Longing for Shalom

Author’s note: Many ideas for this article were seeded by Walter Brueggemann’s book Out of Babylon. Like any recommended resource, I don’t necessarily prescribe to every idea of the resource or the author’s entire catalog, but I believe this work will be a gift to those who are curious.

In the beginning, there was shalom. There was no shame, no fear and no hiding. There was no power struggle, no lust for control, no threat of one dominating another. No one was striving after futility and endless production. Man (and woman) was “tov meod”, created with innate dignity from their God free from man attaching worth based on their ability to produce, create towers, or build empires.

But, as we know, it all changed when we chose to stop trusting God and began grasping for His throne. The desire for shalom morphed into an insatiable lust for empire. And the lust that started within us began to infect everything in our path.

Since The Fall, God has been looking for those who can help be shalom amidst the ravenous empires of this world. He chose Abraham and then his descendants, the Israelites, to be just that. And when the Israelites were suffering unjustly deep within the empire of Egypt, God came to rescue them and restore their mission to become shalom for the rest of the world.

Yet, we know what happened next. Israel wanted to become like all the other empires of the world (1 Sam 8, Dt 17:14ff).

Before long, they became that which they were rescued from.

Built projects at the expense of people. Built alliances with polytheistic nations at the expense of their soul.

And so, they were sent into exile where they once again longed for true shalom.

•••

Empire is a way of ordering the world around power, control, self-preservation, status, and an "us vs. them” mentality. Empire believes it knows best and will run over all who won’t align with its mission.

Empire is everywhere. In many ways, it’s the air we breathe. The timeless battle between empire and shalom is alive and well today.

But to raise the stakes a bit, empire is most dangerous when it takes root unaware in the places that are supposed to be bastions of shalom.

•••

Let me encourage extra humility here. In the best of us, there is at least a bit of empire ideology coursing through our own individual beings. In the best of our organizations and churches, there is a thirst for empire which must be reined in and handed to God.

So practically what does it feel like to walk in a place of shalom? What does it look like to be within an empire? To a degree, we get the gist of the idea based on the nations we choose to live in. We experience aspects of what I’m talking about. But it’s harder to reflect when we take the national and political aspects out. So let me create a working document on what empire vs shalom might look like on a daily, smaller, local, more community-level basis.

•••

Shalom values the innate dignity within each human.
Empire values a human based on their utility or production ability.

Shalom shepherds and draws out the God-given uniqueness within EACH person.
Empire shepherds people into more communal conformity out of efficient convenience.

Shalom values presence (as discipleship).
Empire values program (as discipleship).

Shalom plants gardens
Empire builds towers.

Shalom seeks justice through humility, mercy, and discernment.
Empire assumes it alone gets to decide who is right, who is wrong, and who deserves punishment.

Shalom treasures faithfulness in process.
Empire prizes visible success.

Shalom washes feet.
Empire kisses rings.

Shalom delights in becoming.
Empire obsesses over arriving

Shalom says “come eat with me.”
Empire says “come admire me.

Shalom knows names.
Empire counts numbers.

Shalom is willing to run after the one.
Empire is willing to run over the one.

•••

There are some patterns here. One cultivates. One consumes (see A Widow Devoured). Shalom gives generously. Empire takes relentlessly (1 Sam 8).

But in it all, can’t you just feel Jesus in the descriptions of shalom?

The story of Scripture is more than God rescuing people from sin. It is a story of prodigious love. It is also about a loving God rescuing people from empire and teaching them to become people of shalom.

In every age, empire asks us to build another tower. Shalom invites us to come sit at the table. Empire constantly defends that tower. Shalom is always ready to pull up an extra chair. Empire is always striving to make a name for itself (Gen 11:4). Shalom already knows it has been given a name.

Maybe the greatest temptation facing God's people today is not abandoning God for another god. It is trying to accomplish God's purposes with the methods of empire.

The Kingdom of God always moves differently than the kingdom of men.

I have so much hope for the Church in America. We have all we need for shalom (2 Pet 1:3), including the discernment to see where empire has taken root.

Keep longing for shalom. We know the world was meant to be different. We know the world will one day be different. And so we live to bring the shalom of heaven to the empire today.

Look, shalom wins in the end. Not because it shouts the loudest or builds the highest but because it reflects the heart of its King.

In the end, every tower falls … and every table will be full.

So, pull up a chair.