So What Went Wrong?

If you read the earlier posts in this Blog, I am sure that some troubling questions have come to mind. I can easily imagine you thinking, “Thanks for explaining the richness and beauty of the Hebrew word shalom and describing its comprehensive character, but why do I see so little of it in our world?” The obvious question that you might ask is “Why don’t we experience this shalom if it’s God’s intention for creation? Why are we so frustrated and burdened down with conflicts if God wants us to enjoy His promises of blessings and security?”

The bottom-line is this: What went wrong? Why all the riots in the Middle East, largely driven by some many people who are oppressed, tired of corruption, and unemployed? Why so much abuse of children and sex trafficking?

In December, when I was in Moscow, thousands of neo-Nazi “skinheads” demonstrated in Red Square and then went on a rampage, beating dark-skinned people while the police passively watched. Why is there so much ethnic hatred in our world?

These are not easy questions and, in my judgment, the only way to get at an answer is to go back to some Biblical basics. Let’s think about how God created men and women as free moral agents capable of choosing good or evil. Although God created a harmonious, peaceful world, the disobedience and rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden made everything go wrong.

What was the problem? Adam and Eve tried to become like God – to be free, autonomous individuals accountable only to themselves. Their decision was a costly one and it brought judgment on themselves and their descendants. What God originally intended was now distorted by humanity’s rebellion.

Genesis 3 tells us how Satan entered human history as an enemy of God and, from the beginning of the Biblical record, we are given a picture of his devious, destructive ways. When Satan approached Eve in the form of a serpent, he first raised doubt in her mind about what God actually said. Once doubt had been created, Satan then openly contradicted God and denied that God would cause her to die if she ate the forbidden fruit. Satan – the Liar – then goes one-step further: he promised her she would become “like God.” Satan is indeed a crafty, shrewd being who knows the human heart. The sin of Eve, which was later repeated by Adam, is the core of all evil in the world today: men and women want to be “like God” – autonomous, rulers of their own destiny, self-reliant, accountable only to themselves, recognizing no authority outside of themselves.

The painful consequences of sin were immediately evident to Adam and Eve. Once they ate the forbidden fruit, their sin made them frightened to be in the presence of God, so they hid. The sin they committed was soon transmitted to their children, creating envy between their two sons, Cain and Abel, which eventually lead to the first recorded murder in the Bible. Sin, the act of disobeying God and rebelling against His authority, broke God’s intended shalom in creation.

So What?

• The evil that we see in our world, the brokenness and alienation, the violence – all of these are the result of sin in the lives of men and women. When we see it around us, we may be quick to blame others for the injustices we see, but Jesus taught us to look first at the sin in our own lives (John 8:1-11). This insight was powerfully articulated centuries later by the Russian writer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, when he wrote: “ . . . the universal dividing line between good and evil runs not between countries, not between nations, not between parties, not between classes, not even between good and bad men: the dividing line cuts across nations and parties, shifting constantly. . . . It divides the heart of every person.”

• Biblical shalom helps us to understand God’s intention for his world and His desire that we live in peace and harmony. When we see evil and brokenness, our response needs to be “It doesn’t have to be like this!” Rather than shrugging our shoulders and walking away from the injustice and animosity that surrounds us, we need to become shalom-makers.

• Peacemaking is rarely an easy task, yet Jesus teaches that those who are peacemakers are “blessed” or “happy” and are “children of God” (Matthew 5:9). That’s an exciting calling, don’t you think? Why not ask God to teach us how to be shalom-makers?

• I have a suggestion: When you see conflict or struggles, try training yourself to think “It doesn’t have to be like this!” Then maybe you will figure out how you can make a difference for the good of your family, neighborhood, or world.