Shalom Please
6 min read
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
— 1 Kings 3:28
I just spent the morning with some brothers from our local Baptist association. One of them was telling a story about how his son-in-law ended up with three brand new cars at the age of 24. One of those cars is a BMW and another is a Mercedes EQS. And it’s not like he can actually afford to own three brand new cars, let alone two luxury cars. But he got the EQS because he felt guilty for “buying” himself a BMW. And when he tried to trade in the non-luxury car, the dealer wouldn’t take it. Thus, three brand new cars.
And here’s what really struck me. My friend says that his son-in-law couldn’t be happier, because he has a beautiful new wife, two jobs (to pay the bills), and three brand new cars, including a BMW and a Mercedes EQS. He’s “flexing” all the way to work and all the way home … even if he is working 70-80 hours a week.
I guess there is no limit to foolishness when it’s driven by pride and greed. In a free market society, people are allowed to make stupid purchases, and businesses are allowed to take advantage of such people.
But God doesn’t want our world to be driven by greed and pride. God wants our world to be driven by shalom.
Shalom is not a state of mind or a state of being. It is a worldview that leads people to act toward the common good—toward justice, peace, equity, fairness, prosperity—and that because of the fear of God. Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
One could make the argument that greed and pride are the stupidest attitudes that any person can possess. Greed and pride will always lead to foolish actions. Greed and pride will always drive a person to consider only the me, myself, and I—the unholy trinity—even at the cost of harming others.
Of course, there are varying degrees of greed and pride. And so many people, while acknowledging that greed and pride do exist in their hearts, may also think that as long as they are not harming anyone, what is the big deal.
But greed and pride cater to our sinful nature. And so greed and pride has a way of snowballing. That is, one person’s greed and pride will inspire greater greed and pride in another person, and so on and so forth, until you have the kind of society that we see all around us now.
The world is a mess because of sin. This world is a mess because it operates on greed and pride, and not shalom.
As for me, I will do my best to act on shalom and not greed and pride. And I may not be able to make a dent in the foolishness of this world as a whole, but I will do my best to please my God. And I will do what I can to warn people about the foolishness of this world by bearing witness to Jesus Christ.
Father, save me from the foolishness of this world. If I am foolish, let me be foolish for the gospel. Let me be wise in Your ways and not wise in the ways of the world. And use me to promote shalom in my family, in Canvas and GCC, and in this world. In Jesus’s name. Amen.