Seeking the Shalom: Wholistic Adventist Urban Mission and Centers of Influence

Abstract

The Psalmist captures a poignant moment as Jewish exiles sit beside Babylonian rivers, lamenting a lost Jerusalem.They are alienated emotionally, physically, and spiritually from that home.Their captors command them to sing, but they cry out, "How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?" (Ps 137:1-4, KJV).This is a fundamental missiological question.How do we sing God's song in new and unfamiliar territories, among different cultural and religious groups, in large metropolises where we do not feel at home, where we have not yet found our voice?In the book of Jeremiah God gives specific instruction to the exiles on how to "sing" in their new alien urban environment.He throws cold water on any hopes they might have for a quick return to their homeland.Instead, he tells them to settle down, build houses, plant gardens, marry, and seek the shalom of the city: "But seek the welfare [shalom] of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for its welfare [shalom] and you will find your welfare [shalom]" (Jer 29:7, NIV).Shalom, a rich, multi-layered Hebrew word, means, among other things, peace, prosperity, welfare.And God is telling them to pray and work for the shalom of the city.In doing so, he says, they will find their own shalom.This is startling counsel.They are not to set up a separate Jewish enclave in the city of Babylon, which would perhaps be their natural inclination.After all, it would be so much easier if they kept together as a cultural and religious family.It would be easier to keep the Sabbath, to eat kosher food, to avoid idolatrous Babylonian practices, and to comfort each other with shared memories and hopes.But God tells them to do the exact opposite-to engage in their society, to bring shalom to the city.Some six centuries later, the long-awaited Messiah worked for the shalom of towns and villages where he ministered.He did teach in synagogues, but they were not the focus or center of his wholistic mission.

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