; lost and destroyed, after all, that’s why we have so many problems in our country today. There is no shortage of social welfare agencies and ecclesiastical organizations that provide all kinds of social assistance, but the deepest need, however, is the growth and establishment of gospel-centered churches, in which people can truly grow and flourish spiritually for the benefit of their particular communities.