Seeking Shaloam

As you may be able to tell, the concept of healthy community and the kingdom of God have been on my mind recently. But now, after learning more and having wornderful things revealed to me, I almost feel my mind is going to explode with new ideas about the world that God has called us to change. While telling others about our faith and the kingdom is very necessary and important, it is merely a part of a bigger picture. God also gives us a desire to bring peace and his vision into the world, by not boycotting and abandoning the things that we dislike, but by entering in to those things and changing them from the inside out.

In Shane Claibourne's Book, The Irresistable Revolution, he retells the story of Jesus' parable of the mustard seed. In the time of Jesus, this was an extremely confusing image. Jesus talks about the kingdom of God being like a tiny mustard seed, sprouting into a plant that becomse huge. The problem is, the mustard plant is a dumpy shrub, usually growing no taller than a small bush. However, the plant is very similar to kudzu, a plant that is extremely resiliant, virtually impossible to kill, and takes over everything it touches, capable of even choking out entire forests. So rather than creating an image of the kingdom being like a mighty oak tree, Jesus talks about the kingdom being like a tiny idea that invades everything around it and changes everything for the better. Following this idea, when we seek the kingdom of God, it will invade everything that we do, even invading corrupt politics, social structures, and even warped worldviews.

When I went on an urban outreach project in St. Louis last spring, the leaders there spoke constantly about "seeking the shaloam (peace) of the city" and showed us all the ways that people were bringing the kingdom of God into everything that they did, whether it was sharing their faith, adopting inner-city orphans, or even just sharing groceries with a neighbor in need. This kind of thinking has led me to rethink where I am now, whether through my church or through my campus fellowship. How can I seek the shaloam of my community, my neighbors, my close community, even my place in student government? How will our fellowship and community bring the kingdom of God into ODU and change it closer to God's vision?

This by no means is a complete thought, but God is definately leading me somewhere, I know that it will be good and better for me.