What We Mean By "Shalom"
Here at Peace Catalyst, we talk about “shalom” a lot, and it’s a driving force behind what we do and why. It’s also one of our core values as an organization. We recognize, though, that not everyone will know what we mean when we talk about shalom or how we’re using the word; so to get it all down in one place, we got our staff together and wrote a post to articulate the importance of the biblical concept of shalom for how we understand God’s work and our calling as Christians.
Shalom: God’s Vision for the world
Peace Catalyst International’s founder and former president Rick Love said, “The Church should be a place where people study, practice and proclaim peace… We preach of peace, we work towards peace, and we imitate the Prince of Peace.”1Love wrote and spoke about this “missing peace” in the Church’s theology and missiology, emphasizing the need, challenge, and opportunity for the Church to recapture God’s vision for peace and form Christians for peace work. The Bible describes this peace as relationships restored and reconciled; people experiencing well-being, justice, and abundant flourishing; and God, people, and all of creation interconnected in beautiful harmony. This God-sized vision for the world is captured by the Hebrew word and rich Biblical concept of shalom, often translated simply as peace.
Negative Peace and Positive Peace
“The Lord bless you and keep you.The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.The Lord lift up his countenance on you, and give you peace (shalom).”
-Numbers 6:24-26
This common blessing is often heard in both Christian and Jewish services. God’s people throughout the Bible hope, long, and pray for peace. People today do the same.
For most of us, we have a small idea or vague notion of the peace we want in our lives and its tangible manifestation. We have a longing to see “peace” realized, yet an incomplete understanding of how this longing for peace could look when manifested in our world, or how it might become a reality. Consequently, we often conceptualize peace as a lack of conflict. If we’re not fighting, not upset, not experiencing strong emotions, or not disagreeing about something, then we have “peace.” We might think about peace as inner calm or tranquility, as agreeing to disagree, or avoiding difficult topics for the sake of “unity” in our relationships. Sometimes, “peace” simply means that there is no physical violence.
Peacebuilders often refer to this type of peace as “negative peace” because it means that something undesirable is not happening (e.g. the violence has stopped, the emotional attacks ended, another person is not bothering us, etc.). “Negative peace” is often superficial and short-term. While “negative peace” might be a good beginning, it does not necessarily lead to a deeper, sustainable peace and well-being…… KEEP READING
